Stop the NYC Madrassa – article by Daniel Pipes — A group of radicals have been promoting an alleged Islamist school in NYC paid for by the taxpayers and run by an apparent Israel-hater. How this got this far in the first place is an interesting study in craziness. The undoing of the principal was a series of coincidences involving a T-shirt. The NYC funded Madrassa/school is still scheduled to open on time.
Unrelenting efforts by the coalition eventually led to the development in early August that caused Almontaser to resign. One of its leaders, Pamela Hall, photographed T-shirts bearing the words “Intifada NYC,” which were sold by an organization, Arab Women Active in Art and Media, that shares office space in Brooklyn with the Saba Association of American Yemenis. Ms. Almontaser, it turns out, is both a board member and the spokeswoman for the Saba Association.
The T-shirts’ call for a Palestinian Arab-style uprising in the five boroughs, admittedly, had only the most tenuous connection to Ms. Almontaser. She could have maintained her months-old silence, which was serving her well. But the KGIA principal also has a long history of speaking out about politics, and apparently she could not resist the opportunity to defend the shirts…
While this one woman is out, the plans to go ahead with this school continues. I’ve seen these folks on TV and the claim is the school is to develop more Arabic speaking people who can work for like the CIA and other agencies and it has nothing to do with religion.
Ousted Principal who claims school is not about religion.
related link:
Newsday Article
New York Post Article
Hi – I am all for freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but these foolks are in the business of spreading hate and intolernace. The city and it’s tax-payers need not fund their own little rebellion.
Uhh what happened to the ACLU, if this were a school for Christians or Judaism they would be all over it stink on poo but not a peep when it is islam
things that make you hmmm
This is site is incredibly biased against Islam. You can feel the ignorance and hatred from every article relating to Islam, and theres a lot of them as well.
They should instead attack these idiots who like to treat short films with a plot line so shitty it makes the Rocky Horror Picture Show as good as Gone with the wind, amorphous lumps of clay and random splotches of paint as if it were art.
The world would be a slightly more enlightened place If we just could bring an end to Catholic and other religious themed schools as well as home schooling by religious fanatics.
Does NYC make a habit of funding religious schools with tax dollars?
“This is site is incredibly biased against Islam. You can feel the ignorance and hatred from every article relating to Islam, and theres a lot of them as well.”
Extremism has brought the hatred on itself
>>This is site is incredibly biased against Islam.
No, only against radical Islamist fuckwads (and those who seek to indoctrinate them into that lifestyle) who seek to kill all the infidels who don’t toe their line.
Do you have an opposing viewpoint?
How is it that I see Islam only being tolerant of Islam? Who fricking cares about your god(s)? Whether they are islamic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu or whatever. No one has any right to force their views upon anyone else. Especially in NYC.
If you don’tlike our view of Islam, go to a Madrassa in Pakistan…
#3 – “Sam”
“This is site is incredibly biased against Islam.”
Wrong. The people who post on this site – big difference – are against violent, barbaric people who try to force the rest of society to follow their superstitious beliefs. That includes Muslims, Christians, Jews and any others. Unfortunately, only Muslims use the murder of innocent humans to spread their beliefs. When the others promote suicide bombers, then “this site” will condemn them as well.
“You can feel the ignorance and hatred from every article relating to Islam, and theres a lot of them as well.”
Ignorance? No, awareness of the violence and hatred that Islam spews at the civilized world. Hatred? Yes, hatred of murdering animals, who live to destroy life in the name of Allah.
You’d be much more effective if you would save your indignation for your fellow Muslims who are determined to destroy innocent life, not decent, reasonable people who don’t want a world dominated by brutal, insane peasant superstition.
Sam,
One thing you should look for is the hatred and vitriol the commentators, and most of the contributors, have for all religious crackpots. They don’t discriminate to me, and I’m supposedly a Christian. There was a time, oh, 10000 years ago when we didn’t know that cooking pork to160 F (71.1 C – that’s MEDIUM btw, not WELL DONE) killed trichinosis, so it seemed a good idea to just ban it outright. Or, that pulling back your foreskin and giving it a little hand treatment with some soap and water eliminated the lack of cleanliness. We should have moved on. Unfortunately, the faster your mythologies are destroyed, the harder people try to reinforce them. More people have died in the name of G-d on all sides that he surely has abandoned us all… If you still believe in him.
Ah… the usual “but but but, those big bad CHRISTIANS!” non-sequitors.
It is long past time to declare this death cult to be an enemy political entity and remove all religious protections.
Uh, certainly folks clicked the link to Pipes’ article. Did anyone else download the .pdf of the syllabus for the school? Because it’s a pretty straightforward – dull – example for a language school. That’s right. Language school. Not a religion school.
Anyone Google around to see what Pipes’ opinion and analysis has to say about anything else? Like invading Iraq? Or that he’s a 2nd-generation Cold Warrior. Or that his non-profit brings over $2 million a year as an expert on the Muslim threat? That he was George W’s appointee to the Institute for Peace?
Sounds like the same old, same old. If you assign any responsibility to Israel in Middle Eastern conflict you’re anti-Israel. Maybe you are simply opposing the policies of one of the most Right-Wing anti-democratic governments in the Western world. Even though it’s located in the Middle East.
The knee-jerk PC response to that is if you’re opposing the Israeli government you’re anti-Jew. Which is a load of crap that is answered best by Israeli activists who are in the front line of opposing their own government.
Not light charges, either. Israel’s government passes laws against “miscegenation”. Laws conveying pariah status. They were the first in that part of the world to build nukes, remember?
All of which is supported by the guy who wrote the article. Take a moment to read a CounterPunch article about Pipes, his advocacy for civil war in Iraq, his opposition to democracy in the Middle Eastern countries. http://tinyurl.com/e5f8u
god, I’ll start getting my panties in a wad when the Israelis start blowing up pizza parlors full of teenagers in the name of their “homeland.” Until then I don’t give half a shit about the fucking Palestinian claims. Those should be totally off the table until the Palesinians’ methods no longer include the deliberate slaughter of noncombatant innocents.
I personally know some Palestinians and some of their families, and I have learned that one reason is that they’re here and not over there is because they are peaceful and realistic about the situation over there and reject the methods of the terrorists.
That said, I’m also here to tell you that they are also some of the most argumentative, contentious people I’ve ever met, and the ideas of compromise or making mutual sacrifices in order to come to an agreement with another party – those ideas are foreign and bizarre to them. And that trait can be seen clearly in their collective stance toward Israel. It’s has to be on their terms or else both sides will have to continue to suffer. It’s cultural and it ain’t gonna change. Face it.
# 4: Actually, Rocky Horror is better than GWTW, the music is, anyways. One of the very few movies I’ve ripped the sound track to MP3.
Omar – of course it is.
Angel, I ask you this: Did Gone With the Wind have Tim Curry? No? Then, ’nuff said. I rest my case.
OK, I read all linked articles in the OP. Where is there any support for the claim that this school is “Islamist” or religious? I mean facts. Not conjecture or naked hate of Arab speakers, or Arabic culture.
I live in NYC and have been hearing a lot of unsourced claims about this school from predictable sources.
Dvorak makes three:
“A (1) group of radicals have been promoting an alleged (2) Islamist school in NYC paid for by the taxpayers and run by an (3) apparent Israel-hater.”
Where’s the factual support for this? Debbie Almontaser response to the “Intafada NYC” was a tone-deaf, literalist response. If she is that clueless to not appreciate her position and the “sensitivities” of a lot of people (including a lot of racist bigots), get rid of her. I couldn’t care less.
But you’re going to have to do better than that to support (1)-(3). Almontaser’s group shared office space? C’mon. I’m not saying it’s wrong or there won’t be evidence to support the claims, but those are pretty strong accusations and none of the linked articles support them.
The AWAAM site (the power of Google) says the following:
“AWAAM does not have its own office space and runs one of its youth programs out of the office space of Saba: The Association of Yemeni Americans, where the school’s principal is a board member. Although AWAAM is not associated with the school, they are sustaining an onslaught of attacks aimed toward the school.
As for the meaning of the term, “Intifada NYC,” AWAAM’s official statement is:
Intifada is a word that literally means “shaking off.” As AWAAM provides young women with opportunities to become active as community organizers and media producers, “Intifada NYC” is a call for empowerment, service, civic participation and critical thinking in our communities: a ‘shaking off’ of discrimination and prejudice and an embracing of our roles as producers rather than simply objects of the mass media and public discourse. …
“I am in AWAAM to learn about being active in the media,” said a 16 year-old youth video producer, “The fact that a t-shirt is being portrayed as a terrorist uprising makes me scared about what else could be used against us.””
http://awaam.org/index.php?name=pressroom
If this was a religious school, I’d be first in line to be hollering about it. I’m still steamed about voucher programs. But, the support for “(1)-(3)” seems pretty thin, as far as I’ve seen.
You people are morons. An Islamic school would not be named after a Christian, “Khalil Gibran” is a Lebanese christian poet that lived in the US in the early 20th century, and the school is certainly not an islamic madrasa.
#19 & 20,
Shame on you. How dare you bring facts to a good rant. Don’t you understand? The morani don’t care. They just want a chance to make unfounded accusations.
Just look at #21. I really think you ruined his day.
#17 & #18
I reccomend you search the net for the “cremaster” movie shorts if you want to understand what I mean.
Pedro, back to your corner or I’ll take my belt off. Did you think I’d let your latest round of personal attacks go unnoticed, unpunished?
#15 Lauren:
Start knotting your panties girl. The state of Israel was founded on terrorism vs Arabs and the British. Look up the history of the Irgun (ETZL) wherever you please.
In the interest of brevity I’ll omit the particulars but If you’d prefer, let me know and I’ll link you. I’d also like to point out that your own anecdotal experience with Palestinians is just that. If you’d care to establish your expertise perhaps we can accept your analysis as more than bullshit.
@Pedro #26
You mean like your logical reply at #21? Yeah, that was one for the ages.
As for your response to #25’s comment, know your history:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing
“The King David Hotel bombing (July 22, 1946) was a bombing attack against the British government of Palestine by members of Irgun — a militant Zionist organization.
The attack, initially ordered by Menachem Begin the head of the Irgun and later Prime Minister of Israel, had members of the Irgun, dressed as Arabs, set off a bomb in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which had been the base for the British Secretariat, the military command and a branch of the Criminal Investigation Division (police).”
Since people are throwing out “who they know” my friend’s grandfather was killed in that attack. He’s Israeli and his grandfather was employed by the British.
In any case, read #15 to see why it was even brought up. To wit:
“god, I’ll start getting my panties in a wad when the Israelis start blowing up pizza parlors full of teenagers in the name of their “homeland.””
>>An Islamic school would not be named after a
>>Christian, “Khalil Gibran” is a Lebanese christian poet
Woopsie!
That’s wonderful.
Let’s see how the actions of a revolutionary group of 60 years ago can be used to rationalize the actions of contemporary Palestinians.
1. The Irgun’s policy was to NOT kill people. They blew up British Admin buildings – after warning everyone to evacuate said buildings. The people who died in the King David Hotel – despite it’s name, the British military HQ – received the standard warning to evacuate. This was met by Chief Secretary Sir John Shaw with the arrogant reply of “I give orders here. I don’t take orders from Jews.” He ordered everyone, despite the warning, to stay in the building.
2. The Palestinian policy IS to kill INNOCENT CIVILIAN NONCOMBATANTS, and AS MANY AS POSSIBLE.
BIG FUCKING DIFFERENCE, in case subtleties like that are lost on you. Take a look at the people who died at Sbarro’s.
The King David Hotel bombing was an out-of-character event for the Irgun. The Sbarro pizzeria bombing was completely in character for the Palestinians.
You cite one bombing that resulted in accidental deaths of members of the British Admin, on the part of a smail, unpopular Zionist group of 60 years ago – and try to equate that with the endless, deliberate slaughter by Palestinians of men, women, children, Israelis, Arabs, Jews, Christians, Muslims occurring today…
Bullshit. There is no comparison. One bombing of a building that accidentally resulted in 91 mostly military deaths does not equal countless deliberate slaughters of thousands of utterly innocent civilians.
I want to say “nice try” but it doesn’t even merit that.
I don’t have a dog in this “Irgun Fight”, but LtG, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Your points #1 and #2 are just wrong, i.e., “The Irgun’s policy was to NOT kill people.”
Here’s a list of the non-military, non-combat Arabs the Irgun went after:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irgun
For example:
“An Arab bus making its way from Lifta was attacked in Jerusalem.
In two other locations in Jerusalem, Arabs were shot as well.
“In Tel Aviv, a hand grenade was thrown at an Arab coffee shop on Carmel St., injuring many of the patrons.”
You’re comment at #15 brought the discussion down this irrelevant road, but for the sake of closure, you should at least know what you’re talking about. Zionist organizations in the ’40s did in fact target innocents. We can debate all day who started what, was it a reprisal, who was killing who for what, but the simple fact is, non-combat Arabs were targeted, and you’re factually wrong.
Now, I’m still waiting for somebody to show that the NYC school was, in any way, religious. NYC School Commissioner Joel Klein, yesterday, once again confirmed that it would not be religious.