Wednesday, July 25, 2007
It works like this: The US Government, under Title VI of the Higher Education Act, gives university Middle East Studies departments money. In return, one of the things the universities have to do is "public outreach." They have to provide services to the public, and one of those services is providing lesson plans and seminars for K-12 teachers. And guess who comes along and provides ready-made materials and coursework for those “outreach coordinators†at these universities?
You got it, the Saudis.
This was brought to light in an investigative series by JTA almost two years ago: Tainted Teachings, What Your Kids are Learning about Israel, America, and Islam, Parts 1 through 4, and according to Stanley Kurtz in today's National Review, it's still going on: Saudi in the Classroom -- A fundamental front in the war. A snip:
Instead of training teachers in the history and contemporary challenges of the Muslim world, Stotsky concluded that Harvard’s outreach program was “manipulating†apolitical teachers with a “barely disguised†attempt to “shape...attitudes on specific political issues.†The lesson plans designed by K-12 teachers who participated in these Harvard-run seminars included exercises in which students were asked to watch newscasts and spot out instances in which Muslims were stereotyped as violent or barbaric. Lesson plans proposed discussion questions like, “Why have so many groups wanted to control the Middle East?†and “How might the history of repeated invasions influence the history of people in this area?â€
Stotsky was taken aback by one of the key teaching resources pushed by Harvard’s outreach program: “The Arab World Studies Notebook.†The “Notebook†has been widely denounced as a “practically proselytizing†text offering uncritical praise for the Arab world. Stotsky calls it, “a piece of propaganda.†Even the Notebook’s editor, Audrey Shabbas, acknowledges that it’s purpose is to provide “the Arab point of view.†One analysis quoted by Stotsky says that the “Arab World Studies Notebook†is designed to “induce teachers to embrace Islamic religious beliefs†and to “support political views†favored by the Middle East Policy Council (formerly the Arab American Affairs Council). The “Notebook†even claims that Muslims actually beat Columbus to the New World, supposedly sailing across the Atlantic in 889. This is the sort of history being pushed on our K-12 educators by Harvard’s federally approved Center for Middle East Studies — at American taxpayer expense...
[h/t: AJ]
I'm glad you found those JTA articles. That was the first thing I thought of when I read this report and I couldn't remember where I saw them.