US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT482

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