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'Jihad Literacy': The Legacy of Us-Sponsored Textbooks for Afghan Children

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Title: 'Jihad Literacy': The Legacy of Us-Sponsored Textbooks for Afghan Children
Language: English
Authors: Nangyalai Attal, Bjorn Harald Nordtveit
Source: Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. 2024 45(2):274-290.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 2024
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Children, Literacy Education, Textbook Publication, Politics of Education, Textbook Content, Federal Programs, International Organizations, Educational Strategies, Religious Factors, Cultural Influences, Racism, Religious Discrimination, Armed Forces, Ideology, Propaganda, Information Dissemination, Misinformation
Geographic Terms: Afghanistan
DOI: 10.1080/01596306.2024.2309668
ISSN: 0159-6306
1469-3739
Abstract: This paper uses critical discourse analysis and critical literacy to analyze the first in a series of literacy primers developed with US support for children in Afghanistan in the 1980s, called 'Jihad literacy'. The text is analyzed for its ideological content as related to the themes of religion, violence, and martyrdom in the historical perspective of the Cold War and the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The paper demonstrates how the notion of 'Jihad' was subverted to promote a holy war against the Soviet invasion. The educational system supported by the US created a radical version of Islam based on violence and martyrdom, shaping the Afghan society to this day. We contend that the same or similar institutions shape current discourses as in the past and that children are the main victims of politico-economic warfare.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2024
Accession Number: EJ1416271
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0175910839;54j01apr.24;2024Mar11.05:57;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0175910839-1">'Jihad literacy': the legacy of US-sponsored textbooks for Afghan children </title> <p>This paper uses critical discourse analysis and critical literacy to analyze the first in a series of literacy primers developed with US support for children in Afghanistan in the 1980s, called 'Jihad literacy'. The text is analyzed for its ideological content as related to the themes of religion, violence, and martyrdom in the historical perspective of the Cold War and the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The paper demonstrates how the notion of 'Jihad' was subverted to promote a holy war against the Soviet invasion. The educational system supported by the US created a radical version of Islam based on violence and martyrdom, shaping the Afghan society to this day. We contend that the same or similar institutions shape current discourses as in the past and that children are the main victims of politico-economic warfare.</p> <p>Keywords: Afghanistan; cold war; Jihad; Jihad literacy; Martyrdom; USAID</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-2">Introduction</hd> <p>This article analyzes the first in a series of literacy primers developed with US support for children in Afghanistan in the 1980s, part of a series of books called 'Jihad literacy'. The text production is analyzed from its historical perspective of the Cold War and of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. It is also critical to understand how these textbooks influenced primary education in Afghanistan from 1985 to present. The text consumption will be considered in reference to historical and ongoing schooling in Afghanistan: the first author of this article, at the age of 6, was taught reading and writing using a similar primer to the one analyzed, in a primary school named 'Al-Jihad' in Wardak province, Afghanistan.[<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref1">1</reflink>] The text will be analyzed for its ideological content, especially as related to the themes of religion, violence, and the notion of personal sacrifice and martyrdom. The analysis and understanding of the political, economic, and ideological construction of the Jihad discourse in Afghanistan can be useful to understand contemporary conflicts, in which children are also considered as disposable entities by the supporters and perpetuators of warfare.</p> <p>According to Lansford ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref2">17</reflink>]), the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan marked the intensification of the Cold War, posing a significant challenge to the American strategic position in South Asia and the Persian Gulf. The increasing global influence of the Soviet Union and of communism forced the United States to take up a hardline position against the expansion of the Soviet Union: 'Afghanistan would emerge as one of the principal battlegrounds between the two superpowers' (Lansford, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref3">17</reflink>], p. 113). Subsequently, the US National Security Adviser under the Carter administration, Zbigniew Brzezinski (1977–1981), argued for a much stricter position to counter Soviet aggression, and the US provided both military and educational support to Afghanistan (Lansford, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref4">17</reflink>]). A recently declassified memo from the National Security Archives penned by Zbigniew Brzezinski on December 26, [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref5">9</reflink>], states that 'the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan poses for us an extremely grave challenge, both internationally and domestically'. He suggested that Afghanistan could become the 'Soviet's Vietnam' and further elaborated that given there were around 300,000 Afghan refugees in Pakistan 'we will be in a position to further indict the Soviets for causing massive human suffering'. Brzezinski proposed to President Carter that the US should support the anti-Soviet resistance and work with (radical) Islamic propaganda along with covert action in support of the Afghan rebels.</p> <p>The military support, known under the name of 'Operation Cyclone', included the provision of heavy military equipment to the Islamic Mujahideen, such as anti-aircraft Stinger missiles (Billard, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref6">6</reflink>]). Ahmad Rashid ([<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref7">24</reflink>]), a well-known Pakistani journalist who has written extensively on the Mujahideen and the Taliban, indicated that –</p> <p>With the active encouragement of the CIA and Pakistan's ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence, i.e. the main Pakistan intelligence institution], who wanted to turn the Afghan Jihad into a global war waged by all Muslim states against the Soviet Union, some 35,000 radicals from 40 Islamic countries joined Afghanistan's fight between 1982 and 1992. Eventually, the Afghan Jihad directly influenced more than 100,000 foreign Muslim radicals<emph>.</emph> (p. 33)</p> <p>Besides military backing by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the US Agency for International Development (USAID) delivered humanitarian assistance, including education. In 1985, the Academy for Educational Development (AED), in collaboration with the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Teachers College, Columbia University, dispatched an education team to assess and appraise the educational situation in Afghanistan. The team met with the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen (an Afghan organization formed in 1985 by seven Afghan Mujahideen parties fighting against the Soviet forces). According to the mission report (Afghanistan Education Activity Final Report, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref8">4</reflink>]), 'each of the parties supports freedom fighters, refugee camps, education, and health programs' (p. I–2). Accordingly, a draft agreement between USAID and the Islamic Unity was concluded, assisting this latter in developing a national educational system, developing, producing, and distributing curricula, textbooks, and stationery. To inculcate Jihad among the various Mujahideen groups, the mission team proposed the establishment of an educational institution called Afghan Academies: 'The creation of the Academies as the capstone of the educational system needed to support the Jihad' (Afghanistan Education Activity Final Report, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref9">4</reflink>], p. V–18).</p> <p>US President Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) at the time characterized the Islamic Unity as freedom fighters in line with US principles of democratic freedom: 'those (Mujahideen) are freedom fighters. Those are people fighting for their own country and not wanting to become a satellite state of the Soviet Union' (Raines, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref10">23</reflink>], para. 8). In his recently published memoir <emph>By All Means Available</emph> ([<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref11">28</reflink>]), Michael G. Vickers, a former senior CIA official and the key architect of CIA's Operation Cyclone, refers to training the Afghan Mujahedeen as training 'holy warriors' (p. 3). According to the author, 'The initial goal for our Afghanistan program was to increase the cost to the Soviet occupation, not end it, to bleed the 40th Army [i.e. the Soviet land forces in Afghanistan], not defeat it' (pp. 111–112). Based on this goal, the Mujahedeen were trained to combat Soviet occupational forces. Similarly, USAID-funded projects in support of education taught students to resist the Soviet invasion, not as a 'freedom fighters' in the terms of democracy used by President Reagan, but as a religious war led by 'holy warriors' (Vickers, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref12">28</reflink>]).</p> <p>As it later turned out, this strategy did not lead to democracy and freedom, but rather to a theocracy based on religious fundamentalism: 'The Mujahideen or Islamic warriors that the US empowered and equipped, hand in hand with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, ultimately turned out to be a monster' (Abbas, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref13">1</reflink>], p. 153). The author further states that the legacy of Ronald Reagan's Holy Warriors, the Mujahideen, with ideological influence from Saudi, arms from the United States, education in Pakistani madrassas becomes the Taliban who adopts 'their curriculum to fit the needs of the hour' (Abbas, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref14">1</reflink>], p. 153).</p> <p>This article first discusses the notion of 'Jihad', demonstrating how it was used to promote religious war and, in the terms of Vickers, 'bleed' the Soviet forces, 'by all means available'. It also provides the literature background of 'Jihad Literacy'. Further, the methodology will be explained, based on Fairclough's model of analyzing text (i.e. the text of the Jihad literacy primer), with references to text production and consumption, and the larger social impact. Our analysis will demonstrate how the US-supported educational system created a discourse of holy war and sacrifice that long outlasted the Soviet occupation, how it was produced and consumed, and how it shaped the Afghan society.</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-3">Literature review</hd> <p>Scholars of Islam and historians of the history of Islam have multiple interpretations of Jihad, often inclining toward peace and sometimes toward war. Professor Muhammed Abu-Nimer, in his book <emph>A Framework for Nonviolence and Peacebuilding in Islam</emph> ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref15">2</reflink>]), divides the interpretation of Jihad into three different camps. The first camp tends toward seeing Jihad as a violent method Muslims employ, associated with the expansion of political Islam. The second camp associates Jihad with using force and violence in very limited circumstances and is closer to the defensive nature of Jihad, where force is needed in case of invasion (e.g. as in the Afghanistan case). The third camp is inclined toward nonviolent Jihad, where nonviolent civil action and resistance make the core of an Islamic struggle.</p> <p>Another definition is proposed by Justin Parrott ([<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref16">22</reflink>]), for whom Jihad is a concept analogous to just-war theory, but is broader in scope, involving charity and spiritual struggle. He further indicates that the formative goal of Jihad is 'to protect the safety of the Muslim community and fulfill our obligation to practice Islam and share it with the world' (p. 3). For Parrott, it is not synonymous with religious compulsion or forced conversion, and it does not mean the advancement of Islam as a global political ideology. Michael Bonner ([<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref17">7</reflink>]) explains Jihad as internal and external; the internal one is considered the 'greater Jihad' (p. 13). For him, Jihad is conducted against oneself to be mindful, while the external Jihad is meant for physical warfare against actual enemies. Referencing Ibn al-Qayyim (d.1350), Parrott ([<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref18">22</reflink>]) refers to four types of enemies against which Jihad can be conducted: the nafs (Arabic term referring to 'self'), Satan, the nonbelievers, and the hypocrites. The first two types are inclined toward evil in oneself, which is spiritual, and precede the Jihad against external enemies. The Jihaad and-nafs or mujaahadat-an-nafs refers to fighting the tempting self, controlling oneself to do the right deeds, and avoiding the wrong ones. According to the <emph>Dictionary of Islamic Words and Expressions</emph> by Professor Muhammad Ismail Saleh, Jihad means striving and holy war. The purpose is to exert 'great effort' in the cause of Allah, including through fighting.</p> <p>Western scholar and Catholic theologian Hans Küng (1928–2021) studied Islam extensively and concurred with the meaning of Jihad in Islam as more inclined toward peace than war. According to Kung, Jihad can be understood as 'effort' and 'striving hard' for the sake of God: 'in the Islamic view, war can never be 'holy" (Kung & Bowden, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref19">16</reflink>], p. 597). Similarly, Bonner implied that Jihad in Arabic does not mean 'holy war' or 'just war,' but rather that the term means 'striving', while the Arabic term for war or fighting is 'Harb' ([<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref20">7</reflink>], p. 2). According to Bonner ([<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref21">7</reflink>]), 'Jihad is often understood as the heart of contemporary radical Islamist ideology' (p. 1) and some anti-Islamic groups associate violent Jihad with the incompatibility of Islam with civilized life. However, the term 'holy war' has not been referred to as Jihad in Islamic texture or legal doctrine: 'the concept of Holy War, at least as we use it now, derives from Christian doctrine and experience, especially relating to the Crusades' (Bonner, [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref22">7</reflink>], p. 5).</p> <p>Historically, aside from military booklets on Jihad, we have not come across literature that specifically addresses the use of Jihad, especially in its violent form, through schooling and education in Islamic countries before the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan. The first-ever use of Jihad in schools or madrassas as foundational learning occurred in the 1980s in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with funding from the US and other Western governments. According to Dana Burde ([<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref23">10</reflink>]), 'the US, Saudi Arabian, and Pakistani governments supported the Afghan mujahideen' (p. 57) and created textbooks for children (grades 1–12) to encourage learners to militancy and violence in countering the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. These textbooks were called 'Jihad Literacy', funded mainly by USAID and with implementation assistance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.</p> <p>Textbooks that are justifying violence, especially in the name of God and patriotism, are likely to support militancy at a young age (Burde, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref24">10</reflink>]). Each aspect of education has a fundamental imprint on children. According to Catherine Vanner, Akseer, and Levi ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref25">27</reflink>]), textbooks are 'shapers of educational substance', especially in low-resource contexts (p. vii). They are therefore 'tools of hegemony' that impose a disguised control through the normalization of a 'common sense' (p. vii). Spogmai Akseer ([<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref26">5</reflink>]) states that education could pave the road to peace and rebuilding in conflict-affected areas, but could also play a negative role in furthering violence. Conflicts in Afghanistan allowed various foreign powers to militarize education, through the funding and support of anti-communist textbooks. The textbooks used a distorted version of the notion of Jihad to encourage students to fight against Soviet Union, and, with the defeat of the Soviet occupation, has provided the foundation for a society in which violent Jihad is seen as a justified goal to combat 'infidels' whether they come from Russia or from Western countries.</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-4">Methodology</hd> <p>To uncover the ideological nature of the Jihad Literacy textbooks, we draw from Norman Fairclough's ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref27">14</reflink>]) <emph>Critical Discourse Analysis</emph> (CDA) and Hilary Janks ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref28">15</reflink>]) <emph>Reading Texts Critically</emph>. Fairclough ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref29">14</reflink>]) defines discourse as 'a particular way of constructing a particular (domain of) social practice' (p. 76) and hegemony as 'development in various domains of civil society (e.g. work, education, leisure activities) of practice which neutralize particular relations and ideologies, practices which are largely discursive' (p. 94). Janks' ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref30">15</reflink>]) concept of lexicalization refers to the selection of words in a text. Overlexicalization refers to many words referencing the same phenomenon. Lexical cohesion, which connects the text across the textbook using synonyms, antonyms, and collocation, is used to construct a dualist worldview of, e.g. Muslims against communists and atheists. Janks ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref31">15</reflink>]) defines discourse as culturally patterned ways of understanding and talking about the world through which we can make meaning. She also describes the word 'critical', which examines the ideological basis of text and discourses. Critical discourse analysis thus becomes a method to understand 'how language works to position readers in the interest of power' (p. 23). Overall, Fairclough ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref32">14</reflink>]) claimed that power can be conceptualized both asymmetrically between participants in discursive events and in the form of unequal capacity to control the production, distribution, and consumption of texts in specific social contexts. His three<bold>-</bold>dimensional method entails textual analysis by analyzing the production of the text, consumption of the text, and social analysis by investigating the sociocultural consequences of the text. We will adapt this structure in our analysis. The discourse analysis was conducted in three stages: identification of textbooks, transliteration and translation of data, and adding auto-ethnographic narratives.</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-5">Identification of textbooks</hd> <p>Jihad Literacy under the Afghanistan Education Support Project (ESSP I & II) was large in scale and scope, producing 153 different textbooks in Pashto and Dari languages from grades 1 to 12. The primer used for analysis in this article, <emph>Jihad Literacy of Pashto</emph>, Volume One (third edition), was produced in 1990, has 264 pages front to back, and included letter learning, basic numeracy, math, physics, faith-related matters, and other subjects.[<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref33">2</reflink>]</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-6">Transliteration and translation</hd> <p>To analyze the text, we transliterated the Pashto version, using the US Library of Congress Standard Table for Pushto Romanization, before we translated it into English. We imported the English file into NVivo and reduced redundant words (such as page numbers), to establish tables and a word cloud depicting the most frequently repeated words (out of the approximately 4200 words that constitute the full text). We coded the text based on the most repetitive themes throughout the textbook, including 'nation', 'Islam', and 'martyrdom'. We also coded pictures in the book, using the same themes. We selected the first volume of the primer, since it represents the initial learning of the 7-year-old child – and the child's first encounter with letters and text, taught by an institution of authority different than the parents.</p> <p>There are various translations and interpretations of the Qur'an. For better accuracy, we used the library of the University of Washington's online research guide for translation of the Qur'an in the English language. They suggest the legacy version of quran.com which includes translation by Sahih International, Pickthall, Yusuf Ali, Shakir, and Dr Ghali. The website also makes it easier to search the text of the Qur'an ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref34">18</reflink>]) with transliteration, translation and <emph>tafsir</emph> (commentary).</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-7">Auto-ethnographic narrative</hd> <p>To complement the textual analysis, we use Critical Autoethnography (Boylorn & Orbe, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref35">8</reflink>]) to reflect on the lived experiences of the first author. The author reflects on his schooling under the Mujahideen at Al Jihad School. As described by Boylorn & Orbe, critical autoethnography helps to conduct a critical self-reflexivity, especially concerning lived and embodied experiences of becoming literate through a certain type of text. Kimberlé Crenshaw ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref36">11</reflink>]), as referenced in Boylorn and Orbe ([<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref37">8</reflink>]), defines intersectionality as 'an analytic sensibility, a way of thinking about identity and its relation to power' (p. 7). We draw on this theoretical concept to describe the construction of a social world (discourse) through the Jihad curriculum and how it was practically implemented in the classrooms. The following sections will analyze The Text, The Text Production, and The Text Consumption.</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-8">The text</hd> <p>The textbook is multimodal; it is comprised of text, space where the children can write, images, and drawings of humans, animals, and things. Learning of Pashto letters is supported by images of words that start with that letter (much like in a Western textbook, where 'A is for Apple, B is for Ball', etc.). Subsequent text, after the main letters are learned, is centered around a fictional character, a boy, Asad (literally, the name means 'lion'). There is no depiction of girls or women in the book. Llorent-Bedmar, Cobano-Delgado Palma, and Navarro-Granados ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref38">19</reflink>]) cite Saikal (2016) in suggesting that Daesh (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS) has a more inclusionary role for women as fighters in violent Jihad, while Al Qaeda considers women as supporters of male fighters. However, in the University of Nebraska at Omaha-supported Jihad Literacy textbooks for Afghanistan, women were almost excluded from the text, reflecting the Taliban's discriminatory stance on education for women.</p> <p>A translation of the first 37 pages of the book demonstrates how much the text is accentuated around the terms of God, Jihad, and Country. Each page is teaching the letters and repeating the words (including writing exercises) associated with 'Oh, Great God' (pp. 1–4);[<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref39">3</reflink>] 'our religion' (pp. 5–8); 'our faith' (pp. 9–12); 'our Jihad' (pp. 13–16); 'our homeland' (pp. 17–20). There are no terms other than these five taught over the first 20 pages, and no other letters than the one associated with these terms. An illustration of the first page is shown in Figure 1.</p> <p>Graph: Figure 1. First page of the textbook: 'Oh, Great God'.</p> <p>On pages 21–37, more complex sentences are created, again focusing on the same themes: 'Oh Great God, our religion, you save' and 'God save;' then 'Oh Great God, our Jihad, you save, Great Jihad;' and then again, 'our great Jihad, oh great God, our homeland, you save, God you save.'</p> <p>The learning is a mixture of letters associated with religious notions and also occasionally with everyday terms, e.g. 'p' and 'waw' letters in 'pi. Sho', meaning 'cat'. In using a cat as an example in sentences on page 82, Asad has a cat, Asad's brother has a cat, and Asad's sister has a cat (this is one of the few references to female characters in the primer, acknowledging the existence of women – as a sister – not as an independent character with a name).</p> <p>The pattern of both overlexicalization and lexical cohesion of the religious vocabulary is repeated throughout the primer. Jihad, as well as Mujahid (religious fighter) and the plural of Mujahid (Mujahideen), are repeated 112 times throughout the textbook. Islam, Muslim, Islamic, faith, and religion are referred to 73 times. God is referred to 47 times. Terms associated with sacrificial violence, such as martyr, martyrdom, and sacrifice, are referenced throughout the textbook. For example, the use of the letter 'sh' 'shyn' in the word 'shukr' literally meaning 'thank God', is used after 'sh' 'shyn in 'shahadat' or 'martyrdom'. The letter 's' or 'se' is used in the word 'mi. ras' meaning 'legacy', or something someone leaves behind after death.</p> <p>Much of the text is centered around Asad, who is busy making something or doing something. The name Asad is repeated 44 times in the textbook. He is first introduced on p. 48, in an exercise of making opposite statements of seemingly neutral sentences ('Asad is ill'; 'Asad is going to the garden'; and 'Asad has two horses'). However, early in the text, Asad's religious and patriotic obligations are revealed:</p> <p>There are blessings in rushing to Jihad</p> <p>Asad is ill and cannot go to Jihad</p> <p>Asad has two horses for Jihad</p> <p>Jihad is for the sake of God</p> <p>Asad is going to Jihad (p. 49)</p> <p>An NVivo-generated word cloud[<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref40">4</reflink>] demonstrates the prominence of 'Asad' in the textbook and shows how the terminology is centered around the vocabulary of Jihad (Figure 2).</p> <p>Graph: Figure 2. Word cloud image of words used in the textbook.</p> <p>These themes demonstrate patterns of identity construction around martyrdom and Jihad as a holy war for the country. Writing exercises throughout the book can be used as examples of this theme. On page 171, for example, the idea of Asad as a Muslim, a religious warrior ('mujahid') for Jihad (here meaning 'holy war') and as a martyr is clearly demonstrated (Figure 3).</p> <p>Graph: Figure 3. Translation of p. 171 of Jihad Literacy Primer.</p> <p>Here, the sequence is started with the unquestionable statement that the 'Friday prayer is taking place in the mosque', a fact that any Afghan child would be familiar with. This statement is giving legitimacy to the following normalization of 'going to the frontline' and 'martyrdom'. The text is thus constructing a discourse supporting war, violence, and death, which is constructed as 'our great hope'. The discourse is reinforced using synonyms and antonyms.</p> <p>The word cloud in Image 2 demonstrates the prominence of the terms 'positive' and 'negative' (each used 42 times in the primer). These two terms are not related to the progress of the story of Asad <emph>per se</emph> but are part of exercises found repeatedly in the book: words or sentences are either presented positively to be turned negative or negatively to be turned positive by the learner, i.e. by finding synonyms and antonyms. Thereby, by learning these positive and negative terms using active verbs, the reader is positioned to adopt a black-and-white worldview throughout the text. Janks ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref41">15</reflink>]) calls this the 'polarity and tense' (p. 75). An example of this construction can be found on p. 113 (Figure 4).</p> <p>Graph: Figure 4. Translation of p. 113 of Jihad Literacy Primer.</p> <p>Janks ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref42">15</reflink>]) labels negative actions or implications that are hidden from the reader as 'euphemism'. In this case, Asad is presented to have safely returned after killing infidels on the battlefield. The negative statements complement the positive ones in presenting the opposite reality as equally normal: <emph>Asad did not kill two infidels; No Muslim got injured; Asad did not return safely.</emph> The reader is left with questions as to whether no infidel got killed, no Muslim got injured, <emph>because Asad had not done his duty to go to the frontline in the first place</emph>. In such circumstances, martyrdom would <emph>not</emph> be 'our great hope', and the learner if left with the feeling that he has not done his duty.</p> <p>This discursive construction would be effective on the minds of 6-year-old children, who are open to suggestions of what is 'right' in the worldview of adults. Similar patterns of positive and negative worldviews – of what is 'right' and what is 'wrong' – are reinforced extensively by using synonyms and antonyms. For instance, on page 170 of the textbook, 'faithful,' 'religious', and 'right path' are presented as 'good' and juxtaposed with 'infidel' (referring to a person from the Soviet Union), 'atheist', and on the 'wrong path' – or, 'the way of Satan' (see Figure 5). This is providing what Janks' identifies as 'lexical cohesion' across the text, i.e. the use of synonyms and antonyms to reinforce a specific message. The lexical cohesion is further strengthened by definitions for the terms and concepts used in the text. For instance, the definition of martyrdom (or <emph>shahadat</emph>) is shown in Figure 6.</p> <p>Graph: Figure 5. Translation of p. 170 of Jihad Literacy Primer.</p> <p>Graph: Figure 6. Translation of p. 110 of Jihad Literacy Primer.</p> <p>Again, the juxtaposition of terms is important, 'satisfied' and 'happy' are associated with 'martyr' and 'martyrdom', reinforcing the message of what is the 'right path' for the child, what is the good and happy choice. This choice, as noted above, is connected to the fight against the Soviet Union. The primer refers directly to the term Soviet or Russian 'invader' 14 times, and other times refers to it indirectly. On p. 127, for example, the child learner is asked to practise writing the following sentences: 'Next year our homeland will be free'; 'An Afghan Muslim is fighting for his religion'; 'Mujahid is fighting against the Russian invaders'; and 'Mujahid is breaking the chains of slavery'.</p> <p>The text of the primer is supported by images that reinforce the same messages. The front cover of the textbook is a color image showing the dome and minaret of the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad in Medina, Saudi Arabia, known as Al-Masjid al Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque). Such reference provides a sense of legitimacy to the primer – a suggestion that its content is accepted by Muslims the world over. The front cover also has the logo of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, followed by the seal of the Ministry of Education: these are seals that transfer legitimacy to the text. The logo includes the words 'God is Great in Arabic', supported by the tip of a sword and by the tip of a feather in a bottle of ink (see Figure 7 below). An open book quotes a portion of the verse from the Qur'an, chapter 29, verse 69 ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref43">13</reflink>]), Sura Al-'Ankabūt: 'Wallatheena jahadoofeena lanahdiyannahum subulana', which can be translated as 'And those who strive for Us – We will surely guide them to Our ways' (<emph>The Noble Qur'an</emph>, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref44">26</reflink>]).[<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref45">5</reflink>]</p> <p>Graph: Figure 7. Inside cover of primer.</p> <p>Below the logo is written Afghanistan Education Center, Department of Literacy Training, with 'God is Great' above an open copy of the Quran where the aforementioned verse can be seen. Then the textbook's title is written, 'Jihad Literacy, Volume One,' followed by author 'F.M.M Asamie' and the year of publication '1990'.</p> <p>Other images more precisely refer to war and martyrdom. For example, on p. 73, an image shows a corpse of a dead male with a beard; his chin is up. His corpse is shrouded with a white cloth, and his face is visible to a few turban-wearing men who are looking at the dead person. Culturally, such viewing of the face of a dead person takes place right on the graveside before the deceased is buried. Below the image in bold, the letter sh 'shy' appears, and below that is the word (<emph>shahid</emph>) or martyr. The men are looking at the martyr with sad faces showing an intimate loss. Again, there are no women present (Figure 8).</p> <p>Graph: Figure 8. Letter 'Sh' on p. 73 of Jihad Literacy Primer.</p> <p>In the example above, the visible participants in the image are four living men looking at a dead man. The invisible participants are the observers, the children learning from the primer. The feet of other men and hands are visible, but not their bodies. Probably, there is an invisible crowd looking at the martyr, making the learning child a part of this crowd.</p> <p>According to Janks ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref46">15</reflink>]), 'all texts are positioned and positioning' (p. 61). In this case, the text is positioned in Jihad, and it is positioning Asad as a Muslim to sacrifice himself with 'great hope'. As noted above, the text is mixed with the everyday activity of prayer, therefore, normalizing Jihad, making it seem as natural as prayer. The child is presented with great hope and excitement to go to the frontline to fight against the Soviet invaders. Janks ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref47">15</reflink>]) describes this as the enticing influence of the design of the text on the reader. The reader understands and sees the world as presented. It leaves no room for interpretation, or for critical investigation, which is so much valued by educators around the world, to create curiosity and love of learning for the child. Instead, the text is presented, literally, as the word of God (Figure 9).</p> <p>Graph: Figure 9. Translation of p. 99 of Jihad Literacy Primer (text in brackets is absent).</p> <p>On p. 99, for example, the sayings presented on behalf of God are not in quotes and are not referenced to the Quran or other holy scripture. The claims are presented in the form of a command, such as 'say' (or '<emph>Farmaie'</emph>), which implies that the command to martyrdom comes from God directly. It shows what Janks ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref48">15</reflink>]) refers to as the logical connectors for establishing a conventional argument. In this case, martyrdom as a conventionally logical path for a Mujahid warrior is supported by God. Besides God wanting Jihad and martyrdom, the argument is reinforced with sayings from the Prophet based on the Hadith (Holy Scriptures based on traditions of what the Prophet Muhammad said and did). For example, on page 46 of the textbook, there is a quote from a Hadith: 'There is a blessing in the forehead or speed of the horse of Jihad.'</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-9">Text production</hd> <p>It would seem that the production of such radicalizing text would be top-secret, but this was not the case: it was done openly and with a clear purpose. For example, in a <emph>Washington Post</emph> article of 23 March 2002, titled 'The ABC's of Jihad in Afghanistan, Courtesy, USA,' Joe Stephens and David Ottaway introduced the topic in the following way: 'As Afghan schools reopen today, the United States has delivered 4 million radical Islamist texbooks. More are on the way.' Despite the clarity about the function and purpose of the primers, their authorship is uncertain. For the primer analyzed in this article, although the author's name is given as 'F.M.M. Asamie,' no such person is known to have existed. Instead, there was a deliberate effort by the project to hide US authorship and ownership of the textbooks. According to the Evaluation of the Afghanistan Education Sector Support Project (ESSP, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref49">3</reflink>]), 'suppression of US authorship identity was done to promote maximum acceptability within Afghanistan' (p. 17). The report states that credit for producing the textbook was not given to 'either the original authors or institutional developers' and the 'revisions process avoided any association of US advisers with the educational content of the textbooks' (p. 16). From reading, the primer is likely written by a non-native Pashto speaker. For instance, throughout the text, the letter 'ya' is written without appropriate dots (there are five different 'ya' in the Pashto language and the same letter is written differently and pronounced differently). These errors make it difficult to identify and differentiate between singular and plural, as well as male and female in the primer. Also, it is difficult to identify the tense of the verb. For instance, on page 171, none of the appropriate forms of the Pashto letter for 'ya' are written. These errors are in our opinion indicators that the text is written (or translated) by (a) non-native Pashto speaker(s).</p> <p>According to the Project Evaluation Report ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref50">3</reflink>]), 'the books now contain some Jihad and civil law material required for their political acceptability'. The report further states that the inclusion of 'Jihad' in textbooks content is 'required for political acceptability and therefore, no major revision is required' (p. 17). Further, according to the Project Evaluation Report (p. 16), 'the revisions are ECA – and ECSPA – controlled [Educational Center for Afghanistan & Education Council of the Seven Party Alliance] and consisted of updating topics such as current political conditions within Afghanistan, the enhancement of cultural themes, and information relevant to the Jihad'.</p> <p>The evaluation of the project indicated that themes relevant to Jihad were further enhanced during the revisions <emph>in 1990</emph>. This is curious, since the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, and yet in 1990, the evaluation of the project suggested the continuation and expansion of the Jihad, possibly to counter any future socialist and/or communist influence. Moreover, the evaluation report considered the project as one of the most successful projects of USAID, and the project received an extension for a second phase from 1992 to 1994. The evaluation recommended that the project primarily focus on primary education in its extension phase.</p> <p>Recent declassified documents from the US National Security Archives titled <emph>US Policy Towards Afghanistan</emph> ([<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref51">21</reflink>]) indicated that the US will work with Pakistan to 'prevent the emergency of any pro-Soviet government' after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan (p. 1). The Policy also reinforces the continuation of US humanitarian assistance provided under USAID and other organizations in support of the Afghan resistance, after the Soviets withdrawal. This would include the Education Sector Support project as well.</p> <p>It is clear from the project documents of USAID that the aim is to combat Soviet influence, even after withdrawal, 'By All Means Available' to use Michael Vickers' ([<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref52">28</reflink>]) expression. In this case, the production of text was intended to prepare the 7-year-old to child for fight at the frontline and achieve martyrdom for God ('our great hope') – to liberate the country from the infidel. As history has demonstrated, with the disappearance of the Soviet Union, Western and democratic countries were subsequently constructed as the 'infidel,' and the message of violent jihad continued to be promoted.</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-10">Text consumption</hd> <p>Afghan children and Afghan refugee children in Pakistan were taught a form of Jihad that was not part of religious lessons before the US intervention. Janks ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref53">15</reflink>]) refers to such phenomena as the mobilization of meaning in the social world aimed at advancing the interests of the powerful. Moreover, Fairclough ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref54">14</reflink>]) refers to students in such circumstances as 'those who suffer from linguistic-discursive forms of domination and exploitation' Fairclough (p. 186). Not only was the primer violent in its message, but the structure and processes – <emph>the discourse –</emph> surrounding education was built on the notion of violence and obedience, much like in a military school. Hence, physical violence and punishment of the children were endemic, and the children were taught to obey rules through frequent corporeal punishment. The first author of this paper describes his childhood schooling in the following terms:</p> <p>Located in a small desert called Langar, surrounded by hills and mountains about 2.5 miles from our house, much of what I remember from the Al-Jihad School is strict punishment and beatings. My earliest memory from that school is that when I was in grade two, I was beaten harshly with a hard stick by my teacher, and as a result, I fainted in class. We were asked to slap friends sitting next to us in the class, the teacher would put pens in the middle of students' fingers and press them hard, the teachers would slap students in front of the class and outside, and the teacher would ask a student to stand in front of the class for an hour or so. The school principal would beat students' bare feet with a hard stick in front of the entire school; the teachers would squeeze our ears until we cried.</p> <p>I only partially remember studying. For the most part, we sat outdoors in the sand under the sunshine since there were not enough classrooms. For researching Jihad literacy, I came across documents from the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan. According to the 1999 Swedish Committee Report, my school is coded 'E-0404-03 Al Jehad'. Now the school is called Al-Jihad High School. I did not realize I was trained to be a violent man who must sacrifice himself for someone else's ideological wars. I only came to that realization much later; however, my classmates and students from our schools joined various [Mujahedeen, later Taliban] groups and remained supporters of violent causes. Our bodies were objects of violence in an ideological war [between the US and the Soviet Union].</p> <p>My parents were poor. My father was also a Mujahedeen fighter against the Soviets. Our family considered education the only force to liberate us from poverty and violence. Like many other children, we were taught to be violent. However, my parents prevented us from joining any militant group. My mother made sure we did well in school, and my father made sure we did not hang out with children and youth associated with violent groups.</p> <p>Our identity is the imprint of that curriculum through which conflict becomes part of us. There are thoughts I am still trying to deconstruct. Because of this education, some of the children who were raised like me did not survive.</p> <p>The use of corporal punishment in Afghan schools has continued to this day. According to Burde ([<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref55">10</reflink>]), some madrassas in Afghanistan and Pakistan also continue to use modified versions of the Jihad literacy, introducing Jihad as an obligation of the religion. According to Munisteri ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref56">20</reflink>]), the textbooks created by the University of Nebraska Omaha were in circulation during the first rule of the Taliban (1996–2001). Jihad, as a mainstream discourse around warfare, was not common in Afghanistan, even during the three wars against Great Britain in 1826, 1878, and 1919. They are known as the 'Anglo-Afghan Wars', not as Jihads against Great Britain. However, the war against the Soviet Union invasion became known as Jihad, largely as a result of Jihad Literacy.</p> <p>During the post–9/11 invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the meaning of Jihad was reappropriated by youth formerly trained in the late 1980s under the ESSP I & II project. When the US-led coalition invaded Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom, young people's understanding of Jihad shifted. This time, it was seen as a fight against the American infidel invader. Similarly, the Taliban formerly labeled and still label their struggle against the US invasion of Afghanistan as a 'Jihad against America'. Fairclough ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref57">14</reflink>]) describes this as the appropriation of discourse by individuals subjected to it. The social reproduction of Jihad continues to perpetuate conflict and violence.</p> <p>Fairclough ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref58">14</reflink>]) considers the role of institutions as facilitating and constraining social action simultaneously. In the case of schools, Jihad Literacy facilitated the learning of Jihad as a violent struggle with no room for learning about peace. It provided a one-dimensional world of war, religion, and sacrifice, leaving little hope that the children would build a mental framework that included peace.</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-11">Conclusion</hd> <p>The previous millennium ended with great tragedies for Afghanistan, including a Soviet invasion, and a long Civil War. The beginning of the new millennium was equally tragic with the US invasion of Afghanistan. Interventions by the capitalist and communist blocs, particularly in education, brought enormous pain and suffering, especially under the Jihad Literacy that reduced education to propaganda about violence in the name of God. Despite the Soviet's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, USAID extended the Jihad Literacy program and continued to provide funding until 1994. The biggest paradox of the Jihad Literacy intervention is that from 1986 to 1994, the project would educate more than 613,000 students to fight against non-Muslims; however, only seven years later, in 2001, the US invaded Afghanistan to kill or capture those who believed in the discourse of Jihad that the US had previously promoted. This endeavor lasted for two decades without any accountability for the institutions involved in funding and producing the textbooks. Of the 15 million textbooks produced under ESSP I and II, Joe Stephens and David B. Ottaway ([<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref59">25</reflink>]) reported for the <emph>Washington Post</emph> that UNICEF destroyed half a million textbooks in 2002. Most remained in use for a long time, and may perpetuate conflict and violence for decades to come.</p> <p>Some critical aspects remain unaddressed, including the lack of institutional accountability. The influential entities responsible for the inception and financing of the program, including USAID, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and other institutions, must acknowledge their involvement and accept the harm they caused. A comprehensive investigation in needed on how institutions, particularly academic ones, acted with apparent impunity in perpetuating the exploitation of children for acts of violence under the guise of Jihad Literacy. It is to be hoped that international bodies, including the United Nations, actively engage in the development of a global legal framework addressing the content of educational textbooks, ensuring alignment with the principle of 'do no harm'.</p> <p>The ideological confrontation against the Soviet Union was deemed justifiable by 'any means necessary' in Afghanistan, and a subsequent war was deemed necessary in 2001 – against Afghanistan – to fight against the Radical Islam that was encouraged by the US in the first place. The ideology of war – not peace – has been created without any regard for human lives in Afghanistan and beyond, using education as a primary vehicle for the promotion and justification of violence.</p> <p>In the context of the political and economic interest of continued warfare, be it in Afghanistan or elsewhere, the promotion of social and emotional healing for those affected, and the provision of an education embedded in peace seems like a difficult proposition. In addition, there is no accountability of institutions that are sponsored by the politico-economic structures to harm the fabric of society by constructing a discourse of children as sacrificial commodities of warfare. Children are thus the martyrs to achieve economic and political aims 'at all means available,' in Afghanistan, as in more recent and current warzones.</p> <hd id="AN0175910839-12">Disclosure statement</hd> <p>No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).</p> <ref id="AN0175910839-13"> <title> Notes </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Estimated age of enrollment, as there is no official recording of birth in rural Afghanistan. The enrollment age was 7 but the first author was told his age was 'maybe 5'.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref15" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> In the End of Project report ([12]), the Jihad Literacy textbooks are referred to as adult literacy textbooks. However, within the textbooks there is no indication that these are developed for adult learners. Moreover, their pedagogical approach is that of children's learning and they were used mainly in primary schools.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" idref="ref39" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> The text doesn't use the word 'oh' in Pashto but 'Great God' is used in a manner of begging God or calling on God for help. In lacking an English term for this, we have translated this intension as '<emph>oh</emph> Great God.'</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib4" idref="ref8" type="bt">4</bibl> <bibtext> This cloud for analysis purposes combines transliteration and translation; hence Jihad (which is the same in transliteration and translation) is appearing twice.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib5" idref="ref26" type="bt">5</bibl> <bibtext> The remaining portion of the verse below is excluded from the text of the logo: 'And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good.'</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0175910839-14"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibtext> Abbas, H. (2023). The return of the Taliban: Afghanistan after the Americans left. New Haven, Connecticut : Yale University Press.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Abu-Nimer, M. (2001). A framework for nonviolence and peacebuilding in Islam. 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New York : Knopf Publishers.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Nangyalai Attal and Bjorn Harald Nordtveit</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref2"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib24" firstref="ref7"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib23" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib28" firstref="ref11"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib22" firstref="ref16"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref19"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref23"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib27" firstref="ref25"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref27"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref28"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref34"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref36"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref38"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref43"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib26" firstref="ref44"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl16" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref51"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl17" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref56"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl18" bibid="bib25" firstref="ref59"></nolink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children%22">Children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Literacy+Education%22">Literacy Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Textbook+Publication%22">Textbook Publication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Politics+of+Education%22">Politics of Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Textbook+Content%22">Textbook Content</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Federal+Programs%22">Federal Programs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22International+Organizations%22">International Organizations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Strategies%22">Educational Strategies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Religious+Factors%22">Religious Factors</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cultural+Influences%22">Cultural Influences</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Racism%22">Racism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Religious+Discrimination%22">Religious Discrimination</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Armed+Forces%22">Armed Forces</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ideology%22">Ideology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Propaganda%22">Propaganda</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Information+Dissemination%22">Information Dissemination</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Misinformation%22">Misinformation</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Afghanistan%22">Afghanistan</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1080/01596306.2024.2309668
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 0159-6306<br />1469-3739
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This paper uses critical discourse analysis and critical literacy to analyze the first in a series of literacy primers developed with US support for children in Afghanistan in the 1980s, called 'Jihad literacy'. The text is analyzed for its ideological content as related to the themes of religion, violence, and martyrdom in the historical perspective of the Cold War and the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The paper demonstrates how the notion of 'Jihad' was subverted to promote a holy war against the Soviet invasion. The educational system supported by the US created a radical version of Islam based on violence and martyrdom, shaping the Afghan society to this day. We contend that the same or similar institutions shape current discourses as in the past and that children are the main victims of politico-economic warfare.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2024
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1416271
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1416271
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/01596306.2024.2309668
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 17
        StartPage: 274
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Children
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Literacy Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Textbook Publication
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Politics of Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Textbook Content
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Federal Programs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: International Organizations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational Strategies
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Religious Factors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cultural Influences
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Racism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Religious Discrimination
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Armed Forces
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Ideology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Propaganda
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Information Dissemination
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Misinformation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Afghanistan
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: 'Jihad Literacy': The Legacy of Us-Sponsored Textbooks for Afghan Children
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Nangyalai Attal
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Bjorn Harald Nordtveit
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2024
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 0159-6306
            – Type: issn-electronic
              Value: 1469-3739
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 45
            – Type: issue
              Value: 2
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
              Type: main
ResultId 1