Negative portrayal of Christianity in Qatar: Qatar had a vibrant Christian population up until the seventh century, and has a small community of Christians today, mostly Coptic Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and Anglicans. However, as this article shows, Christianity is portrayed in an extremely negative manner in Qatari textbooks, in a manner that researchers have dubbed “indoctrination toward resentment. This could result in Christians in Qatar being denied rights or even brutalized, and should be addressed by human rights organizations in the interests of justice for this religious minority.
“Qatari Education Curriculum Promotes Religious Persecution,” International Christian Concern, September 14, 2020:
09/14/2020 Qatar (International Christian Concern) – A new report produced by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education studied 238 Qatari textbooks over the last four academic years. The report looks at two separate parts of the curriculum as it relates to Christians. The overall conclusion was that the curriculum does not promote religious tolerance.
It noted some improvements with the Qatari curriculum in that it gives much information about Christian-Muslim interactions during the Middle Ages. There are more exercises related to cultural sharing. However, it does speak suspiciously of missionary activities, generally defined within the spheres of education, deceptive charities, and medical treatments. It warns that such activities are meant to “destroy Islam.”
The report noted almost no improvement with the curriculum of Islamic religious studies. The curriculum heavily emphasizes that Christians want to destroy Islam, and blames local non-Muslim minorities with collaborating with the enemy. The report calls this an “indoctrination toward resentment.” The report also notes that the curriculum does not include material relating to the persecution of Christians. Instead, Christians are viewed as infidels….
