Palestinian Authority Wants To Teach Security Forces About Islam--On Our Dime

The PA security forces have a problem--and the Palestinian Authority thinks that indoctrinating them with Islam is the solution:

The Palestinian Authority, alarmed by a decline in discipline, has been examining the introduction of Islamic doctrine in the security forces.

"We hope to bring Muslim sheiks for education and indoctrination," a source said.

The sources said the proposal would require the approval of Interior Minister Said Bin Ali and Prime Minister Salam Fayad. They said the biggest concern was that Western donors, particularly the European Union and the United States, would object to the Islamization program.

According to those sources, in conjunction with teaching the principles of Islam, the clerics would teach the forces about "the need to obey the PA". Apparently there has been a decline in discipline because hundreds of commanders have been replaced with officers who are younger than the men they lead--not to mention the poor salaries and benefits, and being turned down for home loans. To make matters worse, the lack of discipline is especially blatant among the U.S.-trained Presidential Guard which protects Abbas.

I suppose the idea of indoctrinating Muslims in their own religion is fine as far as it goes, but where did the PA get the idea?

From Hamas:

The model for the Islamization proposal has been the rival Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. Hamas's military and security forces have undergone extensive Islamic indoctrination to ensure loyalty, discipline and professionalism.

Whatever problem one might see in using Western funds to teach Islam to Muslims, the problem is  what is going to be taught--and judging by the continued appearance of anti-Israel material in school textbooks in the West Bank, it is questionable whether quality control can be exercised on what the clerics are going to teach these soldiers.

Technorati Tag: Palestinian Authority and Islam and Palestinian Security Forces.