Denials do not obfuscate glaring facts or solve problems

Recently the Saudi government came under fire for the content of the textbooks used in the Saudi school system. As a Freedom House Report illustrated, Saudi textbooks and the school system in general promote intolerance and bigotry toward other religons. Instead of addressing this issue and attempting to deal with it; the Saudi government, through Interior Minister Prince Naif, attacked Freedom House as being anti-Muslim, and denied any problems within Saudi textbooks. His denial is covered in the Arab News article below.

Textbooks Not Inciting Extremism, Says Naif
Arab News-- Friday, 9, June, 2006 (13, Jumada al-Ula, 1427)

RIYADH, 9 June 2006 — Interior Minister Prince Naif said the syllabuses of the Kingdom’s schools and colleges are progressive and free from any sort of extremist and terrorist ideology.

Prince Naif refuted reports published by the right-wing US think-tank, Freedom House, that allege Saudi textbooks are filled with extremism, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Addressing a press conference after a graduation ceremony at the Naif Arab University for Security Sciences in Riyadh on Wednesday night, Prince Naif said that the Saudi syllabuses were based on Islamic education. He also said, “If there are some people with deviant views and ideas, then we should not hold the syllabus responsible for their deviation.”

Prince Naif added, “We oppose those who associate backwardness with Islam and think that Islam is against progress.”

Prince Naif spoke about a host of issues including attempts to classify Saudi society into liberals, secularists and Islamists. “Saudis oppose such classifications. We are Muslims adhering to the teachings of Islam, the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah (the Prophet’s teachings),” said Prince Naif.

Prince Naif said that arrangements were under way to extradite two Saudis from Iraq who were among the 36 people wanted for various crimes.

The prince also spoke about the role of the media in combating terrorism, allegations of slavery and the role of the security forces in countering terror.

Prince Naif said a terrorism combating agreement was signed in 1998. However, he added, unfortunately neither the Arab media, officials and politicians convey this fact effectively. “We would like to urge the Arab media to tell facts to the Arab citizens, and to discuss the issue in an objective manner and reply to questions in a language familiar to the world,” he said.

The prince added, “We only want facts and truth, we want all to know that our society is a secure society in all areas”.

He further said that the Kingdom did not oppose objective criticism based on facts. The interior minister, however, warned against the tendency to exaggerate “because exaggeration leads to lies”.

Hailing the remarkable role played by the security men in combating terrorism the prince said the security men had shouldered their responsibility in a satisfactory manner. “Thanks to Almighty Allah, we have successfully aborted most of the terror plots and activities”, the prince said.

The prince dismissed allegations that Saudi Arabia was still trading in humans, describing the allegation as ludicrous pointing out that the Late King Faisal had put an end to the practice of slavery several decades ago.

On a question about the attempts to Westernize Saudi society, Prince Naif said, “We don’t have separate religious and secular institutes, we oppose terms describing some as religious because we are all people of religion.”

He hoped that people who had issued the statement would correct their mistakes and added that the doors of the Saudi rulers are wide open for citizens to exchange views on all issues of mutual interest.