The conservative magazine “National Review” run an online piece alleging that the Saudi government has ‘infiltrated’ the American education system, particularly at the K-12 year levels. In reading the piece, I see an attempt to connect a lot of dots that don’t look very connectable to me. You may conclude otherwise.
Saudi in the Classroom
A fundamental front in the war
Stanley KurtzUnless we counteract the influence of Saudi money on the education of the young, we’re going to find it very difficult to win the war on terror. I only wish I was referring to Saudi-funded madrassas in Pakistan. Unfortunately, I’m talking about K-12 education in the United States. Believe it or not, the Saudis have figured out how to make an end-run around America’s K-12 curriculum safeguards, thereby gaining control over much of what children in the United States learn about the Middle East. While we’ve had only limited success paring back education for Islamist fundamentalism abroad, the Saudis have taken a surprising degree of control over America’s Middle-East studies curriculum at home.
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July:25:2007 - 11:25
I agree with you. I find it a bit sad that people who would rightly be offended by conspiracy talk about Jews, Israel and using money to gain control and influence over people in an attempt to change or subvert countries, can so readily buy into the same sort of garbage when it comes to Muslims, Islam and Saudi Arabia.
It is sad that if you look at the historical anti-semitic argument made against Jews, that much of it looks like what passes for mainstream media information being peddled in the West today.
If you look at the far right media some of it almost looks like it was simply pulled from “Der Sturmer” and the words “Muslims” put in place of the words “Jew”.
It is a sickening and worrying trend.
July:25:2007 - 11:32
Islamophobia is a real concern. Concern about it can be exaggerated, though, as I find CAIR often does.
July:25:2007 - 12:31
I agree, sometimes they go a bit over the top. I think this is common for all advocacy groups. Take a look at the ADL. I understand the need for the group and the fear, but like CAIR they do go over the top. It hurts the credibility of these groups when they do that.
July:25:2007 - 13:59
Absolutely. But don’t let me leave the impression that I think the Saudis couldn’t do a far better job of policing both the materials and the people they send abroad. There are some serious issues that need to be resolved. A public statement of policy would be nice to get from the various Saudi embassies around the world.
July:25:2007 - 14:07
Indeed. One thing that bothers me to no end about dealing with any government in the Middle East is that things are not often standardised. You go to two different offices, you get two different answers. Turn in the paperwork, you get a third and different set of requests from somewhere else down the line.
It would be nice to have a firm set of rules or guidlines from which to operate, but that is sadly lacking in most instances.
July:25:2007 - 15:34
I recently attended a regional ADL meeting and I can’t say that they are “over the top”. Rather, what they investigate (mostly white supremacist stuff) is surprising, concrete, and has lead several times to successful prosecutions by law enforcement.
CAIR (which has cooperated with ADL in the past on several such matters) doesn’t have anything like the solid record the Anti-Defamation League does. Indeed, Arabs and Muslims who wish to support a non-profit for the purpose of fighting against discrimation and racism in America should look closely and ask themselves, “Would my dollars be put to better use if given to ADL rather than CAIR?”
Kurtz’ piece is less a straightforward case of connect-the-dots as a piecing together of a puzzle. Unlike the anti-semitic garbage out there, I see nothing to contradict him at this stage and it all seems to hang together, although he may have some of the pieces out of order. Can no one find something specific to criticise in his article?
July:25:2007 - 15:46
I think he takes pieces from a very wide time range and tries to make it look like a current snapshot.
I also think he’s a little fast and loose in making a connection between Alwaleed bin Talal and the extremists as well as between his donations to G’town and Harvard and the promotion of extremism.
Lastly, while I don’t see eye-to-eye with the Middle East Policy Council (which has published a book review I wrote), I don’t see them as off-the-wall, either. On the continuum of political attitudes expressed among the various journals, MEPC is more leftist, but not as loony as, say, The Washington Report on ME Affairs.