Posted: 6/6/2009 7:28:00 PM
Source: This article was posted on the Deja Selam blog on June 5, 2009.
NEW STUDY SHOWS HOW SAUDI TEXTBOOKS TEACH CHILDREN TO HATE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS
Washington, DC 06.03.09– With President Barack Obama in Saudi Arabia today, a new study shows how textbooks currently used in middle and high schools in the Kingdom are teaching children to hate Jews and Christians and to use violent means against them.
Representatives Anthony D. Weiner (D – Brooklyn and Queens), Joseph Crowley (D – Queens and Bronx), and Shelley Berkley (D – Las Vegas) released the report of translated 2009 Saudi textbooks, documenting an on-going pattern of hate, anti-Semitism, and violence taught in Saudi Arabian schools.
In a letter to President Obama, Weiner condemned the hate-filled teachings and urged the President to address the issue during his meetings with Saudi officials this week.
Textbooks used in Saudi Arabian schools are not widely available to the West. In fact, the Saudi Arabian government and its Ministry of Education do not share the textbooks used in their schools and have ignored requests from U.S. officials to receive copies of the textbooks.
The Institute for Gulf affairs, a nonpartisan organization that studies the Gulf region, worked with a resident of Saudi Arabia to smuggle the text books out of Saudi Arabia to the United States and then translate them for this report.
Hateful Teachings in Saudi Textbooks
1. Students are taught: “The Prophet said, “The hour [of judgment] will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. [It will not come] until the Jew hides behind rocks and trees. [It will not come] until the rocks of the trees say, ‘O Muslim! O Servant of God! There is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him.” [Source: Al Hadeeth wa Athaqafah (Sayings of the Prophet and Islamic culture.) Page 148, 2009. Taught in 9th grade, age 14.]
2. In Grade 10, students are taught: “The blood money for a Muslim woman is half of the blood money for a male Muslim, and the blood money for an infidel woman is half of the blood money for a male infidel.” [Source: Fiqh (Jurisprudence.) Page 65, 2009. Taught in 10th grade, age 15.]
3. “The punishment for homosexuality is death….” [Source: Fiqh (Jurisprudence) Page 100, 2009, Age 16.]
4. “The apostate (Muslims who convert, question or doubt Islam) is required to repent to the ruler. If he repents and returns to Islam, it is accepted and he is left alone. If he refuses it is mandatory that the ruler kill him.” [Source: Towheed (Monotheism.) Page 33, 2009. Taught in 12th grade, age 17.]
5. “The Goals of Zionist-Movement: Instill a fighting spirit among the Jews, as well as religious and nationalist fanaticism to challenge [other] religions, nations, and peoples; Establish Jewish control over the world; Incite rancor and rivalry among the great powers so that they fight one another, and kindle the fire of war among states so that all states are weakened and their state arises.” [Source: Al Hadeeth wa Athaqafah (Sayings of the Prophet and Islamic culture.) Page 114, 2009. Taught in 10th grade, age 15.]
The Saudi Arabian school system maintains nearly 32,000 schools, with over 400,000 academic staff educating over 5 million students. In addition, Saudi Arabia runs academies in 19 world capitals and distributes texts worldwide to Islamic schools and madrassas.
For years, the Saudi leadership has said that they are working to reform their education system and remove examples of hateful teachings. And yet, the current 10th grade textbook, Towheed, which translates to “Monotheism,” was written by a Wahabi extremist named Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawazan who was quoted as saying “slavery is a part of Islam” and whoever wants it abolished is “an infidel.”
Weiner, a long-time critic of Saudi Arabia, is the author of the Saudi Arabia Accountability Act of 2009, a bill that encourages the Saudis to cooperate with the U.S. the investigation of terror groups and close all organizations in Saudi Arabia that fund, train, encourage, or in any way aid terrorism anywhere in the world.
Ali Al-Ahmed, Director of The Institute for Gulf Affairs, said, “The Saudi textbooks agree more with Al-Qaeda’s ideology more than it agrees with the values of Islam. Their education system must respect the diversity in Saudi Arabia, the Muslim world and world cultures and faiths, especially Judaism and Christianity.”
Rep. Berkley said, “The Saudis continue to instruct students in the ABC’s of hatred and violence, even after pledging to stop the spewing of this venom aimed at Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims. Until ‘killing the infidel’ in no longer a part of the Saudi lesson plan, we will remain skeptical about their interest in ending bloodshed in their region. The Saudis must show their commitment to peace by putting an end to these dangerous, hate-filled lessons that serve only to foster intolerance and promote violence.”
Rep. Weiner said, “The Saudis teach hate and violence. They fund and export terror. They obstruct Middle East peace. Turning over a new page with the Saudis must start with them reforming their education system
