A Saudi-funded Islamic school at the centre of allegations of extremist teaching insisted yesterday it had “ripped out” the offending pages from all textbooks. The King Fahad Academy, in Acton, west London, which receives more than £4 million a year from the Saudi royal family, has been accused of institutional racism by a sacked teacher.

Colin Cook, a Muslim convert, alleges children as young as five are taught using books which describe Jews as “apes” and Christians as “pigs”. One textbook allegedly asks for “examples of worthless religions … such as Judaism, Christianity, idol worship and others”.

Dr Sumaya Alyusuf, the principal, denied that teachers employed the offensive chapters, which had been “taken out context”. However, she said that the material had now been torn out. “The press interest in these unused chapters has shocked us,” she added. Dr Alyusuf said that, since the claims emerged, pupils and parents had been abused by local residents.

Daily Telegraph, 8 February 2007

See also BBC News, 7 February 2007