Posted by Bob on 8/29/2007, 8:39 am Supporters of the school claim that it is a legitimate, public interest school, and that like other charter schools, it has a secular theme. That theme is to teach young children about Arab culture, language, and sensibilities, so as to improve understanding and communication. Detractors claim that it is a madrassah, a radical Islamist indoctrination center for the recruitment of future terrorists. The website I linked to above is one of the detractors. However, as I read through it, I find that it is disingenuous, makes a very weak case, and presents its data in a very "out of context" way, designed to indoctrinate people, not to inform them. That said, there are some very valid reasons to suspect that the Gibran school, while perhaps not a den of iniquitous terrorism, is certainly not entirely innocent either. Its formerly proposed principal, Dhabah Almontaser, made some public remarks that were at the very least, fatuous, and which all but invited interpretations that are pro-terrorist. She initially defended the distribution of tee-shirts that carried the slogan, New York Intifada, before admitting that these might not be such a good idea after all. This alone does not make Almontaser a terrorist, nor do her statements that she does not identify the 9-11 terrorists as Arab or Muslim. There are innocuous possible interpretations of that statement. But as these individually innocent associations accumulate, the overall pattern begins to be that of someone who is comfortable around organizations with suspected ties to terrorism. Almontaser's withdrawal from consideration as principal has not discharged the suspicions around the school. Repeated Freedom of Information Act requests for PUBLIC documents relating to the school were refused by the board of education. These requests were for the curriculum description, and textbook lists, among other things. Whenever you have illegal secrecy surrounding a public project, there is usually something nefarious going on at some level. I'm not ready to label Gibran as a madrassah, but it is certainly time for complete transparency in everything surrounding this school. Some years ago, NYC abruptly cancelled plans for a charter school that proposed to accommodate Hassidic Jewish children. And just imagine the furor if anyone tried to open an academy with a mission to teach about eurocentric culture with Christian implications. Especially if the BOE refused all requests for basic information about what would be taught. Liberals would have apoplexy. That such a sensitive matter ever became shrouded in official secrecy is to me the real issue here. Is this how governments are supposed to work in America?
72.243.26.154
http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=kgiagroup1.htm
There is an interesting controversy going on in New York, concerning the public funding of a charter school called Khalil Gibran International Academy.
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