U.S. Lawmakers Call on Saudi Government to Stop Using 'Hate Speech' in Textbooks

U.S. Lawmakers Call on Saudi Government to Stop Using 'Hate Speech' in Textbooks

www.foxnews.com

Reps. Weiner, Crowley and Berkley called on the Saudi government to stop planting what they said were seeds of hate in Saudi children through religious textbooks...that teach controversial lessons, such as the hour of judgment will not come until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them.

"This is not some rogue document," Weiner said. "This is the position of the Saudi government. ... If we're going to solve the generational conflicts, it's important not to hate one another."

Congress has tackled controversial textbooks before. Last year, a congressional report denounced portions of religious textbooks used at an Islamic school in Northern Virginia.

The school, in response to the report, deleted from its texts some of the most contentious passages, including references to Jihad, killing infidels and hatred of Jews and Christians. But critics say the revised books still are "toxic" and contain more subtle references, such as criticism of secular forms of government.

Rep. Berkley on Wednesday declared that peace won't come to the Middle East until this issue is resolved.

"We hope this will be part of the discussion President Obama has with the Saudi leaders," Berkley said.

Rep. Weiner urged the Saudi government to act immediately.

"What they say is that they'll fix it next year, next year, next year," he said. "But the time is up."

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[edit on 3-6-2009 by sonjah1]

Is this the right time for these Congressmen to bring up such a sensitive topic, with President Obama on Al Arabia Saudia's homeland?

Also, here we go again with the U.S. trying to insert its world-view on other cultures...

Finally, when will we learn that the culture is thousands of years older than the U.S., and therefore, more engrained in tradition than we could ever imagine.

Should they have issued this statement? Now? Why or Why not?




www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 3-6-2009 by sonjah1]