The new rebel government in Syria announced amendments to the country’s school curriculum that have raised ire among its citizens and serious concerns about its Islamist slant, CNN recently reported. The amendments to the curriculum include changing the phrases “those who are damned and gone astray” to “Jews and Christians” and the “path of goodness” to “the Islamic path.” According to the report, the changes were posted on the Education Ministry’s Facebook page, and caused an outcry among Syrian citizens. “The current government is a caretaker government that does not have the right to make these amendments to the curricula,” one Syrian wrote in response to the ministry’s Facebook post. “The curricula must be amended in accordance with the new constitution.” Another Syrian wrote, “How long does it take to write a constitution? The new leaders are telling us three to four years. But it takes three hours to change the national curriculum? What a farce.” Following the backlash, Education Minister Nazir Mohammad al-Qadri said that the ministry “only instructed the removal of content glorifying the deposed Assad regime and replaced images of the regime’s flag with those of the Syrian revolution’s flag in all textbooks.” The statement “clarified” that the changes to the curriculum only apply to the correction of certain “inaccuracies” in the Islamic education curriculum under Assad “such as the misinterpretation of some Quranic verses.” Last month, al-Qadri told Reuters that both Islam and Christianity will continue to be taught in schools. The new rebel Islamic leader, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, whose rebel group has roots in Al-Qadea, has made great efforts to convey an image of tolerance to Western entities, saying that all religions and sectors in Syria will be respected. However, he also said that the new regime will govern in accordance with Sharia law. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)