Saudi Arabia's Curriculum of Intolerance - Hudson Institute

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Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes
freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with
others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice,
worship and observance.
This right is to be examined in conjunction with the other non-discrimination provisions in the
Declaration, which guarantee rights to each individual without discrimination on the basis of
religion.
While Saudi Arabia abstained from voting for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights when
it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, the
Declaration’s basic rights are now considered by international law experts to be part of
customary law, binding on all governments. Saudi Arabia’s responsibility in upholding such
basic rights is implicit in its membership on the UN’s Human Rights Council; it is one of 47
members that sit in judgment of the world’s countries on basic human rights issues, including
religious freedom. 56
Bilateral “Confirmation” of Policies
Our second ground for holding Saudi Arabia responsible for textbook reform is that, two years
ago, as a result of protracted bilateral negotiations with the United States government, Saudi
Arabia “confirmed” to the U.S. government that it would reform its curriculum thoroughly
within two years. 57 On July 19, 2006, the State Department issued a press release announcing the
diplomatic confirmation of policy: “The Saudi Government is conducting a comprehensive
revision of textbooks and educational curricula to weed out disparaging remarks toward religious
groups, a process that will be completed in one to two years” (see, Appendix A).
The State Department’s press release reported that U.S. Ambassador at Large for Religious
Freedom John Hanford had briefed Congress on religious practice and tolerance issues in Saudi
Arabia, focusing primarily on the results of bilateral discussions on these topics. 58 The problem
of intolerant language in textbooks and educational curricula was a particular focus of the
briefing.
Ambassador Hanford emphasized the significance of the Saudi government’s commitment,
noting that it was made openly, and inviting public monitoring of the effort: “I am pleased that
the Government of Saudi Arabia has been willing to engage with us in a substantive manner on
these critical issues. These policies are significant developments, and I appreciate the Saudi
Government’s interest in confirming them publicly so that all interested parties may follow
progress made in these areas.”
The State Department explained that the discussion process had made it possible to “identify and
confirm a number of key policies that the Saudi Government is pursuing and will continue to
pursue for the purpose of promoting greater freedom for religious practice and increased
tolerance for religious groups.” The understanding is that the process will be completed by the
start of the 2008-2009 school year, according to a January 2008 letter from a State Department
official to Senator Jon Kyl (see, Appendix B).