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Myrick Urges Bush To Address Hatred In Saudi Texts
According to this poll conducted by American Congress for Truth, the American people overwhelmingly support measures like this. This comes from WND:
A Republican leader of Congress has urged President Bush to press the Saudi government to reform its textbooks during his visit tomorrow with Saudi King Abdullah.
In a letter to Bush, Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., founder of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus, warned that the kingdom is still "spreading a dangerous ideology that attacked us on 9/11 and continues to threaten the United States and its allies around the world."
"I strongly urge you to raise my concerns regarding the use of textbooks that are sanctioned by the Saudi government for use within the country and around the world that preach hatred and violence toward non-Muslims and Western ideals of liberty," she said in the May 5 missive.
Despite Abdullah's post-9/11 promises of reforms, Saudi school texts used for Islamic studies still encourage violence and hatred toward "infidels," according to a recent comprehensive review by the Freedom House.
The nonprofit group says indoctrination begins as early as first grade and expands each year, culminating in a 12th-grade text teaching teens that their religious duty includes waging "jihad" against the infidel to "spread the faith."
Here are relevant passages from the Saudi textbooks, by grade level:
- First Grade: "Every religion other than Islam is false."
- Fourth Grade: "True belief means ... that you hate the polytheists and infidels but do not treat them unjustly."
- Fifth Grade: "It is forbidden for a Muslim to be a loyal friend to someone who does not believe in Allah and His Prophet."
- Sixth Grade: "Just as Muslims were successful in the past when they came together in a sincere endeavor to evict the Christian crusaders from Palestine, so will the Arabs and Muslims emerge victorious, Allah willing, against the Jews and their allies if they stand together and fight a true jihad for Allah, for this is within Allah's power."
- Eighth Grade: "The apes are the Jews, the people of the Sabbath; while the swine are the Christians, the infidels of the communion of Jesus."
- Ninth Grade: "The clash between this (Muslim) community and the Jews and Christians has endured, and it will continue as long as Allah wills."
Myrick worries the hateful religious indoctrination could translate into violence against the West. Of immediate concern, she notes, are the thousands of young Saudi men scheduled to immigrate to the U.S. on student visas...