Saudi tutorial

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

Saudi tutorial
By Clifford D. May
Published June 3, 2006

Nearly four years ago, Saudi dissident Ali al-Ahmed and author Stephen Schwartz conducted a study for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies of textbooks and other publications distributed by the Saudi government and Saudi-funded organizations.
They found such messages as: "Judaism and Christianity are deviant religions." "The unbelievers, idolaters and others like them must be hated and despised." "We say to every Christian and every Jew and all those outside Islam, 'Your children are born into Islam, but you and their mother take them away from Islam with your corrupt rearing.' "
Saudi spokesmen, assisted by high-priced Washington public relations professionals, have since claimed such intolerant views were no longer promoted by the rulers of Arabia.
Saudi adviser Adel al-Jubeir, recently awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of North Texas, said last year: "We have reviewed our educational curriculums. We have removed materials that are inciteful [sic] or intolerant towards people of other faiths." Prince Turki al-Faisal, the new Saudi ambassador to the United States, said recently: "Not only have we eliminated what might be perceived as intolerance from old textbooks that were in our system, we have implemented a comprehensive internal revision and moderation plan."
But these spokesmen are misinformed. Ali al-Ahmed, now head of the Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs, obtained a dozen textbooks used during the current academic year by the Saudi Education Ministry. He turned them over to Freedom House, which had the materials translated by two independent Arabic speakers. Among the messages:
"The apes are Jews, the people of the Sabbath; while the swine are the Christians, the infidels of the communion of Jesus." "The clash between this [Muslim] community and the Jews and Christians has endured, and it will continue as long as God wills." "Whoever obeys the Prophet and accepts the oneness of God cannot maintain a loyal friendship with those who oppose God and His Prophet, even if they are his closest relatives."
"This indoctrination," wrote Nina Shea, director of Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom, "begins in a first-grade text and is reinforced and expanded each year. By the 12th grade, students following the Saudi curriculum will be instructed that their religious obligation includes waging jihad against the infidel to 'spread the faith.' "
What's more, such ideas are taught not only to Saudi students but also to children in Saudi-funded schools in Pakistan, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy -- and the United States.
In response to the Freedom House study, Prince Turki issued a statement insisting the Saudi government "has worked diligently during the last five years to overhaul its education system." This is a "massive undertaking," he added, that "remains ongoing."
Yet even as the ambassador was making that argument, the Saudi-owned satellite television carrier, Arabsat, was broadcasting al-Manar, Hezbollah's television station. Al-Manar was recently named by the U.S. government as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity. By the admission of its own officials, al-Manar attempts to "help people on the way to committing what you call in the West a suicide mission."
Prince Turki might let us know: How massive an undertaking would it require to turn off the switch on al-Manar's terrorist incitement?
The truth is that what is written in Saudi textbooks reflects the world view of Wahhabism, an extremist movement launched 250 years ago by Mohammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. A grand bargain between the Wahhab family and the House of Sa'ud eventually gave rise to modern Saudi Arabia and established Wahhabism as its state religion.
In recent decades, oil revenues have extravagantly enriched the Saudi royal family, and much of that money has been spent in an attempt to make Wahhabism the dominant interpretation of Islam around the world. The growth of militant Islamism and catastrophic terrorism has been one result. If you preach that "infidels" are vermin, eventually volunteers will come forward to serve as exterminators.
For Wahhabis to embrace religious tolerance would represent a historic reform. So far, there is no evidence such change is seriously contemplated. If Saudi leaders truly believed in interfaith respect they would invite leaders of other religions to establish houses of worship on Saudi soil -- as mosques have been built from Washington to London to Tel Aviv.
To a devout Saudi Wahhabi, however, such a notion is unthinkable and repugnant. We fail to acknowledge this reality at our peril.

Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.