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Hudson Institute event: Iranian textbooks preparing Iran’s children for global jihad
March 10, 2008
By Beth Hearn
Textbooks and teachers’ guides in Iranian schools present “an uncompromisingly hostile attitude towards the West,” said Dr. Arnon Groiss, Director of Research at the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, who carried out a comprehensive study of 95 school textbooks for all grades.
Presenting his research at the Hudson Institute on March 10, Groiss said that by looking at the education material of a nation we can obtain vital insights into its ideology and view of the world; and the view of the world presented is one of “two opposed poles: the dominant and the dominated, the oppressors on the one hand and the oppressed on the other. This world dichotomy between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ is prevalent in the books.” Hatred of the West, particularly the United States and Israel, is encouraged in Iran, Groiss said, maintaining that “they are presented as inherently evil, as enemies of Muslims in general, and as direct enemies of the people of Iran themselves.”
On several occasions, said Groiss, he found calls urging Muslims everywhere to rise and fight the West. In an 11th grade textbook, Islamic Viewpoint, a reference by Ayatollah Khomeini states that “the Muslims of the world, together with the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, should resolve to shatter the teeth in America’s mouth to pieces.” The aim of the books, and of the education system at large, is, he said, “bringing about Islam’s rule in the world.”
Martyrdom is actively encouraged. In an 8th grade Islamic Culture and Religious Instruction textbook, children are told that “exalted God orders the Believers in many verses in the Holy Koran to fight the jihad in the cause of God and kill the oppressors. He gives the glad tidings of forgiveness and eternal Paradise to anyone who becomes a martyr in the cause of God. He considers martyrdom a great victory.”
Shayan Arya, Fellow at the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace, was educated in the Iranian school system until 1982, meaning that the majority of his schooling took place before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. His education, he said, was progressive and secular, and books did not change during the first few years of the Islamic Republic. For this reason it was easy to dismiss the opinions of his teachers – many of whom were revolutionaries, or simply trying to gain favor with those in power, by teaching the ideals of the revolution to children. Now, however, these ideals are enshrined in books; children have to pass exams on them.
However, the majority of Iranians, said Arya, are not successfully indoctrinated by the educational system. Parents tell their children to “go to school, learn maths and science (which are generally recognized to be taught to a high standard in Iranian schools), memorize the rest and avoid getting into trouble, then forget about it.” Yet there will always be some who are affected and, he said, “even if its only one percent, that’s still a lot of radicalized kids.”
Groiss contrasted the educational systems under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami. The education system has, he said, become more conservative, in line with the general policy of the current government. Khatami attempted to introduce a new subject called ‘Dialogue of Civilizations’, in which an effort was made to reconcile Western and Islamic civilizations to a certain extent, but this is no longer taught. Ahmadinejad’s government is also allegedly pushing for a division of education, with separate textbooks, between girls and boys.
However, we must look beyond “personalities” in Iran, said Arya, adding: “Regardless of who is president – moderate or not – these are the ideals of the revolution.” Too often the West focuses on a single issue – currently nuclear proliferation – when the entire regime and its core goals pose a danger, he said.
It must be recognized, of course, that cultural bias can be found in any educational system. History is never objective; it always has been and will always be inextricably tied to the values of the nation. Also, some of the information from the textbooks, presented by Groiss as being explicitly anti-American, was simple fact – for example, statistics illustrating the greater impact on the environment of people in America than people in say, Kenya or Bangladesh.
What is disturbing, however, is the explicit nature of the promotion of violence against the West. An education system which not only preaches hatred of the West but actively encourages martyrdom clearly violates Iran’s commitments as a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Arya said.
The information found in the books and guides “surely represent the values and ideals Iran holds to more than any other sources of information, since textbooks and teachers’ guides in general provide a very clear idea of what an education system in any place would try to instill in the minds of the younger generation,” said Groiss. “We can, then, look at these books as an example of the regime’s intentions; and they’re alarming.”
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