GOK EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE EXTREMIST INFLUENCES IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000482

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/PPD, NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2013
TAGS: KISL SCUL PGOV PHSA KU
SUBJECT: GOK EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE EXTREMIST INFLUENCES IN
KUWAIT'S EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM

Classified By: PAO John Moran for reason 1.5 (b)


1. (C/NF) Summary: Embassy PAO met January 27 with Kuwait's
Minister of Education, Dr. Mus'aad al-Haroun, to discuss his
ministry's efforts to reform the country's secondary school
curriculum and the (false) reports of embassy interference in
this process. Al-Haroun, who obtained undergraduate and
doctoral degrees in education from the US, confirmed that his
ministry was in the process of working with a team of
religious scholars to clarify the definition and history of
"Jihad" in secondary school textbooks so that young people
would understand that Islam "is a religion of moderation that
respects other cultures and religions." The effort, which
has engendered an outpouring of heated press editorials from
Islamists claiming that the Minister is seeking to redefine
Islam, is part of a broader program by the GOK to curb
extremist influences among the young. Al-Haroun also said
that a highly confidential plan is in place to remove
teachers and principals who espouse conservative Islamist
principles from Kuwait's schools, and that a clamp-down on
what is being taught in Kuwait's Islamist-run summer camps is
in the works. Post however has reason to doubt the strident
optimism expressed by the Minister in regard to long term GOK
determination or ability to reform the educational
curriculum. End Summary.


2. (U) A number of recent reports and op/eds in Kuwait's
Arabic dailies have accused the US Embassy of being behind a
plan by the Ministry of Education to excise certain Quranic
references from textbooks used by Kuwaiti students at the
middle and high school levels. Most reports allege that the
Ministry of Education plan involves removing the subject of
"Jihad" from the religious studies curriculum, and deleting
any reference to Israel as an enemy of Arabs and Muslims.
The editorial response from religious conservatives in Kuwait
has been predictably heated. "If true, the US Embassy has
passed all boundaries," writes Islamist Khaled al-Sultan in a
representative commentary, while others lash out at the
Ministry of Education and Kuwaiti liberals in general as
seeking to rewrite or expunge sacred writ from the education
of young Kuwaitis. In meetings, emboffs have been asked by
contacts why the embassy has embarked on such an intrusive
and counterproductive strategy; our response that these
allegations are false has not convinced many of our
interlocutors.


3. (C) During a meeting with Embassy PAO, Kuwait's Minister
of Education, Dr. Mus'aad al-Haroun, said he has firmly
denied to members of the National Assembly and others in
Kuwait that the MOE has consulted with the embassy on the
issue of educational reform, and considers the allegation
merely a tactical move by Islamists to stifle his efforts to
reform Kuwait's secondary school curriculum. Al-Haroun said
that the MOE has already put into place changes in the
secondary school curriculum in science, mathematics and
languages. Now, he said, it's time for the social studies
and the Islamic studies segments to be reformed.


4. (C) Al Haroun said that newspaper reports that the MOE
planned to excise segments relating to the impossibility of
making peace with Israel were false, as the
Palestinian-Israeli issue was "too explosive politically" to
touch, but confirmed that his ministry was working with
religious scholars to come up with a segment that puts the
principle of "Jihad" into an appropriate modern context. He
said that he is concerned that young people will read the
history of the early days of Islam, with its calls for the
elimination of polytheists and its delineated status for
"people of the book," as an invitation to intolerance and an
implied justification of al-Qaeda's message. He said that
the point of the reform was not to remove references to
Jihad, but to explain it in a way that underscores respect
for all religions. He said that many of those criticizing
this are merely grandstanding for upcoming parliamentary
elections, and that he has been "compelled" to meet with
Islamist organizations to assure them that the MOE does not
intend to take religion out of the curriculum or to re-write
the Quran. Nonetheless, he said, the MOE is determined to
implement these changes, which he described as particularly
necessary for young men ages 14-18, and will not be dissuaded
by criticism.


5. (C/NF) Al-Haroun also said that his ministry is moving to
get extremist teachers and principals out of the schools.
Whatever might be in the curriculum, he said, "we don't know
what goes on behind the classroom door." He said that this
effort to rid the educational system of those who foster
unwholesome ideas is something that the government is going
about with extreme secrecy, and emphasized that the embassy
must keep this confidential. He said the GOK is also very
concerned about what is being said in mosques and in the
summer and "spring break" camps run by Islamists for
children, and that the Council of Ministers has agreed that
they must move aggressively in this area as well. Al-Haroun
said that Islamists in Kuwait were influential because they
are well organized and financed--"the only really
well-organized movement in the country"--but that he did not
think they posed a threat over the long-term. The only
really dangerous elements, he said, were small cells of
extremists that he said were still active in the country.


6. (C) Comment: Al-Haroun evinced great confidence that
curriculum reform issues and the other efforts to combat
extremist influence in Kuwait were moving apace, and that the
vast majority of Kuwaitis support these measures (or would
support them if they knew their extent.) His manner
suggested determination that the GOK could and would make the
changes necessary to protect young people from the nefarious
influences of extremist Islam. Of course, this is the
message we would want and expect to hear from official
Kuwaitis, so we're not too surprised to hear him say it.
According to newspaper commentary, Islamist influence in
education is deeply embedded, and includes not just doctrinal
training but anti-Western, anti-Christian intolerance and use
of peer and school pressure to stifle progressive attitudes
and perspectives. Liberal contacts in the Kuwaiti media tell
us that liberals consider al-Haroun's educational reform
efforts as slow and ineffectual, and entertain doubts as to
his ability to move against this allegedly entrenched elite
of conservative Islamists.


7. (C) Comment Continued: We also note that even with the
proposed clarification of Jihad in Kuwait's curriculum, the
Minister's declaration that references to Israel would remain
in their unreformed fashion makes us question the seriousness
of current GOK educational reform efforts. An informal PAS
look at a section on the Arab-Israeli conflict from a
ninth-grade social studies textbook entitled "The Arab
World," for example, reveals the following text:
"Normalization is the main goal of the peace process. This
normalization aims at perpetuating Israeli presence in the
region. Peace from the Israeli perspective is a
comprehensive operation that targets the mind and heart of
the Muslim individual to remove his hatred of the Jews in
accordance with the holy Quran: 'And they will not cease from
fighting against thee until they have made thee a renegade
from thy religion, if they can. (Al Baqara 217)' The peace
challenge will always be there, especially since the
Arab-Israeli conflict is eternal, as per God's word in the
holy Quran: 'And the Jews shall not be pleased with thee, nor
will the Christians, until thou follow their creed. (Al
Baqara 120)." PAS and POL section are now engaged in a
fuller review of Kuwaiti school textbooks to be reported
septel.
URBANCIC