Iranian & Saudi Textbooks Also Preach Intolerance Which Promotes Violence (updated Feb. 12)

By Andrew Cochran

On February 8, I wrote here about new textbooks used in Palestinian schools which promote hatred of other religions and support terrorism. But this problem certainly isn't isolated to that area; it appears to be more of a systemic effort by numerous Muslim educators worldwide to brainwash their children. Textbooks used in Iran refer to the United States as the "Great Satan" and to Israel as "the regime that occupies Jerusalem," according to a study released this week by the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace. In a separate policy statement, the co-authors write, "The books reveal an uncompromisingly hostile attitude towards the West, especially the United States and Israel. In fact, the curriculum’s declared goal is to prepare the students for a global struggle against the West which bears alarming Messianic-like features to the point of self-destruction." You can download the entire report from the CMIP site.

An outcry arose this week in the UK over textbooks funded by the Saudi Ministry of Education and used in the King Fahd Academy in West London. BBC Two's "Newsnight" programme translated textbooks used there and found that they preached intolerance of Judaism and Christianity. Phrases found in some of the books include the following: "(E)very religion other than islam is worthless... They are the Jewish observers of Saturdays whose youth God turned into monkeys and their elders into pigs as their punishment... The monkeys... are the Jews. And the pigs: they are the Christian infidels at Jesus' table." The Academy's principal waffled when pressed on BBC to remove the textbooks. At one point she promised to remove the offensive chapters, but at another point in the interview, she said that the books "have good chapters that can be used by the teachers." You can see the initial expose and interview of the Academy's principal here, and a followup story by "Newsnight" here.

This isn't the first time the Saudis have been discovered brainwashing Muslim youth. Last year, Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom released a report analyzing Saudi Ministry of Education textbooks in use for elementary and secondary students. The authors found that the books "(c)ommand Muslims to 'hate' Christians, Jews, 'polytheists' and other 'unbelievers,' including non-Wahhabi Muslims, though, incongruously, not to treat them 'unjustly'... teach that 'Jews and the Christians are enemies of the [Muslim] believers' and that 'the clash' between the two realms is perpetual" and "instruct that 'fighting between Muslims and Jews' will continue until Judgment Day, and that the Muslims are promised victory over the Jews in the end."

The Saudis' role in teaching intolerance has been the subject of inquiry by the U.S. Congress. In November 2005, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled, "Saudi Arabia: Friend or Foe in the War on Terror?" on the role of Saudis in disseminating hateful anti-American and anti-Israeli propaganda thoughout Islamic schools and mosques in the U.S. Contributing Expert Steven Emerson testified at that hearing. You can download his statement and those of other witnesses from the committee's website, and I posted about that hearing and a previous study of Saudi-sponsored propaganda in U.S. mosques and schools.

UPDATE, Feb. 11: Thanks to Philip Henika for sending me this December 2002 article by Steven Stalinsky for MEMRI on this subject, and also this August 2004 "American Prospect" article about the Wahhabi influence in Southeast Asia. Apparently nothing has changed in the past four years.

UPDATE, Feb. 12: See this Sunday London Times article on the Academy - even after the exposure of the hateful books, the principal vows to continue using them.

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