Chicago Sun-Times
February 7, 2005
Saudi government foments religious hatred in U.S.
What is happening in some American mosques, including a few in the
Chicago area, is deeply disturbing. In certain Islamic schools,
textbooks spit vitriol against Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims:
"Be disassociated from the infidels, hate them for their religion." In
mosque publications, America is the "Abode of the Infidel." The idea
of human and civil rights is heresy. Working women are "immoral."
These views are extreme, they promote violence and they are being
espoused right under our noses. We knew this was happening in France,
Germany and England but we didn't know the extent of the problem here.
It is happening in U.S. mosques funded by the Saudi government to
disseminate the fanatic Wahhabi-style Islam that has its roots in
Saudi Arabia.
The Center for Religious Freedom just issued a discomfiting report
looking at the spread of hate propaganda in America by Saudi Arabia.
The center collected 200 books and other publications from mosques
across the country and spent the past two years analyzing them.
"The Saudi textbooks and documents spread throughout American mosques
preach a Nazi-like hatred for Jews, treat the forged Protocols of the
Elders of Zion as historical fact, and avow that the Muslim's duty is
to eliminate the state of Israel," writes Nina Shea, the Center's
director. In addition, they "instill contempt for America because the
United States is ruled by legislated civil law rather than by
totalitarian Wahhabi-style Islamic law." Woe to Christians who should
be actively hated because they stir up images of crusaders and
colonists and because they are "enemies to Allah, his Prophet and
believers." Woe to Muslims who advance tolerance and human rights --
they, too, are infidels. Woe to homosexuals or heterosexuals who have
sex outside marriage -- it is considered "lawful" to kill them.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis who were indoctrinated
by this vicious Wahhabi ideology. Lest you think the Center for
Religious Freedom is a partisan group opposed to Islam, you should
know it was founded by Eleanor Roosevelt and Wendell Willkie during
World War II to fight religious persecution and promote democracy.
The U.S. government has deported some radical imams and the Saudi
government has claimed the noxious ideology has been deleted from
textbooks. But the Center found that, as of December 2004, books
promoting hatred and violence remain "common reading" in some American
mosques. In his State of the Union speech, President Bush exhorted the
Saudis to encourage democracy in the Middle East. He should also put
intense pressure on them to stop fomenting hate within our borders. It
jeopardizes our security and is an insult to our tradition of freedom
of religious expression. It flies in the face of everything we hold
true.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/commentary/cst-edt-edits07.html
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