Ah, Britain

.

Reported

LONDON (AP) — A BBC documentary says Saudi textbooks containing anti-Semitic and homophobic material are being used in British classrooms.

The BBC's "Panorama" program found the books in use for weekend education programs teaching the Saudi national curriculum to about 5,000 Muslim children in Britain.

The show, to be aired Monday, says the books include claims that some Jews were transformed into pigs and apes, teach that the penalty for sodomy is execution and show the correct way to chop off the hands and feet of thieves.

The government said it would tighten regulation of part-time classes. Education Secretary Michael Gove says anti-Semitic and homophobic sentiments have "absolutely no place in English education or in public life in Britain."

The BBC:

Saudi school lessons in UK concern government

The government says it will not tolerate anti-Semitic and homophobic lessons being taught to Muslim children in the UK.

BBC Panorama found that more than 40 Saudi Students' Schools and Clubs are teaching the official Saudi national curriculum to about 5,000 pupils.

One text book shows how the hands and feet of thieves are chopped off.

...Education Secretary Michael Gove said there was no place for the Saudi teachings with regard to Jews or homosexuals in Britain: "To my mind it doesn't seem to me that this is the sort of material that should be used in English schools."

...One of the text books asks children to list the "reprehensible" qualities of Jewish people. A text for younger children asks what happens to someone who dies who is not a believer in Islam - the answer given in the text book is "hellfire".

...Neal Robinson, an expert in the Koran, said the context in which the materials are presented comes with risks.

"To present it cold, as it seems to be here, just part of the teaching of Islam, no it's not wise. In the wrong hands I think it is... ammunition for anti-Semitism."

The use of these materials in Britain comes three years after a BBC investigation found a Saudi-funded school in west London was using texts that referred to Jewish people and Christians in derogatory terms. That prompted assurances at the highest diplomatic levels that the materials would be removed...

They just don't learn, it seems.

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