From Newsday, whose headline temporizes a bit. The school does not merely offer Arabic, it is the Khalil Gibran International Academy, and will be built around Arabic language and culture lessons. Debbie Almontaser, who, according to Newsday, is "fluent in Arabic," is the school's designated principal. She says
"I see students who are excited about engaging in international careers, international affairs, wanting to come to our school,"
I wonder how welcome kids looking to learn Arabic to help fight the war on terror in the CIA or the military will be.
"I also see Arab-American students who would want the
opportunity to learn Arabic, to read it and write it and have a better understanding of where their ancestors have come from."
I would rather have Americans (Arab or otherwise) think of the framers of the Constitution as their anscestors. My sixth sense tells me that students will be focusing more on the Arab and less on the American part of their Arab-American identity, but I will be the first to admit that the facts aren't in yet.
The Arab-American Family Support Center will be involved. They have receieved a lot of 9/11 funding.
They oppose domestic violence even though, of course, it is all American society's fault.
Incidents of domestic violence have significantly increased since September 11th in part due to the high level of fear and stress experienced by a community that has been increasingly marginalized, and has been living in constant fear and in an environment of hostility.
Yes, the financials show just how hostile America has been to them.
‘Khalil Gibran International Academy’ - how amazing and pregnant with dire possibilities that name connotes for me today! Thirty five years ago I naively purchased and read ‘The Prophet’ not having the slightest idea of the latent evil innocently cloaked with in this book’s deceptively ‘peaceful’ pages! How naive I was in the innocence of youth!
Victims of hostility? Who the hell are they kidding? I don't see any internment camps being set up for Muslims. Or pogroms against them. Or Muslims wearing yellow crescents on their coats. I don't expect these things to happen nor should they but these people are laughable in making such an absurd claim. They really are buying CAIR's BS hook, line, and sinker.
"I also see Arab-American students who would want the opportunity to learn Arabic, to read it and write it and have a better understanding of where their ancestors have come from."
I don't have a problem with this, provided that it focuses on language and understanding and not on Islam. After all, Khalil Gibran was himself a Christian Lebanese.
My own parish is overwhelmingly Palestinian and Lebanese, with a substantial group of Slavs and Greeks as well as a few Egyptians, Jordanians, Syrians and some Iranian converts to Christianity. Many of our US-born young people deeply regret that they can't read Arabic and some don't even speak Arabic or Aramaic. We have discussed setting up language classes for them. Fifty years ago our liturgy was switched to English and now it is our young people who are pushing to bring back more Arabic, Aramaic and Greek. This is a good thing. If they lose the culture, they are in danger of losing the faith.
It would also be a good thing to set up language and culture classes that stress the original pre-Islamic civilization of the Middle East i.e the Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian cultures that Islam has done everything to destroy. These peoples have survived under Muslim oppression for 1500 years and we should make sure they are strengthened in the West.
From the article above:
Incidents of domestic violence have significantly increased since September 11th in part due to the high level of fear and stress experienced by a community that has been increasingly marginalized, and has been living in constant fear and in an environment of hostility.
Oh yeah, that. How ironic, cause see, us infidels living all over the CIVILIZED WEST have ALSO been dealing with a 'high level of fear and stress,' experienced because we (infidels) are being increasingly marginalized (just today I read where a man and his young daughter were turned away from a public swimming pool in the UK because it was MUSLIM WOMAN day), and wow how bout that, we (infidels) are ALSO living in 'constant fear and in an environment of hostility' because every Muslim who reads and understands his Koran understands that he is directed by Allah to kill all the infidels, everywhere he finds them.
Now, see there how much we dirty infidels have in common with all those MODERATE MUSLIMS?
*hack spit*
Remind me again just who is having members of their community blown up, beheaded, and killed on a daily basis?
I know it sure ain't American Muslims.
Disgusting.
There is already a Chinese-English school in NYC. That school opened the door to this Arabic-English school.
ONLY DIFFERENCE IS non Chinese clamor to get their children into that Chinese-English school because Chinese is an important international language. The students are roughly 50% Chinese and 50% other
I'll bet this Arabic school will end up being 95% Muslim with students being black Muslims and imported Muslims. Imported in that they or their parents were born in Muslim country. Non Muslims will be pushed out of this virtual madrassa. Will be made aware they are not welcome. But what non Muslim would want to attend. Arabic is a worthless language as far as international commerce and culture
I'll bet there are plenty of Jewish kids in the Chinese school I mentioned. None will be in the "Arabic" school which really translates to Islamic academy
How many Mohammedan prayer rooms will be in this "Arabic" language school? Which will be hijacked, turned into a Muslim academy/madrassa
descendent of a crusader,
"Thirty five years ago I naively purchased and read ‘The Prophet’ not having the slightest idea of the latent evil innocently cloaked with in this book’s deceptively ‘peaceful’ pages! How naive I was in the innocence of youth!"
Just so you know, Khalil Gibran was born in Lebanon and was Christian (Marronite). He was also an immigrant to the USA. And he really was an insightful (and heartfelt) writer. There was something on Wikepedia about his father being indicted for failure to pay his tax in Lebanon .. Just guessing here - since I really don't know the facts ... but it sounds like his father was not a particularly good Dhimmi.
Daisytoo,
Thanks for the background info and, yes, I believe I may have been a bit hard on the Lebanese/Christian author. I was mearly making the association between 'Arabic' 'Prophet' and the evil times we live in today - nothing more.
As a New Yorker, the most disturbing factor is that most these kids can't speak proper English, let alone another language. Just listening in on subway conversations gives me a belly ache. You're here in America, speak English damn it! Because of our politically correct mindset, we find it necessary to promote foriegn customs and language, instead of assimilation. I remember when ONE class was offered in Spanish or French in high school. If you want to learn another language with more gusto than what we were exposed to 15 years ago, then start them with ONE class at a younger age, not half a school day speaking and writing in a language other than English. Many people say that our society is more diverse today, but there were foreigners coming here since before we bought Manhattan from the Manahattas. We're an English speaking country, teach our children to speak English!
....are the classes optional or mandatory?...
Hopefully, someone will be keeping close watch on the religious instruction in this NYC public school. How far will that school be allowed to go in celebrating Muslim religious holidays? Will religious posters be allowed on the walls? Will religious symbols be allowed on the school property? Will the school observe Muslim-required separation of male/females in classes, at gym time? Will female teachers be hired who demand that they teach with their faces fully veiled? Since black Muslims were mentioned, permit me to go OT and say that I just read where Muslim Congressmen Keith Ellison called the Capitol Police on his next door office neighbor, Congressman, Tom Tancredo, complaining that Mr. Tancredo was smoking a cigar in his office....the smoke was coming thru the walls.I guess that's only the beginning of Muslim sensibilities being offended by many things that kufir co-workers are doing on Capitol Hill.
Descendant of Crusader says-
"Khalil Gibran International Academy’ - how amazing and pregnant with dire possibilities that name connotes for me today! Thirty five years ago I naively purchased and read ‘The Prophet’ not having the slightest idea of the latent evil innocently cloaked with in this book’s deceptively ‘peaceful’ pages! How naive I was in the innocence of youth!"
Kahlil Gibran's 'Prophet' wasn't Mohammed, it was a New Age creation of Kahlil's quite unIslamic mind. Kahlil was the champion cocksman of Greenwich Village and with his handsome Lebanese face, dark dark eyes and poetry shtupped his way up and down the island of Manhattan and several of the outer boroughs. Bad boy but very nice they say. He's kind of a personal hero of mine.
"I also see Arab-American students who would want the
opportunity to learn Arabic, to read it and write it and have a better understanding of where their ancestors have come from." D. Almontaser said.
It's a load of bull. I never learned my mother's language and what I learned about my father's ancestors I learned on my own and have always been greatful to be born in the United States. The older immigrants came to this country to love and respect it and just leave the old country behind. This multi-culti nonsense has got to stop. I fear we are doomed. Being sold down the river by Bloomberg, Bush, et al. I'll never trust another politician. I hear we are taking in 7,000 refugees from Iraq. Thanks Bush.
BTW, I never hyphenate because I am an AMERICAN!!!
poetcomic1,
Sorry to have sullied the name of 'a personal hero' of yours in suggesting that the Lebanese poet had anything to do with Mohammed. Let’s hope that the ‘Khalil Gibran International Academy’ ends up being every bit as innocent as your ‘unIslamic champion cocksman [?] of Greenwich Village’. Nothing to see here lets move along........
How is this school legally funded by taxpayers? Have they heard about Brown v. Board of Education yet? Does it apply only to Black and white people and not to Arabs or Chinese? This is outrageous that this school is being funded?
"It would also be a good thing to set up language and culture classes that stress the original pre-Islamic civilization of the Middle East i.e the Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian cultures that Islam has done everything to destroy. These peoples have survived under Muslim oppression for 1500 years and we should make sure they are strengthened in the West."
It sounds like M. Gadalla's fascinating article:
Who are these Modern-day Egyptians?
http://www.egypt-tehuti.org/articles/modern-
egypt.html
This type of school is perfect legal as oit is than specicaize school like a hightschool that train you in music more so in a regurate school does. Some racist arenot wear that Arabric is than international language that is expansion very fast as many manufacting jobs are being make or move to muslim country. Arabist is one of the seven recognite language of the UN unlike Hewder which isnot than officate UN language.
1-What about the more imprtant languages of French, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, etc.?
What about Hebrew?
BTW, does that school have the black shrouds, prayers 5x a day, and the nose and foot washing?
Just the idea of uncouth, unhygienic people doing this publicly and their aversion to soap...
They're so close-minded, and easily offended, tht one can't even take them by the hand, even children, and say to them, "This is the way it's done little boy. You take this soap bar, and rub it all over your hands, etc., and the same with the rest of the body. And the etiquette of avoiding cleaning feet in public. No one dares tell them at the moment; for fear of offending them? But what about our health?
I'm going into this, because somehow, some people will have to do this, because, the lack of hygiene will effect us in civilized countries. Our parents taught us, but who's going to teach these people?
Yet they MUST be taught!
"Arabist is one of the seven recognite language of the UN unlike Hewder which isnot than officate UN language."
If you want to bring up the U.N., then a great many other languages are validated there - languages that are more important, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, and Spanish is spoken by a great majority of the world, as well.
Yet, the U.N. is a failed organization, as its decisions are largely ignored, it's a paper tiger.
Who are the representative in the U.N. - each are chosen by the rulers of each country - and when you trace that back, you realize that these rulers are corrupt, two-bit, chitty gangsters- from Zimbabwe, to the Koreas, to both Chinas, U.K., France, Italy, and the U.S. All leaders are mafiosos, playing with their people.
Kindly give the U.N. the funeral it deserves.
[sarcasm] Wonder if there will be bellydancing lections available ? [/sarcasm] I read somewhere that bellydancers have been threatened in Eqypt in recent years. That indeed is an arabic tradition but so far I understand bellydancing is pre-islamic.