California School District Declines To Portray Islam Accurately In Textbooks For Students

From Creeping Sharia:

California school district declines to portray Islam accurately in textbooks


Posted on July 24, 2010 by creeping

Cleansing history books of jihad, just like Islam cleanses infidels where it becomes dominant. Hat tip Weasel Zippers via Trustees decline to change portrayal of Islam
textbook, district, material – News – The Orange County Register.



FOUNTAIN VALLEY- Schools in the Fountain Valley district will not change the way they portray Islamic history to 7th-graders.



After a long, contentious meeting Thursday night, a unanimous school board declined to go further with a proposal by Fountain Valley resident Steve Jackson that they provide supplemental material to the district’s 7th grade social science textbook. Jackson contends the textbook shows a “totally positive view of Islam at the expense of accuracy.”



Jackson had proposed the materials written by Textbook Alert to be used in conjunction with the state-approved textbook, Houghton-Mifflin Harcourts’ “World History: Medieval to Early Modern Times.” The material specifically addresses a 55-page section of the textbook regarding Islamic history.



Katherine H. Smith, a board member of the Anaheim Union District High School District, brought up a different issue Thursday night. She said she wanted to call attention to the Fountain Valley district’s leasing of space to the Institute On Religion and Civic Values, headed by Shabbir Mansuri.



Formerly known as the Council of Islamic Education, the organization works with educators, publishers and policymakers to provide perspective on world religions in educational material.



“I’m sure we don’t rent a room to any group in our school district and it was verified that we didn’t,” Smith said. “But if we did, I would insist that the Jews would have a room, that the Christians would have a room…and it would be better not to be so cozy with these people and to be separated from them.”



In its supplemental material, Textbook Alert suggests various corrections to the textbook to address what the group believes are inaccuracies regarding Muslims’ views on Christians and Jews to interpretations of jihad, or the Arabic word for “struggle.” Textbook Alert is an independent think tank with experience in reviewing text books, according to Director Sandra Alfonsi.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Excerpts from Textbook Alert’s proposed supplementary material to Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt’s 2006 textbook, World History: Medieval to Modern Times.



Textbook, Page 61: “Jews, Christians and Muslims also recognize many of the same prophets. Muhammad taught that prophets such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus had lived in earlier times.”



Textbook Alert: “Judaism and Christianity do not regard Abraham, Moses or Jesus as prophets.”



Textbook, Page 61: “Muhammad respected Jews and Christians as “people of the Book” because their holy books taught many of the same ideas that Muhammad taught.”



Textbook Alert: “The Qur’an refers to Christians and Jews as “apes”, “pigs”, “dogs” and “worse than cattle”. (Surahs [chapters 2:64; 5:59-60; 7:159-166; 7:176; 25:44.) This according to what Muslims regard as the word of Allah as revealed to Muhammad, is their belief about the true essence of Jews and Christians.”



Textbook, Page 83: “Muslims generally practice religious tolerance, or acceptance, with regard to people they conquered. In other words, the Muslims did not ban all religions other than Islam in their lands. Jews and Christians in particular kept many of their rights, since they shared some beliefs with Muslims.”



Textbook Alert: “…The alternatives offered to conquered Christians and Jews are conversion to Islam, or death; they enjoy ‘protection’ only as they endure humiliation and severely restricted religious and civil rights…”