Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SKOPJE735
2007-09-10 16:58:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Skopje
Cable title:
MACEDONIA: GOVERNMENT PULLS TEXTBOOK DEEMED
how-toVZCZCXRO3025 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHSQ #0735 2531658 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 101658Z SEP 07 FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6500 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0023 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3703
UNCLAS SKOPJE 000735
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE (PFEUFFER)
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: GOVERNMENT PULLS TEXTBOOK DEEMED
OFFENSIVE TO MUSLIMS
UNCLAS SKOPJE 000735
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE (PFEUFFER)
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: GOVERNMENT PULLS TEXTBOOK DEEMED
OFFENSIVE TO MUSLIMS
1. (SBU) On September 7, the Ministry of Education (MOE)
announced it would withdraw from circulation a high school
history textbook deemed offensive to Muslims because it
included a portrait of the Prophet Mohamed, which is
forbidden under Islam. According to the MOE, the textbook,
used by 9th grade students since July 2006, originally was
published under the former Minister of Education (from the
ethnic Albanian DUI party). In addition to pulling the
volume, the MOE issued a public apology to the Islamic
Community of Macedonia (ICM).
2. (SBU) The ICM's Secretary General and Spokesperson, Afron
Tahiri, told us on September 7 that the picture of the
Prophet Mohamed was discovered by some concerned parents, who
alerted the media, the MOE (headed by junior government
coalition partner eAlbanian DPA),and the ICM. Tahiri said
he was pleased that the MOE immediately contacted him and
addressed the problem promptly. The ICM expects the authors
of the history textbook to apologize publicly for their
lapse. In the meantime, Tahiri sees a potential problem with
a similar depiction of Mohamed in a philosophy textbook that
is currently in use in Macedonian high schools.
3. (SBU) Comment: The MOE's prompt action to remove the
offending textbook, and its public apology, will play well in
the Islamic community here. As such, those actions might
also have been calculated to soften objections from the ICM
to the newly-passed law on religious communities (septel),
which has raised concerns that other Islamic sects, such as
the Bekteshi, will be able to legally register in Macedonia
and threaten the ICM's local monopoly on Islamic believers.
In addition, it is likely that the MOE's public announcement
that the textbooks were approved under the previous
DUI-dominated MOE was aimed at casting DUI as an insensitive
party when it comes to issues that affect Macedonia's Muslim
population. End comment.
NAVRATIL
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/SCE (PFEUFFER)
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MK
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: GOVERNMENT PULLS TEXTBOOK DEEMED
OFFENSIVE TO MUSLIMS
1. (SBU) On September 7, the Ministry of Education (MOE)
announced it would withdraw from circulation a high school
history textbook deemed offensive to Muslims because it
included a portrait of the Prophet Mohamed, which is
forbidden under Islam. According to the MOE, the textbook,
used by 9th grade students since July 2006, originally was
published under the former Minister of Education (from the
ethnic Albanian DUI party). In addition to pulling the
volume, the MOE issued a public apology to the Islamic
Community of Macedonia (ICM).
2. (SBU) The ICM's Secretary General and Spokesperson, Afron
Tahiri, told us on September 7 that the picture of the
Prophet Mohamed was discovered by some concerned parents, who
alerted the media, the MOE (headed by junior government
coalition partner eAlbanian DPA),and the ICM. Tahiri said
he was pleased that the MOE immediately contacted him and
addressed the problem promptly. The ICM expects the authors
of the history textbook to apologize publicly for their
lapse. In the meantime, Tahiri sees a potential problem with
a similar depiction of Mohamed in a philosophy textbook that
is currently in use in Macedonian high schools.
3. (SBU) Comment: The MOE's prompt action to remove the
offending textbook, and its public apology, will play well in
the Islamic community here. As such, those actions might
also have been calculated to soften objections from the ICM
to the newly-passed law on religious communities (septel),
which has raised concerns that other Islamic sects, such as
the Bekteshi, will be able to legally register in Macedonia
and threaten the ICM's local monopoly on Islamic believers.
In addition, it is likely that the MOE's public announcement
that the textbooks were approved under the previous
DUI-dominated MOE was aimed at casting DUI as an insensitive
party when it comes to issues that affect Macedonia's Muslim
population. End comment.
NAVRATIL