SYRIA - School Curriculum Sparks Outrage
Syria’s new government is facing backlash after announcing changes to the school curriculum, including introducing what some critics say is an Islamist slant to teaching.
The changes, published in a list of amendments on the education ministry’s official Facebook page, include changing the phrases “path of goodness” to “Islamic path,” and “those who have are damned and have gone astray” to “Jews and Christians”—which pertains to an ultra-conservative interpretation of a verse in Islam’s holy book, the Quran.
The modifications also redefine the word “martyr,” from someone who died for the homeland to someone who sacrificed themselves “for the sake of God.”
While some changes renouncing former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime were welcome to those reacting online, the religious chapter modifications sparked outrage on social media.
-www.cnn.com, 2 January 2025
Arno's Commentary
Syria’s population stands at about 24 million, with the majority being Muslim, yet an astonishing 10% are noted as Christian. Life expectancy is low at 74.8 years, and per capita GDP is only $4,500.
Much hope has been placed with the new Syrian government, led by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa. As this report shows, the religious superiority fallacy continues.
They define “the word ‘martyr’ [as] someone who sacrificed themselves ‘for the sake of God.’” That normally is called a suicide terrorist. Thus, the basic tenets of Islamic superiority as a religion continue.
We may call Syrians the closest relatives to the Jewish people. In Deuteronomy 26:5, as Moses is instructing Israel, he states: “And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.” Someone rightly said, family feuds are worse than war.
Much has been published about Isaiah 17, where we read, “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap” (verse 1). The approximate date of this event was 726 BC. Are we to believe in a future fulfillment? Not this writer. Archaeologically speaking, while Damascus is not extensively excavated, there is little left except some artifacts and stone walls. Thus, “from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap” is all that’s left.
This is similar to the temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed in 70 AD. Thus, the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:2 were fulfilled: “See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” What was built there later between 685 and 691 AD, is not a prophetic concern for the Jewish people. The same applies to Damascus.
What is Syria’s future? “In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land” (Isaiah 19:23-24).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
