DUBAI (Alarabiya.net)
American syllabus checkers will revise textbooks from the Islamic Saudi Academy in Washington after a federal human rights panel charged that the books incited violence and hatred, according to America in Arabic news agency.
In its report, the committee recommended closing down the school until the syllabus was revised and discriminatory insinuations eliminated.
"The texts imply that protecting Islam necessitates the suppression of 'the other,' its findings read."
The committee said it sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia to follow up on the kingdom's promises to promote religious freedom and human rights, which included revising its textbooks.
The mission of the private Islamic school, according to its Web site, is to "enable our students to excel academically while maintaining the values of Islam and proficiency with the Arabic language. The Academy endeavors to provide a caring, challenging and supportive learning environment where students can achieve their highest potential while exhibiting civic responsibility and multicultural appreciation."
In recent years, several groups have cited examples of inflammatory statements in religious textbooks in Saudi Arabia, including claims that a ninth-grade textbook reads that the hour of judgment will not come “until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them.”
Saudi officials said they have worked in recent years to reform the textbooks and the curriculum, but critics say progress has been insufficient.
The school, funded by the Saudi government, has almost 1,000 students at two separate campuses in Fairfax and Alexandria counties in Washington, D.C.
Fairfax County spokeswoman said she wants to assuage the tension after the strong wave of criticism directed at the school.
In its 2007 report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom classified Saudi Arabia as a "country of particular concern."
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid). |
