INTIFADA NYC!! IT'S ON! Call Goes Out From Principal of B'klyn Madrassa
NYC Officials Accused of Withholding Information on Arab School
By Fred Lucas
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
August 06, 2007
(CNSNews.com) - New York City officials have not been open or candid, critics say, about a controversial public school set to open in Brooklyn next month that will teach Arab language and culture -- the Khalil Gibran International Academy.
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FUROR: The pro-violence shirt (above) is being defended by Principal Debbie Almontaser.
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CITY PRINCIPAL IS 'REVOLTING'
TIED TO 'INTIFADA NYC' SHIRTS
By CHUCK BENNETT and JANA WINTER
August 6, 2007 -- Activists with ties to the principal of the city's controversial new Arabic-themed school are hawking T- shirts that glorify Palestinian terror, The Post has learned.
The inflammatory tees boldly declare "Intifada NYC" - apparently a call for a Gaza-style uprising in the Big Apple.
The organization selling the shirts, Arab Women Active in Art and Media, shares office space on Brooklyn's Third Avenue with the Saba Association of American Yemenis.
Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser, principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy - which is scheduled to open in Brooklyn next month - is a board member and spokeswoman for Saba.
Members of AWAAM refused to comment.
But Almontaser downplayed the significance of the T-shirts.
"The word [intifada] basically means 'shaking off.' That is the root word if you look it up in Arabic," she said.
"I understand it is developing a nega tive connotation due to the uprising in the Palestinian-Israeli areas. I don't be lieve the intention is to have any of that kind of [violence] in New York City.
"I think it's pretty much an opportunity for girls to express that they are part of New York City society . . . and shaking off oppression."
AWAAM's co-founders, Rama Kased and Mona Eldahry, are also active in the more militant pro-Palestinian group, al-Awda, whose main U.S. office is in California.
That organization, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is an active supporter of the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas.
"The T-shirt is a reflection of a movement that increasingly lauds violence against Israelis instead of rejecting it. That is disturbing," said Oren Segal, a spokesman for the ADL.
Almontaser, a community activist and Muslim, has said the new grade 6-12 public school will be modeled on other dual-language city schools and have no religious component.
But the shirt sales are giving new ammunition to critics who fear Almontaser's school will teach a biased view of Middle Eastern history.
"Intifada is a war. Isn't that what Arafat had?" said Pamela Hall, a Manhattan mom opposed to the academy on the grounds that it violates separation of church and state.
A Department of Education spokeswoman defended Almontaser, saying her link to the T-shirt was tenuous.
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CITY PRINCIPAL IS 'REVOLTING'
TIED TO 'INTIFADA NYC' SHIRTS
By CHUCK BENNETT and JANA WINTER
August 6, 2007 -- Activists with ties to the principal of the city's controversial new Arabic-themed school are hawking T- shirts that glorify Palestinian terror, The Post has learned.
The inflammatory tees boldly declare "Intifada NYC" - apparently a call for a Gaza-style uprising in the Big Apple.
The organization selling the shirts, Arab Women Active in Art and Media, shares office space on Brooklyn's Third Avenue with the Saba Association of American Yemenis.
Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser, principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy - which is scheduled to open in Brooklyn next month - is a board member and spokeswoman for Saba.
Members of AWAAM refused to comment.
But Almontaser downplayed the significance of the T-shirts.
"The word [intifada] basically means 'shaking off.' That is the root word if you look it up in Arabic," she said.
"I understand it is developing a nega tive connotation due to the uprising in the Palestinian-Israeli areas. I don't be lieve the intention is to have any of that kind of [violence] in New York City.
"I think it's pretty much an opportunity for girls to express that they are part of New York City society . . . and shaking off oppression."
AWAAM's co-founders, Rama Kased and Mona Eldahry, are also active in the more militant pro-Palestinian group, al-Awda, whose main U.S. office is in California.
That organization, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is an active supporter of the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas.
"The T-shirt is a reflection of a movement that increasingly lauds violence against Israelis instead of rejecting it. That is disturbing," said Oren Segal, a spokesman for the ADL.
Almontaser, a community activist and Muslim, has said the new grade 6-12 public school will be modeled on other dual-language city schools and have no religious component.
But the shirt sales are giving new ammunition to critics who fear Almontaser's school will teach a biased view of Middle Eastern history.
"Intifada is a war. Isn't that what Arafat had?" said Pamela Hall, a Manhattan mom opposed to the academy on the grounds that it violates separation of church and state.
A Department of Education spokeswoman defended Almontaser, saying her link to the T-shirt was tenuous.
posted by jillosophy at 8/06/2007 12:51:00 PM
2 Comments:
Here we go, supporting terrorism in the US!!. Start with separate Arabic schools, separate cultural education(?) and the next generation of school kids will end up terrorizing us, and blowing us up. What other culture has come to this country, ans set up thier own "public" schools? Did Russian, Latino, Irish, Italian,Polish, German, Japanese, Chinese, or Jewish immigrants get their own "public" schools? No, their desire was to integrate into the American culture and become American!!! They loved, honored, respected this country and its values, and were desiorus of becoming part of it. Not so, with the Muslim immigrants. It is clear they want no part of America, except the freedom and monetary incentives it offers them to push their own hard-line ideology, with the untimate goal of Jihad in the US. Yes, they are patient, willing to wait 2 generations, while they have at least 10 children per family. Yes, they espouse hatred quietly, celebrate on Atlantic Ave. after 9/11, tell their people to sue the US gov't for racial profiling at any opportunity.
Why aren't we letting these people know that they shoould go back to their own countries, and teach Arabic culture there? Why dont they wear their inflammatory tee-shirts there? Why are we so blind?
.....so....the school expects no issue or concerned, hurt feelings after a cartoon depicting mohamed with a bomb in his turbin nearly ignited bloody slaughter in cities throughout the world.
When will the arabian community ever see how the many embarass the few?!?!
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