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Saudi Money for Schools in America Raises Questions

November 5, 2007

    According to two recent new stories, it seems that while Americans generally support the close ties the Bush Administration has with the Saudi Government, the media and public do not look favorably upon any kind of connections that might exist on a local level. Apparently Americans feel safe with dealing with the Saudis as long as those dealings take place at the highest levels of government and behind closed doors. However, when it comes to local affairs such relationships, especially financial, are viewed with a great deal of suspicion.  

    Two recent articles point to this paranoia have appeared lately. Barbara Ferguson from the Arab News reports (Oct. 19) that The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal advisory panel, has recommended the closing of the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA), a 23-year-old private school serving nearly 1,000 students in grades K-12 on two campuses in northern Virginia’s Fairfax County. The reason? Because it has received money from the Saudi Embassy. This is apparently enough information for the federal panel to recommend it being shuttered until it “can ensure the school is not fostering radical Islam” or “religious extremism.”  

    Much is left up to the imagination. The Commission does not define “radical Islam” in any way other than some vague references to certain kinds of education that occur in Saudi Arabia that foster religious intolerance and extremism. No specifics are offered for the school in question. One may wonder if these same accusations might be leveled at similar kinds of Christian education that goes on such as the kind featured in the recent multi-award winning and highly acclaimed documentary Jesus Camp.  

    A similar case of guilty by association is being battled out in Massachusetts’s courts. A Fox news media outlet, the Boston Herald, ran a story accusing the Islamic Society of Boston of being connected to terrorist organizations. Its major evidence? Once again, financial connections with Saudi Arabia. The Society had raised over 7 million dollars from the Saudis and other “Middle Eastern sources.” Again, much is left up to the imagination. One is not sure if these mysterious “Middle Eastern sources” might be tied to the Taliban, Al Qaeda, or the Iraqi insurgency.  

    Meanwhile the Bush administration continues to move forward on its 20 billion dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia with support being voiced by both the leading Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls.  

David Hale

Links

 http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=102595&d=19&m=10&y=2007

            (Oct 19) An Islamic school in Virginia that is sponsored by the Saudi government may be shut down after recommendation by a federal advisory panel.  The advisory panel is concerned that the school may be fostering radical Islam. Questions rise after the lack of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia and the general promotion of religious extremism in Saudi schools is coupled with evidence that the Saudi Embassy is running the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA), a 23-year-old private school with nearly 1,000 students. 

http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_sndgs01.html

            (October) Judith Miller reports on “SLAPP”—or “strategic litigation against public participation”—suits, which aim not at winning in court, but at intimidating into silence a group or a publication raising issues of public concern. Of specific interest in this article is a court case in Boston that involved the an Islamic society that had raised money from Saudi sources.  

http://www.nysun.com/article/59654

            (Aug 2) Presidential hopeful John Edwards announces his opposition to the Bush administration’s 20 billion dollar arms deal to Saudi Arabi. 

http://www.nysun.com/article/59801

            (Aug 2) Opposition builds in congress to proposed arms deal.

 Richard Bishop