"Apes" and "Pigs": Why you shouldn't be surprised.

So while we're still reeling from the nutso astronaut-diaper-love triangle here, the big story over in the UK is the recent discovery that a Muslim private school funded by the Saudi government has five-year-olds reading textbooks that describe adherents to Christianity and Judaism as "worthless." Another fun fact, Christians are actually "pigs" and Jews are "apes," not to mention "repugnant." The school initially defended the books, saying that they do not teach hatred towards other religions. When asked if they would remove the books, the principal of the school said, "No... I cannot withdraw them. There are good chapters in the books." The lines about pigs and apes have apparently been taken out of context. She didn't elaborate as to what context makes such terms acceptable.

Today the school announced that it would remove the offending chapters from the books while the British government is probing the matter.

What surprises me is that the majority of the media has not come to investigate what else is being taught in these Saudi-funded schools in Europe's own backyard. From Johann Hari of the Independent:

Which brings us to the swish, swanky classrooms of the King Fahd Academy in west London, in the year 2007. A Muslim teacher called Colin Cook has revealed that children there are taught, via Saudi textbooks, that Jews are "repugnant" and Christians are "pigs". Exercises for five-year olds include the charming exercise, "Mention some repugnant characteristics of Jews". Cook repeatedly heard children in the playground idolising Bin Laden. Challenged on Newsnight about whether she will stop using these racist books, the headteacher, Sumaya Alyusuf, said, "No... I cannot withdraw them. There are good chapters in the books."

Why are we surprised? The King Fahd Academy is not a freak. It is part of a deliberate globalised project, led by the House of Saud, that has been documented a hundred times. Azzedine Gaci, the head of the regional Muslim council, in Lyon, France, explains: "When Saudi Arabia gives you €1m with one hand, with the other they give you a list of what you must say or not say." Here's some of the things you can say, taken from standard-issue Saudi textbooks. For 10-year-olds: "The whole world should convert to Islam and leave its false religions lest their fate will be hell." For 12-year-olds: "There is a Jew behind me - come and kill him!"

And what can't you say? Anything about freedom for women, which is, the textbooks explain, "a continuation of the Crusades". A woman can only be taught to "enable her to be a successful housewife, an exemplary wife and a good mother". No need for maths or technology, shabibi, there's the kitchen. They are banned from any form of physical education, because it would be "obscene" for them to change their clothes outside the home. Besides, "they might become attracted to each other if they saw each other in leotards", in which case they would have to be killed.

As Hari notes, this should not be a surprise. Islamic tradition has long held that Jews are the descendents of apes and pigs. The Koran teaches that the Jews of Eilat were turned into apes for fishing on the Sabbath:

Some of the Jews warned the sinners that Allah would punish them. When the latter refused to stop, they separated themselves from the sinners with a wall. One day, the sinners were not seen leaving their gate. When those who observed the divine precept climbed the wall and opened the doors of the locked houses they found that all men, women, and children had turned into apes.(9) According to some commentators, the young people among the sinners became apes, while the elderly became pigs.(10)

The same MEMRI report follows Koranic commentaries linking Christians to pigs and apes as well.

So it's not as if this is new. At least some variation of this belief has been taught for ages. A symptom of these beliefs is the rise of antisemitic violence across Europe. Yet Britons were shocked to find that the London bombers from summer 2005 were made up not of foreigners but homegrown terrorists.

At some point, Europeans need to wake up. An entire generation of young European Muslims are learning that the Christians and Jews around them are worthless animals who God wishes to be destroyed. In another 50 years, many European countries will have Muslim majorities. By no means do all or even most European Muslims hold these beliefs, but last year's riots in France and the London bombings are stark evidence that youths are being radicalized. This is precisely how that happens. Unless more attention is paid to what these children are being taught and by whom, this situation will get much worse in the future.