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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 194 Introduced in House (IH)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 194

 Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the failure of the Kingdom 
  of Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority to properly implement 
  education reforms aimed at reducing the cultural roots of terrorism.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2007

  Mr. King of New York submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the failure of the Kingdom 
  of Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority to properly implement 
  education reforms aimed at reducing the cultural roots of terrorism.

Whereas the curriculum in many countries in the Middle East continues to promote 
        hatred, intolerance, violence, incitement, so-called ``martyrdom'', and 
        anti-Semitic and anti-democratic views;
Whereas the events of September 11, 2001, and the global rash of terrorist 
        attacks since then, have created an urgent need to promote moderate 
        voices in the Muslim world as an effective way to combat extremism and 
        terrorism;
Whereas the Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon 
        the United States (the 9/11 Commission report) supports the 
        implementation of diplomacy measures, including education reform, as 
        necessary steps in addressing the global struggle against terrorism and 
        the promotion of democracy in the Middle East;
Whereas extremism endangers the stability of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the 
        Middle East region, and threatens global security;
Whereas Wahhabism--as it is taught and presented in the documents of its 
        ideologues, cadres and supporters--is a radical and fundamentalist 
        Islamist ideology which advocates a narrow and rigid interpretation of 
        Quranic texts and divides the world between believers and nonbelievers 
        (including Muslim non-Wahhabists), who are seen as the enemy and those 
        to be dealt with through ``jihad'';
Whereas the religious curriculum in the Saudi school system is written, 
        monitored, and taught by followers of the Wahhabi interpretation of 
        Islam, the only religion Saudi Arabia allows to be taught;
Whereas Saudi Wahhabism is seeking to spread its extremist ideology throughout 
        the world and to influence Muslim education globally;
Whereas Saudi embassies in the United States and abroad distribute the Wahhabi-
        inspired textbooks that are taught in Saudi schools;
Whereas Saudi Arabia has tolerated elements within its education system that 
        promote and encourage extremism;
Whereas textbooks in Saudi Arabian schools foster intolerance, anti-Semitic, 
        anti-American, and anti-Western views;
Whereas Saudi Arabian textbooks express the Wahhabi dual vision of the world, 
        the idea that anyone who does not practice Wahhabi Islam is the 
        ``other'' and should be viewed as the enemy, and such a doctrine, 
        describing all non Wahhabis as Kuffars (infidels) is predominant in the 
        educational public sphere;
Whereas the intolerant Wahhabi views instilled in students make them prime 
        recruiting targets of terrorists and other extremist groups;
Whereas as long as Wahhabism is being taught in schools, Saudi children will be 
        indoctrinated into terror and inspired to commit jihad in the name of 
        Islam;
Whereas rote exclusive memorization of religious texts continues to be a central 
        feature of much of the educational system of Saudi Arabia, leaving 
        thousands of students unprepared to function in the global society and 
        economy of the 21st century;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia has made public statements pledging 
        educational reforms;
Whereas Saudi Arabia has now admitted that the necessary educational reforms 
        have not yet been implemented;
Whereas if the reform process is not accelerated, the Saudi educational system 
        could produce another generation of jihadi inspired terrorists;
Whereas several Saudi intellectuals have come out in favor of reforms and tried 
        to pressure the monarchy to reform the educational system;
Whereas in March 2004, Saudi Arabia detained and imprisoned several democratic 
        reformers for criticizing the strict religious environment and the slow 
        pace of reform in Saudi Arabia;
Whereas the 9/11 Commission report states, ``Education that teaches tolerance, 
        the dignity and value of each individual, and respect for different 
        beliefs is a key element in any global strategy to eliminate Islamist 
        terrorism.'';
Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has 
        reported that Saudi Arabian Government-funded textbooks used both in 
        Saudi Arabia and also in North American Islamic schools and mosques have 
        been found to encourage incitement to violence against non-Muslims;
Whereas a report released on January 28, 2005, by Freedom House's Center for 
        Religious Freedom found that Saudi Arabia is the state most responsible 
        for the propagation of material promoting hatred, intolerance, and 
        violence within United States mosques and Islamic centers, and that 
        these publications are often official publications of a Saudi ministry 
        or distributed by the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC;
Whereas the Department of State has revoked the diplomatic visas of at least 
        sixteen people with Saudi diplomatic credentials in an effort to curb 
        the spread of inciteful, extremist Wahhabi rhetoric and doctrine in 
        United States schools and mosques;
Whereas in 2006 the United States House of Representatives adopted House 
        Concurrent Resolution 275 (109th Congress), which encouraged Saudi 
        Arabia to reform its educational curriculum;
Whereas education reform in the Palestinian Authority must take place before any 
        lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace will ever be achieved, and for a true 
        democracy to flourish in a future Palestinian state;
Whereas the 1993 Declaration of Principles, which laid the foundation for the 
        1995 Oslo II Agreement, specifically provides that ``Israel and the 
        Palestinian Authority shall seek to foster mutual understanding and 
        tolerance and shall accordingly abstain from incitement, including 
        hostile propaganda against each other and shall take necessary measures 
        to prevent such incitement by any organizations, groups or individuals 
        within their jurisdiction.'';
Whereas phase I of the ``Performance-Based Roadmap to a permanent two-state 
        solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict'' calls on all official 
        Palestinian and Israeli institutions to end all forms of violence and 
        incitement;
Whereas despite the Palestinian Authority's recognition of Israel in the Oslo 
        Agreement, Israel is virtually nonexistent in texts, graphics, and 
        illustrations distributed by the Palestinian Authority;
Whereas Palestinian textbooks continue to reject Israel's right to exist and 
        assert that the conflict with Israel is a religious jihad in the name of 
        Islam;
Whereas textbooks distributed by the Palestinian Authority affirm the 
        significance of martyrdom (in the sense of Istishaad, or militant 
        suicide) and how important the honor of becoming a martyr is;
Whereas textbooks distributed by the Palestinian Authority encourage students to 
        kill Israeli military and civilians as part of an Islamic holy war;
Whereas not only do Palestinian textbooks justify Palestinian use of terrorism 
        against Israel, they also justify Hezbollah's terrorist activities and 
        claim that it is a ``rightful resistance movement'';
Whereas textbooks distributed by the Palestinian authority contain anti-American 
        rhetoric that portrays the United States as an enemy of the Palestinians 
        and the greater Arab world, and teaches that the United States is a 
        human rights abuser and a violator of international humanitarian law, 
        hence encouraging violence against the United States;
Whereas the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly produced new educational 
        textbooks for their curriculum, yet many contain the same messages of 
        anti-Semitism and intolerance;
Whereas if education reforms are not implemented by the Palestinian Authority, a 
        new generation of Palestinians will be indoctrinated with the message of 
        hatred and terror; and
Whereas the Palestinian Authority's refusal to recognize Israel in Palestinian 
        textbooks, and its continual application of inciteful, intolerant 
        dialogue in the textbooks raises questions about its desire for peaceful 
        relations with Israel: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) expresses extreme disappointment with the slow pace of 
        education reform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the sense 
        that continual delay of reform implementations should not be 
        accepted;
            (2) urges Saudi Arabia to reform its textbooks and 
        education curriculum in a manner that promotes tolerance and 
        peaceful coexistence with others, develops civil society, and 
        encourages functionality in the global economy;
            (3) urges Saudi Arabia to increase the number of hours 
        spent on fundamental disciplines such as math, science and the 
        humanities in relation to the number of hours spent on 
        religious education in schools;
            (4) requests the Secretary of State to monitor the progress 
        of the efforts to reform the Saudi education curriculum, and 
        report on such progress, in classified form if necessary, to 
        Congress;
            (5) encourages moderate Muslim leaders to speak out against 
        any elements of extremism within the Saudi educational system;
            (6) urges Saudi Arabia to cease teaching Wahhabism and 
        instead find an alternate, more benign form of Islamic 
        teaching, that promotes tolerance and acceptance;
            (7) urges Saudi Arabia to immediately reform the curriculum 
        which Saudi embassies are distributing internationally, 
        specifically the textbooks which the embassies are distributing 
        to Saudi schools, including those within the United States;
            (8) urges the Palestinian Authority to remove any inciteful 
        dialogue about martyrdom and jihad from textbooks, and to 
        remove any anti-Semitic references or passages from their 
        textbooks;
            (9) urges the Palestinian Authority to officially recognize 
        and accept Israel in maps and educational texts, and to include 
        dialogue which promotes peaceful and tolerant relations with 
        Israel in their textbooks;
            (10) expresses the need for the Palestinian Authority to 
        implement the necessary education reforms, and the sense that 
        such reforms would ultimately allow a lasting peace with Israel 
        to finally be achieved; and
            (11) expresses the sense that educational reforms in Saudi 
        Arabia and the Palestinian Authority are a necessary step in 
        the global struggle against terrorism.
                                 <all>
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