Saudi Arabia's Laudatory Initiative
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
27 July
2023
It's
heartening to know that the Muslim students in Saudi Arabia don't get to read
derogatory terms like 'pigs' and 'monkeys' for the Jewish people any longer.
Though it's still not official, changes are obvious and the ice of centuries
old rancour and bad-blood is thawing. According to the website, ' All Arab, '
Prince Salman or MSB ordered the removal of all hardcore and objectionable
elements from the textbooks a couple of years ago.
This is a
very prudent decision. Even thinking to remove such abusive words for a
community is a step towards peace and reconciliation. Muslims as well as Jewish
across the world must realize that this inveterate bitterness must come to an
end. Both Muslims as well as Jewish have an atavistic hatred for each other.
I remember
my legendary professor Sir Edward W Said's words, "I may not be alive but
a day will come when the followers of Judaism and Islam will realize their
folly and it'll dawn on them that they simply wasted their time in meaningless
conflicts for centuries."
Born in
Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, the great man was a vocal Arab sympathizer.
Despite being a well-wisher of Arabs and the people of Palestine, Dr Said was
of the opinion that Muslims across the world were foolishly against the Jewish
and Judaism. In an article in The Washington Post following 9/11, Said wrote,
"What the Muslim extremists did must be condemned but to suggest that the
demolition of the Twin Towers was actually perpetrated by Israel is all the
more condemnable."
Muslims
shall have to get rid of all these outlandish conspiracy theories that suggest
all the time that Jewish did this or that. American Political Scientist Samuel
P Huntington's famous ' Projection of (false) innocence ' theory defines Muslim
countries' terribly biased approach and attitude to Israel and its Zionist
government. This will only besmirch the image of Islam. So, indoctrinating a
Muslim child against Judaism and Jewish must be stopped.
One should
hope that Saudi Arabia's noble initiative will help break the ice and usher in
an era of mutual respect for each other. This will also augur well for the
beleaguered world, pounded and pummelled by a series of strife, skirmishes,
conflicts and wars.
----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URl: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/saudi-arabia-laudatory-initiative/d/130307
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