To Forget Murder Victims is to Kill Them Twice - The Prospect of Teaching "The Holocaust" in Jordan

Oct 15, 2026

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This paper examines the possibility of teaching the Holocaust in Jordanian universities, focusing on socio-religious obstacles that could hinder such instruction and outlining ways to address them. It specifies what material should be taught and what background must be prepared for students before approaching the topic. Drawing on academic and political sources, the study builds a proposed educational project and discusses its rationale.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research Problem

Research Objective

Discussion

Challenge: Designing an acceptable method

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 [www.alls.aiac.org.au](www.alls.aiac.org.au) | To Forget Murder Victims is to Kill Them Twice: The Prospect of Teaching "The Holocaust" in Jordan
Majid Salem Mgamis*
English Department, Tafila echnical University, P.O Box 179 – Tafila, 66 10 – Jordan Corresponding Author: Majid Salem Mgamis, E-mail: [esotericities@yahoo.co.uk](esotericities@yahoo.co.uk) | | | --- | --- | | ARTICLE INFO
Article history
Received: June 07, 2017
Accepted: September 01, 2017
Published: October 31, 2017
Volume: 8 Issue: 5
Advance access: October 2017 Conflicts of interest: Non
Funding: None
Key words:
Holocaust, Pedagogy, Teaching literature, The Other, Jewish Literature | ABSTRACT
This paper examines the possibility of teaching the holocaust in Jordanian universities. In this regard, it highlights the socio-religious challenges that may impede such a project and suggests some methods to overcome them. It discusses the material to be taught and the background that should be furnished for students before presenting the topic. The paper draws on academic as well as political sources to enrich the project it proposes. | INTRODUCTION Research Problem The history of Arab-Israeli relations has witnessed constant conflicts for centuries. Two major ideas should be mentioned in this regard. The conflicts have been political rather than religious; in more particular terms, the struggle focuses on the issue of possessing the land rather than supremacy of religion. Second, there is confusion among Arabs between the concepts of “Israeli” and “Jew;” thus mixing the political with the religious. The bottom line is that this conflict is dominant so much so that it affects all disciplines and institutions. One of the major fields which has been influenced by such political considerations is the educational one. In this regard, although there have been humble attempts to include the topic in the curriculum, teaching the Holocaust has almost been banned, though sometimes unconsciously, in all Arab countries, viewing it as “fairytale serving Zionist propaganda”(Freidman) . Like most Arab counterparts, the Jordanian educational system has been inflicted with the banking model of education. This model, proposed by the Brazilian Pedagogue, Paulo Freire, highlights the existence of a single authority that others have to follow; rejecting any form of democracy or freedom of thinking. This autocratic pedagogical ideology has banned teaching the Holocaust in the country. On the other hand, critical pedagogy as model of education, goes in stark contrast with the despotic banking system. The critical pedagogy model is based on democracy, emancipation, empowerment of students as well as freedom of thinking. In line with this liberal model, the educational arena should not be influenced by any political or religious agenda resulting in preventing any mentioning of the Holocaust in teaching (Freire) . Research Objective This paper intends to address the possibility of introducing the Holocaust for undergraduate students in my home country; Jordan. The focal concern will be on two primary challenges in the process of teaching the holocaust. First, how to convince students and/or the pedagogical authority of the necessity and significance of addressing the topic; second, how to maintain a neutral critical analysis of the topic in the midst of the tremendous antagonistic stand towards the Jews. Evidently, attempting this challenging project is not an easy task. Taking the aforementioned political situation in the country, it becomes a great adventure. Published by Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD. Copyright (c) the author(s). This is an open access article under CC BY license ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)) [http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.5p.51](http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.al

FAQs

What is the paper’s main goal regarding Holocaust teaching in Jordan?

The paper aims to explore the feasibility of introducing Holocaust teaching for undergraduate students in Jordan and to address the core challenges involved.

What socio-religious and educational challenges does the paper emphasize?

It highlights socio-religious challenges and explains how the Jordanian educational system’s banking model and political-religious confusion can impede teaching the Holocaust.

How does the paper propose to make the Holocaust topic acceptable to students?

It proposes clarifying the Jew/Israeli confusion and framing the teaching so it aligns with religious teachings, including references to Islamic views and historical examples.

Oct 15, 2026

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