The New York Sun reports on a study conducted by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency of Saudi—financed texts made available to public schools and used for "teacher training sessions" in no fewer than 175 cities in 43 states, with "more than 16,000 educators in attendance," according to cl;aims of the Saudi—funded sponsor, the Middle East Policy Council.

The JTA says textbooks used in public schools across the country "are highly critical of democratic institutions and forgiving of repressive ones." The books also "praise and sometimes promote Islam, but criticize Judaism and Christianity and are filled with false assertions."

One such book is the "Arab World Studies Notebook." The JTA reports that it suggests that Jews have "undue influence on U.S. foreign policy" and that its country section omits any information on Israel and only refers to "Palestine." The book writes that the Koran "synthesizes and perfects earlier revelations," namely Jewish and Christian. According to the JTA the two organizations behind the book — the Arab World and Islamic Resources and the Middle East Policy Council — receive funding from Saudi Arabia: AWAIR from the state—owned Saudi Aramco oil company and MPEC directly from Riyadh.

Ed Lasky   11 02 05