Washington D.C., May 24, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The latest textbooks of Saudi Arabia's public school curriculum continue to promote intolerance of other religions despite official pronouncements of curriculum reform, says a new study by the Center for Religious Freedom, part of Freedom House, a nonprofit group based in Washington.
A first-grade student is taught: "Every religion other than Islam is false." Fifth graders learn: "It is forbidden for a Muslim to be a loyal friend to someone who does not believe in God and his prophet, or someone who fights the religion of Islam."
"It is not hate speech here and there, it is an ideology that runs throughout," Nina Shea, the center's director and principal author of the report, told journalist Hassan Fattah. Shea said this curriculum leads to an “us versus them” ideology.
The report's authors worked with the Institute for Gulf Affairs, another Washington-based group, to obtain 12 history and religion textbooks from parents of Saudi schoolchildren. The textbooks were used last year in Saudi schools and Saudi-run schools in Washington, London and Paris.