A Saudi Curriculum

Wsj.com

Dozens of Muslim schools in Britain teach anti-Semitism and the religiously correct execution of homosexuals.


Britain's politicians have been known to fret about how they can counter the radicalization of Muslim immigrants in their country. It turns out the place to start is in grade school.

The BBC's Panorama program reported Monday that more than 40 Saudi Students' Schools and Clubs, a network of Muslim weekend schools in the U.K., are teaching the official Saudi curriculum to about 5,000 students. This means that six-year-old children in Britain are being asked to list the "reprehensible" qualities of Jews, who are said to be monkeys and pigs. A textbook for 15-year-olds revives the "Protocols of the Elder of Zion" about an alleged Jewish conspiracy for world domination. Another book for teenagers explains the proper Sharia punishment for theft: the amputation of a hand for first-time offenders and the chopping off of a foot for repeat offenders. The book includes photos showing where the limbs should be cut. Another text discusses the various schools of thought on the religiously correct execution of homosexuals and whether death should come by stoning, burning or throwing the person off a cliff.

The Saudi government claims it has nothing to do with the schools or the teaching material. The books, according to Panorama, are published by the Saudi education ministry and distributed from a building owned by the Saudi government. The director for the Saudi Student's Schools and Clubs told the BBC that the Saudi Central Bureau, which is part of Riyadh's embassy, has authority over the network. Other than that, the Saudis have nothing to do with the schools or the curriculum.

The Saudis' audacity in denying any responsibility is matched only by the British government's misplaced understatement. Education Secretary Michael Gove, promising to seek better supervision of the schools, called the teaching of anti-Semitism and murderous homophobia in British schools "inappropriate." Does the English language offer no sharper rejoinder?

When still in opposition, Mr. Gove wrote "Celsius 7/7," a hard-hitting expose about the global threat of Islamism. In it, he pointed out how Wahabism, the Saudis' state-sanctioned radical brand of Islam, inspires jihadist ideology. Now he's all diplomacy. "Saudi Arabia is a sovereign country," he told the BBC. "I have no desire or wish to intervene in the decisions that the Saudi government makes in its own education system."

Since 9/11, Riyadh has repeatedly promised to purge its curriculum of anti-Western and anti-Semitic teachings. Progress has been slight. In its 2010 International Religious Freedom Report, released last week, the U.S. State Department noted that Saudi textbooks "continued to contain overtly intolerant statements against Jews and Christians and subtly intolerant statements against Shi'a and other religious groups. For example, during the reporting period they continued to state that apostates from Islam should be killed if they do not repent within three days of being warned and that treachery is a permanent characteristic of non-Muslims, especially the Jews."

Somebody ought to denounce this in no uncertain terms. Mr. Gove might have a go.