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State Department: Saudis to scrub curriculum by school year start
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The U.S. State Department expects the Saudi government to purge intolerant passages from its educational curricula by the beginning of next school year, a spokesman said Thursday, a day after a federal commission drew attention to texts condoning violence and martyrdom at a Fairfax County Saudi prep school.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on Wednesday issued a highly critical review of textbooks used by the Islamic Saudi Academy, which has two campuses in Fairfax, citing materials that demonized other religions and excused the killing of non-believers and adulterers. The school is tied to the Saudi government.
The report comes two weeks after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ unanimous vote to extend the academy’s lease for a year, and eight months after the commission first recommended closing the school if it didn’t prove it wasn’t inciting religious hatred.
State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos, in response to a question on Wednesday’s report at a daily press briefing, said the Saudi government first acknowledged the need to revise the textbooks used at its schools in July 2006 “to remove all intolerant passages that disparage or promote hatred toward other religious groups or religions,” and agreed to cut them by the 2008 school year.
Dwight Bashir, senior policy analyst for the commission, said the State Department has been looking at the school’s texts for years and has yet to publicly issue its views.
He said the Saudi government uses the same curriculum at the 19 schools it runs abroad, including the Islamic Saudi Academy, as it uses for schools within the country.
While Bashir said the State Department has repeatedly cited progress on removing the offending passages, many remain “peppered” within the Islamic Saudi Academy’s texts the commission reviewed.
“The incitement to violence, that stuff is still there,” Bashir said. “And the real demonizing stuff about other groups is also still there. And this is just a little sample.”
Fairfax County supervisors said Wednesday’s report has not made them rethink their decision to renew the lease.
“We are not in a position to determine what is going to go on in a classroom there,” said Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross. “What we were asked to do was consider leasing the land and school to the Islamic Saudi Academy, and that’s what we did.”
No one who could speak for the academy could be reached Thursday.
wflook@dcexaminer.com
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Examiner Reader said:
The violent aspects (jihad, gazwas, stoning,) are an integral part of real islam as can be found in the qur'an, sira and hadiths. These textbooks show the honest face of that violent religion. The religion of peace crap is sheer taqqiya.
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Examiner Reader said:
The textbooks aren't the only problem at the ISA. There was a bus accident back in April of 2005 and a recent case of the director's suppression of a report of sexual child-abuse (5 year old). The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors needs to get a clue. Sheesh!
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Examiner Reader said:
London School of Islamics is an educational Trust. Its aim is to make British public, institutions and media aware of the needs and demands of the Muslim community in the field of education and possible solutions. Slough Islamic school Trust Slough had a seminar on Muslim education and schools in Thames Valley Atheltic Centre. The seminar was addressed by the education spokesman of MCB. I could not attend the seminar but I believe lot of Muslims from Slough and surrounding areas must have attended. Very soon, the Muslims of Slough will have a state funded Muslim school but there is a need for more schools. A day will come when all Muslim children will attend state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role model. Muslim schools are not only faith schools but they are more or less bilingual schools. Bilingual Muslim children need to learn standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve huma
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Bible Scholar said:
Examiner Reader is absolutely correct: both the Bible and the Quran mandate the death penalty for many offenses, including the offenses of not "worshipping" in the ways prescribed in the books. A true believer in one faith must therefore believe that death is perfectly appropriate for those of other faiths, or for non-believers. Does anyone really doubt that religion is the source of much of the evil in the world?
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Rose said:
It is the same as in the UK - there is also a Saudi school - which teaches a similar extremist curriculum – and where one teacher who complained was told that once he enters the school - he is no longer in the UK but in Saudi Arabia. Funny according to Freedom House this is the same things that are taught in schools in Saudi Arabia. One teacher there was fired for teaching students a little about Christianity and Judaism that wasn't negative or hate filled. We should keep checks on these schools - Saudi Arabia doesn't have a single church or other non-Muslim religious establishment - but yet wishes the world to accept that it believes in tolerance towards others. And let's not forget that its Saudi money that is funding the experts on Islamic in western universities. Beware your expert on Islam - has be bought and he now offers the Saudi view.
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class of 2008 said:
i am a senior student at ISA. ISA is a great school and we dont learn to hate non muslims. I can't believe people think that isa is teaching us to hate non muslims. Its really sad and not true. we do really great stuff at ISA we help poor musims and non muslims, we do a lot of acativites in the school and out side of the school. so, people if you have never been in ISA. please ask the people who came and visit the school or met the students they will tell you how respectful and amazing The Islamic Saudi Academy students are. we don't hate non muslims. we have non muslim friends and teachers how can we hate them? and if what you say is true do u think we would have non muslim teachers or students in our school, well,i don't think so. please before you say anything about my school or the students go see or talk to one of ISA students or teachers no matter where he or she is from.
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Examiner Reader said:
Isn't it natural that a Koranic interpretive book would be violent? The Koran is violent. So is the Bible, particularly the first half which both Jews and Christians agree on. Agnosticism, get on board. It feels good here.
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RS said:
Nice. Real nice. I really appreciate the work of the Commission for showing, AGAIN, the genocidal nature of the Saudi regime, with whom the USG IS IN BED. WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE PEOPLE???? WHERE????
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Examiner Reader said:
To Eli Mosa: The letter "z" does not appear in the word "surprisingly."
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Eli Mosa said:
If the commissioner is on a rempage to remove all religious textbooks that incite violence, let her start with removing the bible from all chrisitan schools. If it is about violence, the god of the bible alone killed 2,360,000 people, including the gays on the time of Lot. The god of the bible orders Moses to kill every living creature, and not to leave a donkey, not even a suckling baby. Suprizingly, the god of the bible asked to spare virgin women (use your imagination on how an armed person could distinguish between a virgin women and the one who is not). I am sure the commission is not after the truth, or after stoping the kids from blowing themselves up in the near futer. The zionist in town are after stopping the school. Now if it is about stupid argument of anti-semitism, again the fist book to after is the bible, mainly the old testament! guess what, that same god of the bible comdemns the jews and calls them names like "stiff necks" etc...
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Cal Thomas Fan said:
WOW!!! look at those haters. Expecially the teacher she looks like a Klan member to me. Just look at the picture. Thats pathetic!!!! if the county doesn't find anything objectionable then I think the county should be sued for defamation of this School. People like Cal Thomas and 700 hundred club are behind this misinformation.
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Max Peterson said:
I live in a country where the right to free speech and freedom of religion are placed high above all others. While I too would not want to see hatred and violence being systematically ingrained in our children, it seems this review may go beyond that. 'Fairfax County Supervisor Gerald Hyland...“The material that they’re using, I trust upon review, will not be material that would constitute anything that people would find offensive or objectionable,”' Inciting violence is one thing, but 'objectionable'? Perhaps Mr. Hyland misspoke, but it does seem a valid concern to me that the county government may here be overstepping their bounds.
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Examiner Reader said:
Hey, they should look for all the translators the Army discharged 'cause they were gay. Funny, you'd think Bush and the Republicans would WANT Arabic translators with Bush's war and all...but hey, they can still say "no gays in the Military".
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Mike Licht said:
>>Re: Fairfax seeks Islamic texts [textbooks - misleading headline here] translator<< Are readers to assume the Islamic Saudi Academy is run by the Saudi Embassy or Nation? Your editors have cut that part out, along with the locations of the other Saudi schools that are said to have undergone curriculum review - are they even in the US? Also not given: the authority of this U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom - government or nonprofit? Editors--please do better next time.
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