[Reuters] Mark John - Iran's schools are nurturing a siege mentality in children with textbooks showing preparations for war and depicting Israel and the West as the enemy, the Israel-based Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace (CMIP) said on Tuesday. Director of Research Arnon Groiss said CMIP surveyed 115 textbooks published in Iran in 2004. All the textbooks were underpinned by the belief that Iran was a world power preparing for global "jihad," with the aim of world dominance of Islam. "This has been a structural component of the Iranian regime since 1979," he said. A picture book for 10-year-olds showed veiled girls carrying rifles, while material for 13-year-olds provided a basic acquaintance with weaponry, explosives, and military tactics. Israel was consistently referred to as "the regime that occupies Jerusalem" and marked out on maps as "Occupied Palestine." The U.S. was the "Great Satan" or the "World Devourer."
2007-01-31 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive