IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1497 
Condemning the inclusion of inflammatory and inaccurate content in Iranian 
textbooks that is aimed at indoctrinating and radicalizing students with 
anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic, and anti-Western sentiment and at restricting 
the rights of women. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 30, 2010 
Mr. ROSKAM (for himself and Mr. QUIGLEY) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning the inclusion of inflammatory and inaccurate 
content in Iranian textbooks that is aimed at indoctri-
nating and radicalizing students with anti-Israeli, anti- 
Semitic, and anti-Western sentiment and at restricting 
the rights of women. 
Whereas an Iranian law passed in 1987 states, ‘‘the edu-
cation system plays a role in shaping students politically 
and ensuring their adherence to the Islamic Revolution’’ 
and that ‘‘purification takes precedence over education.’’; 
Whereas in 2005, after being elected President of Iran, 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reintroduced the institution of 
‘‘omur-e parvareshi’’ whereby special ‘‘mentors’’ from the 
Basij militia, the volunteer force that has played a role 
in suppressing opposition ideas and protests, ensure that 
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•HRES 1497 IH 
students do not deviate from a narrow track of political 
thought, Islamic values, and life outside school; 
Whereas a 2007 United States Government-sponsored con-
tract study of 85 Iranian school textbooks of all grades 
again found numerous examples of anti-Semitic and anti- 
Israeli sentiment being taught to Iranian schoolchildren, 
such as a Grade 5 literature book that states that ‘‘the 
Israeli enemies . . . occupied the Dome of Rock and they 
do not let the Muslims pray in it . . . the Israeli enemies 
destroyed the school of Palestinians’’; 
Whereas the same study also found textbooks advocating 
martyrdom, such as a Grade 5 social teachings textbook 
that states that ‘‘martyrdom is the highest degree of sac-
rifice’’ and another Grade 5 Persian language and lit-
erature textbook that praises martyrdom and urges chil-
dren to welcome it; 
Whereas the same study also found textbooks advocating 
against women’s rights, such as a high school textbook 
that states that ‘‘giving the right to vote to women was 
a clear act of hostility to Islam’’; 
Whereas a comprehensive 2008 Freedom House study of 95 
Iranian school textbooks published between 2006 and 
2007 for all grades concluded that ‘‘the government of 
Iran is teaching the country’s children to discriminate 
against women and minorities, to view non-Muslims with 
suspicion if not contempt, and to perpetuate the regime’s 
theocratic ideology. Discrimination and intolerance are 
deeply ingrained in the textbooks that make up the core 
of Iran’s school curriculum’’; 
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•HRES 1497 IH 
Whereas the same study also found that textbooks consider 
Israel to be an ‘‘absolute evil’’ and connect many of 
Iran’s political issues and crises to Israel; 
Whereas the same study concluded that ‘‘the discourse of the 
textbooks has not been written with the concept of equal-
ity of all human beings, as enshrined in the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights.’’; 
Whereas in 2007, discussion began to rewrite the Iranian 
school system’s textbooks to make content more Islamic, 
segregate between men and women, eliminate subjects 
deemed too Western or secular, and to eliminate parts of 
Iran’s own history that could foment nationalist or anti- 
Islamic sentiment; 
Whereas Iranian women have been able to attend school and 
advance themselves in spite of restrictions placed upon 
them, accounting for six out of ten university students, 
which has produced a generation of educated women who 
can fight for reform and for more rights; 
Whereas a discussion is underway in Iran to reform the uni-
versity system because it currently puts women at a fur-
ther disadvantage by implementing quotas to limit enroll-
ment and segregating classes; 
Whereas members of groups organized to protest the edu-
cational system have routinely been arrested; 
Whereas the practice of gozinesh, which screens students ac-
cepted to public universities for moral behavior and loy-
alty to Islam and the regime and which had been banned 
in 1997, was reinstituted by President Ahmadinejad; 
Whereas a Wall Street Journal article dated December 31, 
2009, that chronicles the star system in the Iranian 
school system and the adversity faced by so-called ‘‘star 
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•HRES 1497 IH 
students’’ in Iran states that ‘‘ranking in the top of the 
class . . . means your name appears on a list of students 
considered a threat by the intelligence ministry . . . 
[and] a partial or complete ban from education’’; 
Whereas students with one star are allowed to return to 
school only after signing a consent to give up political ac-
tivism, students with two stars face suspensions and in-
terrogations, and students with three stars are banned 
from education for life; 
Whereas star students are identified by monitoring email and 
phone conversations of people considered dissidents and 
activists; 
Whereas the same article reported a female student who 
ranked 55th out of more than 70,000 students on the na-
tion’s law school entrance exam, but was not allowed to 
attend law school because of her ‘‘star’’ status, had par-
ticipated in the presidential campaign of opposition lead-
er Mir Hossein Mousavi and in several protests that oc-
curred after the disputed election; 
Whereas the same article reported a male student who 
ranked 43rd out of 25,000 participants in an MBA place-
ment exam was denied admission, suspended for four se-
mesters, arrested, and put in solitary confinement for 21 
days due to his role as spokesperson for a politically ac-
tive student group and as editor of a political student 
publication; 
Whereas there are many historical examples of education 
being used as a weapon of indoctrination and a method 
to instill hatred toward a group of people, including Nazi 
Germany; and 
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•HRES 1497 IH 
Whereas Article 26 of the United Nations Universal Declara-
tion of Human Rights states that ‘‘Everyone has the 
right to education. . . . Education shall be directed to 
the full development of the human personality and to the 
strengthening of respect for human rights and funda-
mental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, toler-
ance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious 
groups, and shall further the activities of the United Na-
tions for the maintenance of peace.’’: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns the inclusion of inflammatory and 
inaccurate content in Iranian textbooks that is 
aimed at indoctrinating and radicalizing students 
with anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic, and anti-Western sen-
timent and at restricting the rights of women; 
(2) calls on the Government of Iran to reform 
its textbooks and educational system so that it may 
promote peace, tolerance, equality, civil debate, and 
the development of civil society; and 
(3) urges the President regarding the conduct 
of Iran to take into consideration the harmful and 
disturbing content propagated by the Iranian edu-
cation system. 
Æ 
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