Representations of I slam and A rab Societies in W estern Secondary Textbooks

Since the terrorist attacks on S eptember 11, 2001, the textbooks in A rab and I slamic nation‐states have been carefully critiqued for any content that W esterners view as promoting hate or violence against non‐ M uslims. Very little has been said, however, about the portrayals of I slamic and A rab society in W estern textbooks. This report investigates the perspectives and ideologies concerning representations of I slam and A rab societies in textbooks worldwide, and specifically in W estern countries' national education systems. Seventy‐two textbooks from 15 Western countries and I srael were examined to investigate the included and excluded content related to I slam and A rab societies. This research found that those countries with either an immediate stake in the M iddle E ast (e.g., I srael) or an immediate past stake in the region (e.g., the U nited K ingdom) were the most likely to include coverage of I slam and A rab societies in secondary textbooks. The major findings of this research, however, are that content related to contemporary I slam and A rab societies in W estern secondary‐level textbooks is overwhelmingly related to terrorism and terrorists, the A rab/ I sraeli conflict, and the wars in A fghanistan and I raq. The majority of content related to contemporary I slam and A rab societies represents M uslims and their communities as: 1) socially, politically, and economically repressed; 2) religiously and ideologically oppressed; and 3) both typically and frequently violent.