Dhimmitude in Dearborn

Imad Hamad of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) wanted the Crestwood Board of Education in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, to make Eid (Eid ul-Fitr, the Muslim holy day marking the end of Ramadan) a day off from school.

So Hamad wrote in a letter to school board president Ron Panetta: "We are urging you to thoroughly review this matter, and consider the various concerns, before making an ultimate decision. Rushing into decisions that involve such sensitive issues might bring serious ramifications and unexpected unhealthy consequences." (Thanks to Agent Azure.)

Serious ramifications? Unexpected unhealthy consequences? Panetta thought he was being threatened; Hamad denies that the letter meant anything more than "an effort to alert the district of the wrong message that might come across to the community if this matter were to become more political, rather than educational in nature."

All right. Maybe that's all Hamad meant, although if so his choice of words was outrageously undiplomatic and imprudent. But even if that is all he meant, why the strong-arming and threats of political agitation over a school holiday? I don't believe that Good Friday or Yom Kippur are generally public school holidays. Why should Eid ul-Fitr be any different? Why is equality for minorities so often confused with special treatment for minorities?

By insisting on what amounts to preferential treatment for Muslims and the subservient dhimmitude of the larger community, Imad Hamad and the ADC are perpetuating the need for themselves: the strong-arming, whether it involves physical threats or not, will lead to resentment, which will lead to the perceived need for an advocacy group. The ADC would do all Muslims in America a favor by dropping this kind of bullying from its tactic sheet.