2007/02/22

Allegations?

The British media has been engaged in a war of words with the Saudi-funded King Fahad Academy, located in West London, following allegations that textbooks which taught pupils that Jews were "apes" and Christians "pigs" were being used in the classrooms. (emphasis added)

says Thursday's Gulf News.

I could be wrong, but when Dr. Sumaya Alyusuf, the school's director, goes on the BBC2's Newsnight and says
Yes, I do recognise these books, of course. We have these books in our school. These books have good chapters that can be used by the teachers. It depends on the objectives the teacher wants to achieve.

and then later tells the Guardian (according to the BBC)
I should have immediately done what we have since done, and that is not just to remove the pages in question but to chuck out the whole book.

just how exactly is it only an "allegation" that these books were used at the school?

Furthermore, how does her explanation
"The passage in concern is about a story of Moses and his people when he came back to them and found them to be cheating because they worked on the Sabbath. They defied him so they are the ones who are referred to in that verse."

make any sense? That could possibly explain why a footnote in the books referred to Jews as "apes", but how could that event lead to calling Christians "pigs"? At the time of Moses, there were no Christians, and would not be for hundreds of years.

No comments: