Saudi Arabia has been scrubbing its textbooks of anti-Semitic and misogynistic passages

[danieldemol]

'Saudi Arabia has been sharply criticized over the decades for school textbooks that preach women's subservience to men, anti-Semitism and a general enmity toward religions other than Islam. But those textbooks have been slowly scrubbed of much of this objectionable content, with particularly significant revisions made in the fall.

Gone is a section on sodomy that was supportive of capital punishment for homosexual relations. Gone are most adulations of extremist martyrdom and its characterization as the highest aspiration of Islam. Anti-Semitic references and calls to “fight Jews” are now far fewer, with the latest edition of a 10th-grade textbook having removed a passage quoting the prophet Muhammad as saying, “The [Day of Judgement] will not come until Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims will kill them [all].”'

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ebe632-5a54-11eb-a849-6f9423a75ffd_story.html

 

[Sunstone]

Anyone hear what's behind this?

The Post is behind a paywall.

 

[exchemist]

Anyone hear what's behind this?

The Post is behind a paywall.

It's pretty obvious it's MbS behind it, possibly driven by the rapprochement between Israel and various Arab nations wanting to form an alliance to counter Iran. But whatever the motives, a step in the right direction.

 

[danieldemol]

Anyone hear what's behind this?

The Post is behind a paywall.

It's odd that I can read it then.

According to the story;

'Saudi Arabia has been going through a period of dramatic change, ushered in by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. While his ascent to power has brought worsening human rights abuses, he has also sought to modernize the kingdom with a certain amount of cultural liberalization and ambitious economic initiatives. Educational reform has been part of that.'

 

[danieldemol]

It's pretty obvious it's MbS behind it, possibly driven by the rapprochement between Israel and various Arab nations wanting to form an alliance to counter Iran. But whatever the motives, a step in the right direction.

According to the article there is still anti-Israeli sentiment in the text books, so my guess would probably be that the prince is reacting to criticism from the US in 2017 regarding the radicalisation that was historically apparent in its textbooks.

But I guess without any comment from the Saudi Government it is not possible to know.

 

[joe1776]

According to the article there is still anti-Israeli sentiment in the text books, so my guess would probably be that the prince is reacting to criticism from the US in 2017 regarding the radicalisation that was historically apparent in its textbooks.

But I guess without any comment from the Saudi Government it is not possible to know.

Putting a broader perspective on your post....

We humans have been moving toward the perception that we are all equal in human value probably forever. The abolition of slavery was just one example of it. The equality of women, homosexuals, the races, and so on, are a worldwide trend that governments and religions have been moved by over the centuries.

The pace of that progress is probably accelerating due to the Internet. Ideas don't take centuries to move from mind to mind in this era. The Saudis must realize that the world sees them as morally lagging compared to others, and that hurts their pride.

 

[Sunstone]

It's pretty obvious it's MbS behind it, possibly driven by the rapprochement between Israel and various Arab nations wanting to form an alliance to counter Iran. But whatever the motives, a step in the right direction.

I'm reluctant to dismiss the value of knowing the motives in these sorts of things. Motives can tell you so much about where 'reforms' are going and how well they are likely to be sustained.

Reforms are sometimes deceptions. Checking to see if there is any knowledge of their motives is one of the things that help you detect when they are deceptions.

 

[exchemist]

I'm reluctant to dismiss the value of knowing the motives in these sorts of things. Motives can tell you so much about where 'reforms' are going and how well they are likely to be sustained.

Eh? Who is dismissing the value of knowing the motives?

 

[Sunstone]

Eh? Who is dismissing the value of knowing the motives?

I added to my post.

 

[exchemist]

I added to my post.

So I see.