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Saudi Funded UN Agency Wants to Edit Textbooks Worldwide FOX News The UN agency that promotes education wants a say in how future textbooks are written, and Saudi Arabia -- a nation whose own school books have been criticized for promoting hatred of Christians and Jews -- is helping to bankroll the effort. The United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is currently working with member states to revise its strategy for the publication of textbooks and learning materials. According to UNESCO's website, experts from 21 countries met in Paris last month at a meeting financed by a $29,000 Saudi donation and focused in part on "ways to ensure that content aimed at students systematically reflects cultural and religious diversity, and avoids gender stereotypes." Then, last week, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah cut a $20 million check to UNESCO's emergency fund. Critics warn that the funding will come at a price, and predict the Saudis will want input into what goes into rewritten textbooks. "Saudi textbooks are extremely hateful and full of xenophobic texts," said Ali AlAhmed, author of the upcoming book "Saudi School Books: Objective Education or Extremist Indoctrination?" and director of the Gulf Institute in Washington, D.C. According to AlAhmed, the Saudi funding "shows how xenophobic governments like [that of] the Saudis are able to buy influence." He said UNESCO was betraying its mandate to uphold "value and standards of education and tolerance" as he warned UNESCO and the UN system as a whole were "susceptible to financial buyouts from countries like Saudi Arabia." Drawing from research in his upcoming book, which assessed Saudi school textbooks for the last academic year, AlAhmed gave examples of what Saudi children are taught. He said a guidebook says first-grade teachers should tell students that: ▪ "Adhering to Islam is the only path to enter heaven, and escape hellfire." ▪ "It is from Islam to love Muslims, and to hate the unbelievers and not to imitate them." ▪ "Examples of false religions [include] Judaism, Christianity." AlAhmed says a ninth-grade book teaches that, "The Jews and the Christians are enemies of the believers. He says an 11th-grade book states, "The cursed are: The Christians and all those who have erred from the true path, and worshipped God with other than his orders." While the Saudi Embassy press spokesperson in Washington D.C. failed to respond to a request for comment, a UNESCO official signaled that the financial support of members was welcomed. READ FULL SOURCE ARTICLE Editor's Note: It is well past time that our elected leaders question the legitimacy of all of the "organizations" created by the United Nations. The UN was originally created as a neutral forum for countries to discuss pressing issues to avoid war. Today, this corrupt organization is more intent on amassing power and dictating law, than facilitating dialogue to prevent armed aggression. In fact, in almost every instance of their intervention where armed conflict is concerned they have failed, yet they demand more money and more influence upon sovereign governments. As a free people, we should not be beholden to an organization that violates the US Constitution, yet the Progressives insist that to condemn the UN's power grab is to refute dialogue to prevent armed conflict. Consider the veto power of China and Russia in the conflict in Syria and explain how this organization can possibly be effective in thwarting armed conflict and genocide? And if they fail at their chartered mission, they should be disbanded, defunded and rendered irrelevant. The BasicsProject.org informational and educational pamphlet series is now available for Kindle and iPad. Click here to find out more... The New Media Journal and BasicsProject.org are not funded by outside sources. We exist exclusively on tax deductible donations from our readers and contributors. Please make a tax deductible donation today.
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