Some Saudi Schools Teach Hatred of U.S.
Dec. 10 -- The Saudi government insists religious extremism is not sanctioned in the kingdom, and that it's not taught in schools. But it is easy to find teachers who speak out against the United States with a surprisingly deep hatred — a sentiment many are passing on to their students.
Getting these teachers to speak on the record, and especially on camera, is difficult.
On a trip to Riyadh, ABCNEWS producer Hoda Abdel-Hamid and I met three teachers who work at a private high school for boys just outside the capital. And although we've frequently witnessed the depth of anti-American feeling in this part of the world, both of us were amazed at what we heard from these men during our interview.
All three teachers are personally connected to the terror war. Each has a brother in U.S. custody at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, suspected of supporting terrorism.
"I do not know if he was with al Qaeda or not," said Saad al-Shabbani, whose 20-year-old brother, Fahad, is a detainee at Guantanamo. "He is a young man, I don't think he was part of any group specifically. But with the events unfolding he wanted to serve Islam."
‘If Someone Kills My Muslim Brother, I Can Kill Him’
Whether their brothers are actually tied to al Qaeda, all three teachers are teaching their students — Saudi teenagers — that al Qaeda is a noble cause. Here's an exchange with Mohammed Al-Osman, another teacher:
ABCNEWS' Jim Sciutto: Do you believe Osama bin Laden is a good man?
Mohammed Al-Osman: Undoubtedly.
Sciutto: He's a good man, even for planning these attacks on civilians in the U.S., and the Koran says attacks on civilians are not justified?
Al-Osman: Three thousand Americans were killed, but many Muslims also died in Afghanistan. I tell my students the Koran allows self-defense, so if the U.S. kills civilians, then sometimes we have to kill civilians.
Sciutto: What I'm hearing from you is that you're telling your students they can kill people because they're angry.
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