A new report from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) has accused the School District of Philadelphia's social studies curriculum of promoting anti-Semitic and anti-American views by framing history through the lens of oppressor and oppressed categories. Published on Wednesday, the report criticizes the district's shift toward an "anti-racist, decolonizing curriculum" that allegedly encourages teachers to attack America, Zionism, and Israel in classrooms, as highlighted in a Wednesday X post by CAMERA's account.
The report specifically targets the SDP's World History curriculum for devoting minimal attention to key historical events and figures, including the Ancient Greeks and Romans, Christian history, the Enlightenment, both World Wars, and the Holocaust. Instead, it emphasizes topics such as settler colonialism, displacement, genocide, indigenous perspectives on concepts like land and time, and efforts to preserve indigenous languages and cultures.
One particularly contentious unit is dedicated entirely to critiquing capitalism, portraying the economic system as unjust, according to the CAMERA analysis. The report notes that the curriculum fails to offer similar criticism of communism, mentioning the ideology only in relation to capitalism or as a reaction to European colonialism.
The curriculum's unit on terrorism draws sharp rebuke for its approach to defining the term. It presents students with "What is terrorism?" scenarios, including Israelis killing children in Palestinian refugee camps, Indian farmers threatening and attacking Monsanto, and a 1998 U.S. cruise missile strike destroying a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant—while omitting prominent Islamic terror attacks, the report alleges.
Further, the terrorism unit includes 10 scenarios designed to lead students to the predetermined conclusion that the U.S. sponsors terrorism, with two of those scenarios implicating Israel, according to CAMERA's findings. The report argues that these elements collectively undermine Western values and institutions, including capitalism, racism, and settler colonialism.
