BEIRUT: Anne Frank's diary has been censored out of a school textbook in Lebanon following a campaign by Hezbollah which claimed the classic work promotes Zionism.

The controversy erupted after Hezbollah learned that excerpts of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ were included in a textbook used by a private English-language school in western Beirut.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel ran a report slamming the book for focusing on the persecution of Jews.

‘What is even more dangerous is the dramatic, theatrical way in which the diary is emotionally recounted,’ the report, aired last week, said.

It questioned how long Lebanon would ‘remain an open arena for the Zionist invasion of education.’

A member of the school board, Jimmy Shoufani, told AFP that the school dropped the textbook from its curriculum after the controversy erupted.

Shoufani asked that the school not be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The party last month also took aim at another textbook used in a leading private school in Beirut in which Hezbollah and Hamas are referred to as terrorist organisations.

Washington considers both groups terrorist outfits.

The textbook, published in the United States, has been used for years by the school and the chapter in question is usually blanked out by Lebanon's censorship bureau.

However, an uncensored copy purchased by a student abroad apparently sparked the uproar.

Hezbollah fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006 and has since refused to surrender its weapons arguing they are necessary to protect Lebanon against Israeli aggression.