Saudi-Backed School in Vienna Shut Over Anti-Semitic Books
A Saudi-backed school in Vienna that allegedly used an anti-Jewish textbook was ordered to close after it refused to disclose information about its staff.
The Austrian capital’s school board announced Tuesday that it decided to shut down the Saudi School Vienna after it ignored a Dec. 1 deadline to provide the names of its teaching and administrative staff. Supplying a list of staff is a basic requirement for all private schools in Austria.
The school had earlier stirred controversy following media reports that it used an anti-Jewish book in classes. The book allegedly describes Freemasons as “a Jewish, secret, subversive organization focused on guaranteeing control of the world by Jews,” according to The Associated Press. Vienna’s school board is investigating the allegations.
“We have also asked the school to supply us with a translation of all teaching materials,” Matias Meissner, a spokesman for the school board, told the French news agency AFP.
The Arabic-language school, which has been open for approximately a decade, has about 160 students. It has four weeks to appeal the decision before being forced to close at the end of the school year.
According to reports, the school has financial backing from Saudi Arabia. The reports, however, do not make clear the funding sources.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
