Saudi Studies
"Teaching programs funded by Saudi Arabia are making their way into (American)..classrooms."
Jewish Telegraphic Agency (1)
Educational materials favoring the Arab and Islamic points of view are brought into American public schools through Saudi-backed teacher training seminars, textbooks, and supplementary publications. The teacher-training efforts are funded by Title VI of the Higher Education Act (of 1958) which supports 18 centers for Middle East studies at top US Universities.
The Arab World Studies Notebook,one of the materials used, refers to Palestine, but not Israel. It describes Jerusalem as an Arab city, ignoring the centuries it was the capital of Judea. The Notebook was published by a group funded in part by Saudi Aramco, a government-owned oil company.
The US government should be very wary of using any materials funded by Saudi Arabia, in view of the role the Kingdom is playing in the world of Islamic indoctrination.
The founder of modern Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, made an agreement in the 1920's with the leaders of Wahhabi Islam that his heirs adhere to today. In exchange for Wahhabi support for the monarchy, the King would rule in accordance with the Koran. This includes support for religious education under the leadership of Wahhabi mullahs, both inside Saudi Arabia and in Saudi-funded schools (madrassas) in other Muslim countries including Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia and Afghanistan. Many of the Islamic terrorists participating in Al Qaida and allied groups recieved their religious training in these schools.
Wahhabi Islam is especially strict and austere, and it is characterized by extreme hostility to infidels, such as Jews and Christians. When American armed forces were stationed in Saudi Arabia to defend the Kingdom against Iraq, soldiers were banned from wearing religious items or conducting religious activities off-base. Non-Muslims may visit the Kingdom (except Mecca), but cannot become citizens. Unofficial religious police enforce Koranic rules, Wahhabi style, even upon Western tourists.
While the regime relies upon the support of the Wahhabi establishment for its legitimacy, it is aligned with the United States in international relations. The latter connection is anathema to the most militant Muslims (such as Osama bin Laden) partly due to American friendship for Israel and otherwise due to the challenge that all Western civilization poses to the doctrines of traditional Islam. Despite the unmitigated hostility toward Israel consistently displayed by Saudi rulers, and generous Saudi funding of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Al Qaida has committed numerous acts of terror in the Kingdom, mostly directed at American and other foreign residents. Some Saudi officials appear totally clueless about the nature of terrorism; Prince Bindar speculated that Israel may have been responsible for the attack on the World Trade Center. (Even though 15 of the 19 hi-jackers were Saudi nationals, who must have been working for Israel, despite their militant Islamic beliefs.)
The House of Saud has been playing a delicate balancing act to keep Wahhabi support without antagonizing the United States too much. Well aware of the fate of the Shah of Iran, who relied entirely on alliance with the West, the Saudis have survived in power this long by placating internal Islamic forces. Their success in holding power is in the interest of the United States , which relies on the Kingdom for about one-quarter of its imported oil. Despite Saudi ambivalence about opposing all forms of terrorism, the royals are clearly preferable from an American perspective to the realistic alternatives. Israeli officials probably feel the same way.
American public schools need more information about the outside world, especially about the Arab and Muslim worlds. But our education officials must be sure that materials used portray these worlds factually and impartially. Given the Saudi record of promoting hostility to Jews and Israel, the Kingdom must not be source of these materials, even if provided free.
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(1) The quotation and other information about Saudi-influenced educational materials was published in the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle issue of October 29, 2005.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency (1)
Educational materials favoring the Arab and Islamic points of view are brought into American public schools through Saudi-backed teacher training seminars, textbooks, and supplementary publications. The teacher-training efforts are funded by Title VI of the Higher Education Act (of 1958) which supports 18 centers for Middle East studies at top US Universities.
The Arab World Studies Notebook,one of the materials used, refers to Palestine, but not Israel. It describes Jerusalem as an Arab city, ignoring the centuries it was the capital of Judea. The Notebook was published by a group funded in part by Saudi Aramco, a government-owned oil company.
The US government should be very wary of using any materials funded by Saudi Arabia, in view of the role the Kingdom is playing in the world of Islamic indoctrination.
The founder of modern Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, made an agreement in the 1920's with the leaders of Wahhabi Islam that his heirs adhere to today. In exchange for Wahhabi support for the monarchy, the King would rule in accordance with the Koran. This includes support for religious education under the leadership of Wahhabi mullahs, both inside Saudi Arabia and in Saudi-funded schools (madrassas) in other Muslim countries including Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia and Afghanistan. Many of the Islamic terrorists participating in Al Qaida and allied groups recieved their religious training in these schools.
Wahhabi Islam is especially strict and austere, and it is characterized by extreme hostility to infidels, such as Jews and Christians. When American armed forces were stationed in Saudi Arabia to defend the Kingdom against Iraq, soldiers were banned from wearing religious items or conducting religious activities off-base. Non-Muslims may visit the Kingdom (except Mecca), but cannot become citizens. Unofficial religious police enforce Koranic rules, Wahhabi style, even upon Western tourists.
While the regime relies upon the support of the Wahhabi establishment for its legitimacy, it is aligned with the United States in international relations. The latter connection is anathema to the most militant Muslims (such as Osama bin Laden) partly due to American friendship for Israel and otherwise due to the challenge that all Western civilization poses to the doctrines of traditional Islam. Despite the unmitigated hostility toward Israel consistently displayed by Saudi rulers, and generous Saudi funding of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Al Qaida has committed numerous acts of terror in the Kingdom, mostly directed at American and other foreign residents. Some Saudi officials appear totally clueless about the nature of terrorism; Prince Bindar speculated that Israel may have been responsible for the attack on the World Trade Center. (Even though 15 of the 19 hi-jackers were Saudi nationals, who must have been working for Israel, despite their militant Islamic beliefs.)
The House of Saud has been playing a delicate balancing act to keep Wahhabi support without antagonizing the United States too much. Well aware of the fate of the Shah of Iran, who relied entirely on alliance with the West, the Saudis have survived in power this long by placating internal Islamic forces. Their success in holding power is in the interest of the United States , which relies on the Kingdom for about one-quarter of its imported oil. Despite Saudi ambivalence about opposing all forms of terrorism, the royals are clearly preferable from an American perspective to the realistic alternatives. Israeli officials probably feel the same way.
American public schools need more information about the outside world, especially about the Arab and Muslim worlds. But our education officials must be sure that materials used portray these worlds factually and impartially. Given the Saudi record of promoting hostility to Jews and Israel, the Kingdom must not be source of these materials, even if provided free.
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(1) The quotation and other information about Saudi-influenced educational materials was published in the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle issue of October 29, 2005.
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 10:29 AM
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