Morocco will soon be the first country in the North African region to incorporate Jewish history and culture into its school curriculum.

Fouad Chafiqi, head of academic program’s at the Ministry of Education says the move aims to highlight Morocco’s diverse identity.

The decision was made as part of an ongoing revamp of the educational curriculum in Morocco, which began in 2014.

Serge Berdugo, secretary-general of the Council of Jewish Communities of Morocco says

“It has the impact of a tsunami and also It is a first in the Arab world”

The move to add Jewish history and culture to lessons was discreetly launched before the standardized deal between Israel and Morocco was announced a week ago, brokered with the help of US President Donald Trump.

The AFP further cited two US based Jewish associations, the American Sephardi Federation and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish say that they had worked closely with the Kingdom of Morocco and the Moroccan Jewish community on the ground-breaking academic reform.

Leaders of the two organizations say in a statement ensuring Moroccan students learn about the entirety of their proud history of tolerance, including Morocco’s Philo-Semitism, is an inoculation against extremism.

As part of the plan, two new books will be introduced into the curriculum, which will include a description of the life and heritage of Moroccan Jews under a descendant of the Alawite dynasty, Sultan Mohammed Ben Abdellah Al-Khatib.

Chafiqi says while there was a Jewish presence in Morocco before the 18th century, the only reliable historical records date back to that time.

The books, intended for fourth and sixth grades, include historical accounts dating from the 17th century to the present day.

By Yazdaan Khan