Islam brainwashing students?

By Ed Ziegler

We know that our children are our future. Therefore our future is what we teach our children. An effective way to brainwash children is by using textbooks that contain false and distorted information. In such misleading textbooks Christianity and Judaism are denigrated, favoring Islam.

The Council on Islamic Education (CIE) was established to enhance Islam’s image over other religions. To accomplish this Muslim activists such as Susan Douglass and Shabbir Mansuri (founder of CIE) got themselves on advisory boards of textbook publishers. Thanks to CIE’s efforts, grade-school text units on Islam have flourished while glossing over the violent aspects of Islam.

Textbook claims presented in this article are a few of the numerous false and biased quotes favoring Islam that appear in two reports prepared by “ACT for America” (ACT) (www.actforamerica.org) and “Citizens for National Security” (CFNS) (www.CFNS.org). As many as 80 such school textbooks are being used across the U.S. Please obtain a free copy of each report from these websites, to learn how blatantly our student are being brainwashed.

Florida’s Brevard County School Board is reviewing the history book, “World History.” The book has one 32-page chapter on Islam and none on Christianity or Judaism. The Palm Beach County (Florida) school district is having the same textbook corrected by the publisher.

The actual quotations and other wording from the textbooks include the following:

Textbook Claim: “Caught in the middle of this turmoil were Palestinian Arabs... Many of these people had roots in Palestine that went back for centuries. They either fled their homes or were forced into UN-sponsored refugee camps just outside Israel’s borders. The land designated for Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza Strip is under Israel control.”

This falsely implies that it was Israel rather than the Arab countries that forced the Palestinian refugees into the squalid camps.

Textbook Claim: “Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was born in Palestine while it was under Roman rule.”

The Gospels say Jesus was born in ‘Bethlehem of Judea.” This quote falsely implies Palestine existed then.

Textbook Claim: “...while Islam sometimes followed the path of Arab warriors, they rarely imposed their religion by force on the local population. In some instances, as with the Mongols, the conquerors made no effort to convert others to their own religions. By contrast, Christian monks, motivated by missionary fervor, converted many of the peoples of central and Eastern Europe.”

While the Arab conquerors didn’t always use force to impose their religion, they did treat those that didn’t convert to Islam as second-level subjects. Then the text attempts to enhance Islamic tolerance by demeaning that of Christianity.

Textbook Claim: “While the United Nations granted the Palestinians their own homeland, the Israelis seized much of that land, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, during its various wars.”

The writer implies that Israel was an aggressor by omitting that the United Nations established the state of Israel.

Textbook Claim: “Arab-Israeli Conflict. 1948, The State of Israel is created; war with Arabs follows immediately. 1967, Israel takes control of Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza Strip at the end of the Six-Day War.”

The passage characterizes Israel as the aggressor in 1967 and by implication in 1948 as well. In fact in 1948 and 1967 the Arab nations attacked Israel.

Textbook Question?  “What land did Israel gain from the wars against its Arab neighbors?”

The way the writer poses the question he subtly implies that Israel started the wars rather than the Islamic countries.

Textbook Claim: “Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share common traits. Judaism is a story of exile. Christians believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah. The Qur’an is the collection of God’s revelations to Muhammad.” 

Throughout the textbooks Islamic beliefs are stated as fact, while Jewish and Christian beliefs are characterized as something less verifiable thereby demeaning them and elevating Islam.

Textbook Claim: “Jihad includes a person’s inner struggle to achieve spiritual peace as well as any battle in defense of Islam.”

This statement seeks to minimize the violent nature of Jihad. In recent times, many Muslim groups, small and large, have declared violent Jihad against Israel, America, Great Britain, Jews, Christian and fellow Muslims.  As described by Islamic fundamentalists in the Islamic Hadiths and Sunnah, Jihad has only one meaning—holy war. Much of Islamist terrorism is waged against innocent civilians, not just enemy combatants.

Textbook Claim: “Islam also teaches that all people are equal. ‘Know that every Muslim is a brother to every other Muslim, and that you are now one brotherhood,’ declared Muhammad.”

In no way are Christians and Jews treated as one brotherhood with Muslims. They are infidels to convert, or be subject to intimidation and violence.

Textbook Claim: “The religion [Islam] has close ties to the prophets and teachers of Judaism and Christianity.”

This phrase is misleading because it attempts to make Islam more acceptable. In fact, Islam does not have close ties to the prophets and teachers of Judaism and Christianity. A few major differences between the prophets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam: There were 20 Jewish prophets described in the Old Testament. All were men of God and none were believed to have used the sword. On the other hand, Muhammad was a violent Caravan robber who exploited slave girls, and committed a massacre of the Jews in Medina. The Qur’an does prescribe an armed struggle against unbelievers until all are converted.

We must step up and fight this insidious brainwashing. Whether you have a child in school, or not, get involved. Contact your local school board. Help is available from the above two organizations ACT and CFNS.