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Saudi in the Classroom

[National Review] Stanley Kurtz - It turns out that the system of federal subsidies to university programs of Middle East Studies (under Title VI of the Higher Education Act) has been serving as a kind of Trojan horse for Saudi influence over American K-12 education. Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies' outreach program delivers seminars that virtually promoted Islam as a religion, while sharply criticizing alleged American prejudice against the Muslim world - all at American taxpayer expense. Harvard's outreach training prompted K-12 teachers to design celebratory treatments of the life and teachings of Mohammad and the "revelation" and spread of Islam, with exercises calling on students to "appoint imams," memorize Islamic principles, and act out prayer at a mosque. Saudi involvement with Title VI Middle East Studies centers has never been entirely secret. A volume published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Harvard's center lists funding from the Saudi-government-owned oil company Aramco among the sources of funding for the center's public outreach program.
2007-07-26 01:00:00
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