Saudi Arabia Removes ‘Palestine’ From School Textbooks and Maps

Saudi Arabia has revised its school textbooks, removing the term "Palestine" from maps covering internationally recognized Israeli territory, as part of recent curriculum updates, according to a review of the kingdom's education system. These changes are outlined in the Review of Saudi Textbooks 2024–2026, which analyzed 136 textbooks used during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.

The removal of the word "Palestine" from maps has been accompanied by other edits, such as the substitution of "the Zionist enemy" with "the Israeli occupation" and the deletion of the statement "The Muslims will never give up Jerusalem" in a Grade 11 Arabic Language textbook. While these revisions suggest a gradual shift towards moderating politically charged language in Saudi textbooks, they do not extend to the recognition of Israel on classroom maps, with Israel still absent from many maps.

This trend of curriculum reform, initiated since 2020, aims to modernize the education system under Vision 2030 and encompasses a range of content revisions across multiple subjects.