Hellfire

To its credit, The New York Times (certainly not a bastion of anti-Muslim sentiment) reports on the BBC documentary in the following manner:

LONDON — A British network of more than 40 part-time Islamic schools and clubs with 5,000 students has been teaching from a Saudi Arabian government curriculum that contains anti-Semitic and homophobic views, including a textbook that asks children to list the “reprehensible” qualities of Jews, according to a BBC documentary broadcast on Monday.

The 30-minute “Panorama” program quoted the Saudi government-supplied textbook as saying that Jews “looked like monkeys and pigs,” and that Zionists set out to achieve “world domination.” The program quoted a separate part of the curriculum — for children as young as 6 — saying that someone who is not a believer in Islam at death would be condemned to “hellfire.”

It should come as no surprise that the core of financial and logistical support for Islamist thinking emanates from Saudi Arabia. Yet, virtually every Western country, including our own, tip-toes around the problem. The reason of course, is oil—Saudi oil. We need it, they have it, and therefore citizens of this this tiny, repressive dictatorship (called a Kingdom) are allowed to sponsor hate worldwide in the name of Islam.

Apologists for the Saudis always have an excuse—always. The Saudis are always misunderstood, the work is always sponsored by Saudi elements that cannot be controlled, the Saudis have no control over curriculum, the curriculum itself is being misrepresented, the materials cited are from ancient texts that have no relevance to modern Islam, … the list goes on and on. Never mind that Saudi Arabia is a repressive regime—everything that goes on inside its borders is carefully controlled and the actions of every one of its citizens are thoroughly monitored. The Saudis—masters of spin who employ the best PR people on the planet—claim ignorance or misinterpretation and always will.

Furthermore, why is it that “Sixty Minutes,” our version of “Panorama,” isn’t taking a harder and more frequent look at Saudi sponsored Madrasses in Houston or Detroit, or Newark, or Los Angeles. Why is it that they seem to look away, rather than examining whether Saudi funded anti-Semitic, homophobic, or misogynist teachings are occurring here? Why is it that our President, our current Congressional leaders, and the vast majority our main stream media don’t comment, when they profess to be such opponents of hate speech, such champions of gay rights, such supporters of women?

Curious, isn’t it?