 | Tonight at 8:30pm, a BBC Panorama programme entitled “British Schools, Islamic Rules” will be broadcast which claims to have uncovered “disturbing evidence that some Muslim children are being exposed to extremist preachers and fundamentalist Islamic groups.” |
“We also expose the part-time schools where hate is on the curriculum. The programme asks why school inspectors have missed the warning signs and examines the impact this could have on young Muslims' ability to integrate into mainstream British life.”
Panorama reporter, John Ware, who is behind the documentary, is no stranger to reporting on Muslim issues. In 2005, he came under wide criticism for his Panorama report on the Muslim Council of Britain, which was described at the time as a “witch-hunt against British Muslims.”
Another Panorama report by Ware, entitled “Faith, Hate and Charity” sought to discredit Interpal, a British charity that provides relief and development aid to Palestinians in need. The documentary was criticised for, among other things, an over-reliance on partisan Israeli and American sources.
Several media outlets, including the Daily Mail, the Metro, the Daily Star, and BBC News have reported on his latest Panorama outing, which looks at a network of 40 weekend schools who are alleged to be teaching the official Saudi national curriculum to about 5,000 pupils across Britain.
The BBC reports that the director for the Saudi Students’ School and Clubs said the Saudi Cultural Bureau, which is part of the Saudi embassy, had authority over the network. However, the Saudi government has said it has no official ties to the schools, neither did it endorse them.
Among the reported findings of the Panorama investigation is a book for 15-year olds which allegedly teaches the legal punishment in Shariah law in relation to stealing. Children are also allegedly taught that the punishment for sodomy in Shariah is death.
Another text books also reportedly asks children to list the "reprehensible" qualities of Jewish people.
Michael Gove, the education secretary, has told Panorama: "Saudi Arabia is a sovereign country. I have no desire or wish to intervene in the decisions that the Saudi government makes in its own education system. But I'm clear that we cannot have antisemitic material of any kind being used in English schools."
In response to allegations in relation to lessons on Jewish people, the Saudi ambassador told the BBC that it was “dangerously deceptive and misleading to address such texts and discuss them out of their overall historical, cultural and linguistic contexts.”
The Daily Star, in the meantime, used this opportunity to once again attempt to portray “Muslim children” and “Brits” as two mutually exclusive categories. Its article states:
“Thousands of Muslim children are being brainwashed against Brits at weekend schools run by extremists.”
"Pupils as young as six are taught that all “non- believers” will face the fires of hell."
British Muslim children are British too (the clue is in the title). With the reference to “hell”, it should be noted that there is no Abrahamic religion that is different in the concept of disbelievers facing punishment in the afterlife. To single out Islam and imply that it is distinct from anything else is a fallacy.
You can watch Panorama on BBC One at 8:30pm tonight.
You may wish to contact Panorama with your thoughts and comments on tonight’s programme. Their email address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Alternatively, you can write to their postal address: BBC Panorama, MC4A1, Media Centre, Media Village, 201 Wood Lane, London, W12 7TQ.
We would love to see your submissions to Panorama as well as your thoughts on tonight’s programme so please do leave a copy of them in our comments section below.
Several media outlets, including the Daily Mail, the Metro, the Daily Star, and BBC News have reported on his latest Panorama outing, which looks at a network of 40 weekend schools who are alleged to be teaching the official Saudi national curriculum to about 5,000 pupils across Britain.
The BBC reports that the director for the Saudi Students’ School and Clubs said the Saudi Cultural Bureau, which is part of the Saudi embassy, had authority over the network. However, the Saudi government has said it has no official ties to the schools, neither did it endorse them.
Among the reported findings of the Panorama investigation is a book for 15-year olds which allegedly teaches the legal punishment in Shariah law in relation to stealing. Children are also allegedly taught that the punishment for sodomy in Shariah is death.
Another text books also reportedly asks children to list the "reprehensible" qualities of Jewish people.
Michael Gove, the education secretary, has told Panorama: "Saudi Arabia is a sovereign country. I have no desire or wish to intervene in the decisions that the Saudi government makes in its own education system. But I'm clear that we cannot have antisemitic material of any kind being used in English schools."
In response to allegations in relation to lessons on Jewish people, the Saudi ambassador told the BBC that it was “dangerously deceptive and misleading to address such texts and discuss them out of their overall historical, cultural and linguistic contexts.”
The Daily Star, in the meantime, used this opportunity to once again attempt to portray “Muslim children” and “Brits” as two mutually exclusive categories. Its article states:
“Thousands of Muslim children are being brainwashed against Brits at weekend schools run by extremists.”
"Pupils as young as six are taught that all “non- believers” will face the fires of hell."
British Muslim children are British too (the clue is in the title). With the reference to “hell”, it should be noted that there is no Abrahamic religion that is different in the concept of disbelievers facing punishment in the afterlife. To single out Islam and imply that it is distinct from anything else is a fallacy.
You can watch Panorama on BBC One at 8:30pm tonight.
You may wish to contact Panorama with your thoughts and comments on tonight’s programme. Their email address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Alternatively, you can write to their postal address: BBC Panorama, MC4A1, Media Centre, Media Village, 201 Wood Lane, London, W12 7TQ.
We would love to see your submissions to Panorama as well as your thoughts on tonight’s programme so please do leave a copy of them in our comments section below.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Comments
Oldham Riots imply faith schools lead to segregated societies despite the fact that at the time of the riots in 2001 no Muslim schools operated in Oldham. Panorama ignored the achievements of Muslim schools in the UK that teach the National Curriculum under an Islamic ethos, instead they concentrated on tenuous and irrelevant website links.
Muslim schools are part of the solution to the issue of Community Cohesion and social harmony, some schools have challenges to meet and continue the work of building bridges with other faiths and communities through projects like the BSI in spite of prejudiced and poorly researched reporting.
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk
The skewed tone was set by the Muslim Uncle Tom, who completely set up a Straw Man. He came up with his own idiosyncratic definition instead of the O.E.D. meaning & ran with it!
I am sure that the holy books of other faiths & none are taught in faith & secular schools. Has one read the horrific passages in these? I wonder would a Jewish school with a Jewish ethos tell its pupils, by the way we don't believe in our holy book? Similarly Darwin's books are just as liable to cause concern e.g. " On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life "
Atheist ideologies such as Social Darwinism hve nothing to be proud of & were responsible for more deaths in the last Gregorian century than those killed religion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_5nX06HbjE&feature=related
As for accusing Muslims of anti-Semitism, what a joke, our beloved Prophet was a Semite. Arabic is the largest Semitic language in the world.
Nothing but agenda-driven sensationalist fear-mongering by the Establishment. I do not pay my license to have the Der Sturmer or Daily Mail on my t.v.
Following the avoidance of the Gaza charity appeal, I doubt that a similar programme exposing the extreme Jewist schools, with emotive music & hidden cameras highlighting the choicer Talmudic commentaries being shown on national t.v.
The majority being of athiest tendancies in this country must be having a right old laugh at the socalled peaceful and caring religious lot right about now.
I would like to bring to your attention a serious inaccuracy in your Panorama documentary, dated Monday 22/11/2010, broadcast at 8:30pm, titled "British Rules, Islamic Schools". About 22mins 30seconds into the documentary you show a shot of the text your mole is supposed to be translating. The translator claims that it says "The Jews look like monkeys and pigs". As an Arabic speaker I can confirm to you it does NOT say that. You should have had this translation properly confirmed by a professional translation agency and not a person with an agenda against the faith of Islam. The text shown actually says "... and the breakers of the Sabbath were punished by being morphed into monkeys and pigs...".
I wonder if they're going to even read it.
If not, if this so called "educational material" is genuine, then how can exposing it be classed as a "witch hunt"?
Are you suggesting that we do not have the right to know that children of whatever faith are being taught this appalling material in the UK?