US President Donald Trump’s early executive orders and actions have generated significant attention and/or concern in the country.
There has been extensive coverage of Mr Trump’s empowering of Elon Musk’s orders to gut the federal workforce; closing USAID; plans to deport large numbers of migrants and refugees, including those seeking asylum; on-again, off-again imposition of tariffs; flaunting the will of Congress by withholding appropriated funding; banning “diversity, equity and inclusion” programmes; restrictions on treatment of transgender young people; and defying court-ordered injunctions by claiming that the powers of the presidency can’t be restrained by the judiciary.
Buried in the flurry of the US President’s orders is one that has been largely ignored, despite being potentially the most far-reaching of these acts.
Titled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling”, this directive lays bare Mr Trump’s intention to roll back the gains that have been made over the past half a century by historians working to present a more accurate portrait of American and world history.
None of this is benign. One of the hallmarks of strongman rule is the indoctrination of the public to believe in the 'glorification of the nation'
Mr Trump calls these efforts “anti-American, subversive, harmful and false”, and demands instead that schools devote themselves to “patriotic education” that will “instil a patriotic admiration for our incredible nation” – in other words, to teach the kind of history Americans learnt three generations ago.
As late as the early 1960s, when American schools taught “World History”, it was Eurocentric. It started with Stone Age man (in Europe), then passed on to the Greek and Roman empires, the Holy Roman Empire, the “Dark Ages”, the emergence of the nation-states of Europe, the discovery of the New World, the birth pangs that accompanied the first centuries of the US (which includes “fighting Indians” and a civil war over “states’ rights”), the Industrial Revolution, the two World Wars that sandwiched the Great Depression, and the challenges posed by the Soviet Union and the Cold War.
In this narrative, the US was depicted as the fulfilment of history, the conveyor of the values of freedom and democracy, and, as former secretary of state Madeleine Albright was fond of saying, “the indispensable nation”.
There was no mention of African history or Islamic civilisation. There were just four paragraphs devoted to China, which we were told was “opened up to the West” by Marco Polo. And the only mention of Arabs was in a short section on the ways nomadic peoples were forced to adapt to living under harsh conditions, including a few paragraphs each on the Arab Bedouin of the desert and the Laplanders of the frozen tundra of Northern Europe.
American history was distorted and romanticised. Slavery was given short shrift as was the genocide and land theft committed against the Indigenous peoples of North America. This is what Americans were taught.
Things changed in the 1960s as a result of the cultural revolution in America that was prompted by the civil rights and then anti-Vietnam War movements. In their wake, there was the blossoming of other social and political movements, including women’s liberation and concern for the environment.
The expanding consciousness inspired by this period of challenge and change led to a re-examination of American history and its place in the world. And with this came a focus on black history, Native American history, women’s history and an expansion of the writing and teaching of world history to include the perspectives and stories of peoples who had previously been ignored. This was not an effort to create several separate histories, but to ensure that future generations would benefit from learning a more complete and integrated human history.
Of course, there was pushback by conservatives who wanted to restore the mythologies of the past. It will be recalled that Mr Trump fired his opening salvo in this war on history during his first term when he denounced The New York Times’s stunning anthology of essays and poetry titled The 1619 Project.
That huge undertaking put in focus the role of the conquering European settlers in America as they committed crimes of genocide against the indigenous peoples they encountered and then introduced the enormously destructive enterprise of slavery in the New World and its enduring legacy. Mr Trump countered this effort with an initiative titled The 1776 Project that sought to do nothing more than to restate the myth of America, shorn of its dark underside.
The US President’s new executive order is the latest iteration of this war on history. After decrying the “radical, anti-Americanism” that he claims teaches that the US is “fundamentally racist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory”, he calls for “an accurate, honest, unifying and ennobling characterisation of America’s founding” and “a celebration of America’s greatness and history”.
Mr Trump goes farther by calling for “Re-establishing the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission and Promoting Patriotic Education” that will be charged with sponsoring programmes to encourage patriotic learning and glorification of America’s battles and war heroes. The order further requires that all educational institutions receiving federal funds must hold specific patriotic educational programmes, and that “relevant agencies of government” shall monitor compliance with this requirement. In other words, do what we demand or lose your funding.
None of this is benign. One of the hallmarks of strongman rule is the indoctrination of the public to believe in the “glorification of the nation”. The celebrated American author Sinclair Lewis once predicted that “fascism would come to America wrapped in a flag, carrying a cross”.
With these cautionary words in mind, attention must be paid to Mr Trump’s executive order. It is a worrisome step down this dangerous path.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
FIGHT CARD
Bantamweight Hamza Bougamza (MAR) v Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Catchweight 67kg Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) v Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lighweight Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) v Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg Mostafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) v Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) v Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78kg Rashed Dawood (UAE) v Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight Sallaheddine Dekhissi (MAR) v Abdel Emam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg Rachid Hazoume (MAR) v Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG)
Lighweight Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg Omar Hussein (PAL) v Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
Middleweight Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30:
- UAE bt Nepal by 78 runs
- Hong Kong bt Singapore by 5 wickets
- Oman bt Malaysia by 2 wickets
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
LEADERBOARD
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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