UPDATED POST: I received an erroneous report from Brian C. Ledbetter of Snapped Shot to the effect that the Islamic Saudi Academy's expansion plan had been rejected by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in Virginia. Then I had to go out, and the erroneous information was up here for 45 minutes. I apologize for the error. In reality, as expected, the Board brushed aside concerns about the school's Islamic supremacist curriculum and approved the expansion.
Here is more on why it should have been rejected.
"Hide and Seek: A Virginia school scrubbed jihad from its textbooks, but may still preach violence," by Nina Shea and Ali al-Ahmed in National Review, August 3:
[...] ISA’s website for 2008-09 stated that the school “follows the Islamic Studies curriculum which has been set forth by the Kingdom.” As the first resource on its “Useful Links” webpage, ISA linked to the Saudi Education Ministry site, where the noxious curriculum is posted in full. Those books, according to the Ministry, are electronically formatted to facilitate copying, cutting, and pasting. This underscores the problem of a piecemeal approach to Saudi educational reform.Even the new texts themselves reference several extreme Islamic authorities. For example, the new twelfth-grade book directs students to Ibn Taymiyyah for resolving moral questions. A 14th-century author, Ibn Taymiyyah extolled the militant jihad we call “terror.” His fatwas were found in a recent study by West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center to be “by far the most popular texts for modern Jihadis.” Renowned religion scholar Philip Jenkins wrote that Osama bin Laden cites Ibn Taymiyyah as a “special hero.”
In addition, it’s important to note that on matters besides jihad, the books still largely reflect Wahhabi orthodoxy. For example, ISA’s new texts endorse marriages between adults and pre-pubescent children, teach that women should not be judges or exercise “greater governorship,” and starkly divide the world into believers and unbelievers.
Since 9/11, ISA officials — including the various Saudi ambassadors who have served as ISA chairmen — have annually given assurances of curriculum reform and annually broken their promises. They’ve had help: The school’s accreditation by the Southern Association for Colleges and Schools was seriously flawed, since the association’s “volunteer” evaluators did not know Arabic and therefore never read the Islamic-studies curriculum. ISA’s brandishing of a recent letter by two American academic consultants to the school, giving their approval for the sanitized Wahhabi textbooks, only deepens the school’s reputation for deception.
The State Department reached an understanding with Riyadh in 2006 that, within two years, Saudi Arabia would remove intolerant passages from all its educational materials both within the Kingdom and abroad, including in its network of 20 international schools of which ISA is a part. Under new legislation initiated by Virginia congressman Frank Wolf, State must now follow up. It should do so with an informed assessment of what ISA teaches, especially about jihad and the religious other — in both semesters, in Arabic as well as English, and in all educational and resource material. And until an independent, professional, and thorough process verifies reform, Fairfax County should reject the Academy’s request to expand.
Restoring the original comments as made over at IntenseDebate, when this article was first posted:
first part of my (dda's) personal copy.
BLEDBETTER said - Yeah, that was the sneakiest, most Fairfax-esque thing I've seen in a while.
The Board put a motion up first to stop the ISA expansion project, and a number of Supervisors went on record supporting it, or expressing support for the "ideas" it expressed, so it looked for all intents and purposes like it would pass.
THEY THEN PROCEEDED TO KILL IT ON A 6-4 VOTE.
After I picked my jaw up off the floor, a new motion was introduced which sought to approve the project, and it was passed on the same margins.
Holy cow! I am so sorry for jumping the gun on this one! :(
HUGH (Hugh Fitzgerald) said -
Robert, innocently misinformed (and the shenanigans in Virginia make clear how deliberately deceptive the Fairfax Board was being), will now -- no doubt -- change the post above to reflect the grim reality.
The breathtaking meretriciousness of the Board calls for a county-wide referendum, to remove that Board, and to undo its great damage.
ABU LAHAB said - (quoting) "Since 9/11, ISA officials — including the various Saudi ambassadors who have served as ISA chairmen — have annually given assurances of curriculum reform and annually broken their promises."
Just like any other islamic entity.
Are you listening, undecided people of America?
-BASEBALLMAVEN said - I wish they were listening--this never makes the MSM and so most do not know...
-ABDULLAH MIKAIL said - ( crickets chirping)
-ISABELLATHECRUSADER told ABDULLAH - No, that sound you hear is patriots working the phones and getting on the election boards. Frye is going down. Hyland is going down. Gross and Hudgens will be gone after the next election cycle. The people made their desires known. The desires of a handful of Muslims backed up by Saudi b-zillions are irrelevant.
I wouldn't get your shovel out yet, hon.
VIRGIL said - Our elites have been selling us out for quite some time. Our politicians (both Republican and Democrat) would travel through the depths of Hell for a Wahhabi Muslim or a criminal Mexican illegal alien, but are only to happy to but Americans in harms way if it serves their political or financial agenda. I hear conservative European commentators like Paul Beliën and Geert Wilders claim that America is the last great hope for the West, but I grow more and more doubtful about that as time progresses. Short of a major terrorist attack with WMDs, what will awake Americans (and Europeans) to the slow death of our civilization?
EASTVIEW said - The Saudi Islamic Academy is playing games with the posted curriculum, only grudgingly rewording materials slightly here and there so as to make it appear to meet minimum formal standards.
But in the end, it won't make a whit's bit of difference what changes they make.
All that has to be done is to provide a link to the real, authoritative materials posted online in Saudi Arabia - and it is, after all, the Saudi Islamic Academy, is it not?
This is a case where freedom of access to information provided by the Internet cuts both ways. We have perhaps become a little too smug in assuming that this will always work in our favor, but it can also work against us, as would be the case here.
While considering the myriad ways in which the Internet has created unintended consequences such as this, in the end seeking to edit the materials is probably a waste of time - it would be like playing the game of Whack-A-Mole.
And attempted legal actions involving trying to censor or restrict linking to outside materials would inevitably get mired down indefinitely over issues of free speech and freedom of religion. Another example of where these guys are using Freedom (cap. intended) to undermine us.
To combat this will require a more intelligent and nuanced approach, say investigation of the financial and funding activities of the school, or perhaps the tax status of the principles. It worked with Al Capone. Why not here?
-ISABELLATHECRUSADER said - "Eastview, a former teacher from the ISA told me that it doesn't matter what they take out of the textbooks because the Wahhabist instructors have been teaching at the school for years and they know the lesson plans by heart. If you live it, you can teach it!"
Part two of the comments as made using IntenseDebate and archived by dda.
JOCKAIRA said - What is absolutely necessary here is the services of a translator thoroughly fluent in Arabic and with a good knowledge of the Qur’ân and Islamic doctrine.
It is only in this way that the rest of us and the relevant authorities can be sure that the textbooks are acceptable.
Though this would be expensive, it goes without saying that the defense of our way life is worth it.
The Price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance.
LULU3 said - I wonder would one of the organizations which examined the texts be willing to show us the before and after texts with translations?
-EASTVIEW said - It would be good if there were an organization that would take responsibility for this, to be sure. But what if something is still found in need of correction? The ISA could stall indefinitely with these kinds of wash-rinse-repeat tactics. I fear that harping over obscure interpretations of the Qur'an, which we see here engaged in daily by our local apologists, would only be a frustating exercise in futility. There is an old Arabic saying that goes "The dogs bark, and the caravan moves on." Who do you suppose they would regard as being the dogs here?
What's needed is a way to shut them down, period. Arguing over interpretations of the Qur'an with a Muslim brainwashed from birth won't do it. More effective strategies and tactics are needed.
-ABDULLAH MIKAIL said - (quoting) "What's needed is a way to shut them down, period."
And why is that, Eastview? Why do you feel a need to shut someone's religious institution down? Why are you discussing a change in tactics? Who is it exactly that is planning to cause trouble? It sounds like you are the one planning on "attacking" them...
Doesn't seem like the civilized thing to do, does it?
-DUMBLEDORESARMY told ABDULLAH MIKAIL - Getting worried, eh?
Well: the more I find out about Islam the more I become convinced that mosques and madrasas are not innocent 'places of worship' and 'faith schools', but are rather analogous to a KKK or Neonazi hangout, Mafia or other organised crime HQ, and most likely also weapons dump/ war bunker/ centre for violent cult-gang indoctrination.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali advised that *no* Islamic schools should be permitted to be established in non-Muslim lands. I agree with her. BTW she had no problem whatever with Jewish or Catholic faith schools, since they do not teach violent subversion and destruction of the host society.
ALWAYSONWATCH said- As a local here, I've been referring to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors as the Fairfax County Dhimmi Board.
Nearby residents objected on safety grounds.
Informed citizens objected on ideological grounds.
And the Dhimmi Board went ahead and approved.
As I'm fond of saying....The ISA is a compound. For all we know, OBL could be hiding in there in a burqa.
EASTVIEW said - Are the positions on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors elected positions? If so, why not simply vote them out of office and put someone in who knows what they're doing? Also, perhaps an investigation into possible outside influence on the Supervisors would be in order, as in, how much is a vote worth? Given who the sponsors are of the school, I would not be surprised if money, in one form or another, was involved in the vote.
-BASEBALLMAVEN replied to EASTVIEW - Good idea--Vote them out and expose this publically--the Saudi connection with the US Government MUST be severed, and the only way that can happen is if we stop needing Saudi oil, SO:
1. Fund green crude (algae oil-www.sapphireenergy.com)--it can be ready to roll in 2-3 years. In the mean time:
2. Drill off shore everywhere we can
3. Drill in Anwar
4. Build nuclear power plants
-EASTVIEW answered BASEBALLMAVEN - Good suggestions all, especially for the long term. But there are some short term actions that are needed, too, equivalent to voters giving a quick jerk on the supervisor leash. It would be here where an investigation into possible vote buying and tax fraud might be especially effective - in addition to voting the supervisors out of office.
-ABDULLAHMIKAIL (quoting EASTVIEW) "I would not be surprised if money, in one form or another, was involved in the vote. "
Remember, more valuable tax property equates to more tax... today is the day and age to step up with the capital and invest in America...it looks like someone is stepping up
-EASTVIEW told ABDULLAH MIKAIL - Yes, and that's my point. But do I detect a double standard here? From your writings I know you to be basically a decent and well-meaning fellow [SARC], and suspect you would condemn financial improprieties if they occurred. But your comment carries a somewhat cynical tone indicating that you might be willing to overlook it if it were done in the service of da'wa. Surely you're not suggesting this, are you?
-ABDULLAH MIKAIL told EASTVIEW - Not at all, it may sound a little odd to you, but of all things in that venue I am a realist and I know how municipal governments work, and I know how pressed they are for tax funds now that property values have tanked.
If the academy is breaking no laws, (yes it is teaching classical studies that include things that Americans disagree with strernely, however not illegal,) and they bring to the table an expanded tax base for the city, trust me, the city is going to get on board.
I must also confess that I do have the guilty pleasure of knowing many JWr's are livid about this...must be where my cynical tone came from. Sorry.
I am truly pleased for the students, staff, and citizens who support this academy.
-ABU LAHAB said - (quoting) "AM: I must also confess that I do have the guilty pleasure of knowing many JWr's are livid about this"
You are far too excited about something you don't know. This is in line with the quranic midset.
I'm sure you think we're livid but I doubt more than 10 % are even annoyed.
All this should do for any JW reader is make them more resolute about how they deal with islam/moslems.
ABDULLAH MIKAIL said – Freedom and Justice .....
not "Freedom for Just Us"
I am very happy for the students, and the staff, and the community members who support the Saudi Islamic Academy.
If nothing illegal has been done, and, as Eastview eloquently stated, I shall add to with my own spin, that there are many different ways to skin a cat like Al Capone...so, in lieu of any illegal activity, then all this hoopla about stirring up trouble can be viewed in a different light.
"Don't start something, won't be something", I've heard it said.
-CARTOON MOHAMMED told ABDULLAH MIKAIL - (from article) "For example, ISA’s new texts endorse marriages between adults and pre-pubescent children"
This school openly promotes pedophilia and you want to say that people who object are trouble makers. It has already been proven that this Islamic school promotes intolerance and encourages criminal behavior and you think a handful of corrupt politicians taking bribes from the Saudis in order to support this den of iniquity is to be celebrated. Unbelievable.
-ABDULLAH MIKAIL, denying - It does not promote pedophilia.
What you point to is an arranged marriage, a betrothal and it happens in Western society as well, had for centuries...usually only among the affluent though..."blue bloods" you know...
You make sweeping comments like a trash tabuloid... I agree... "Unbelievable."
-CARTOONMOHAMMED told ABDULLAH MIKAIL - Nice try.
I understand the difference between two families arranging a marriage with their children and an actual marriage between an adult and a pre-pubescent child.
There have been cases, noted on this website and others of 8 -year old Middle Eastern girls divorcing their middle-aged husbands. They couldn't be divorced without the marriage having been consumated.
There was also a recent story on Pakistanis in Britian who fly back to Pakistan to marry underage girls because it is illegal in their host country. In Iran, theage of consent for girls has been raised to 9.
Again, this school is promoting the pedophilia practiced in the Muslim nations and so this school needs to be Waco'd immediately and not expanded.
-ABU LAHAB observed. - AM actively supports pedophiles! You sick pervert!
You should be absolutely revolted by your cult, AM.
So the ISA endorses marriages between adults and pre-pubescent children? How vile?
-CORNSYRUP told ABDULLAH MIKAIL - I'm kinda wondering if you would be just as happy if the county board okayed
the building of a large school funded by Opus Dei called it Templars High and promoted books and writings that were pro Christian and anti any religion stemming from Arabia???
-ABDULLAH MIKAIL said - 'Apathetic, to tell the truth. Build whatever you want, fund it with honest money....don't care...".
END OF PART TWO OF ORIGINAL COMMENTS
And part three, of what I preserved of the original comments as made over at IntenseDebate.
MAXPUBLIUS said - Criminal collaborators of the week: Fairfax County Board of Supervisor members who voted Yes to the Salafist Supremist Academy of Saudi Bigots.
They had a chance to do the right thing, with all the facts in front of them. They didn't. No mercy for them.
Shame on voters who still voted the loathsome Gerry Connolly into the House of Reps this past election. He is the monster who demeaned and ridiculed those who questioned his "wisdom" on the ISA last year during a board meeting.
YANKEL said - (quoting Abdullah Mikail) 'Don't start something, won't be something", I've heard it said.'
--the little muhammadan arab wannabee
Yup, always the threat! Always!
RRWEST said - The west is surrendering to Islam all over the world, as Islamic schools open wherever Saudi and Islamic oil money is found.
One of the unfair stereotypes of Arabs was that they were not to be trusted since they used underhanded means to get what they wanted and bribery was one of those stereotypical means.
Did a "stereotypical" Arab use these "stereotypical" methods to get the school's "revised" curriculum approved? Even after the board initially openly disapproved of what it was teaching?
Or, more to the point, do the Fairfax board members believe that there actually is a world-wide Jewish conspiracy started by the fictitious "Elders of Zion"?
I've heard that story too many times to believe it myself, but its part of the "history" curriculum in many Islamic schools.
Small wonder, then, that Arabic is the language of choice for many important subjects in these schools; no-one outside of Islam or Arabic scholars can really understand the language. And when questioned about the contents of their textbooks, they employ their own translators, specially trained for the task.
Its like the chicken asking a fox to describe why his brother has his jaws around her neck. "Why? To better carry you to safety, my dear." was the answer.
Yet Islam is waging jihad on all fronts around the world and Islamic schools are part of that campaign. It is perfectly legal, for now, and too few are willing to stop them from spreading. They are, after all, only "religious" schools, what harm can they do?
Ask that of the victims of jihad all over the world.
The west must prevail, else truth, equality, democracy and freedom will die on Saracen blades as many of our ancestors did centuries ago.
ALWAYSONWATCH said - Let's see....There was also that matter of the director of the ISA suppressing a case of sexual child abuse -- on a five year old.
And the matter of taxes not filed.
This index of articles provides the details.
Not to mention all the problems with the ISA's athletic teams being too aggressive on the athletic field.
The school's reputation is not squeaky clean.
Furthermore, Popes Head Road is dangerous. That's one reason the previous owner of the location -- Fairfax Christian School -- was denied expansion as far back as the 1960s. Oh, and the road hasn't changed in that section either.
MOHAMMEDBEAR said - Ibn Taymiyya is an excellent choice to assist children struggling with morality.
"Since lawful warfare is essentially Jihad and since its aim is that the religion is God’s entirely and God’s word is uppermost, therefore according to all Muslims, those who stand in the way of this aim must be fought. As for those who cannot offer resistance or cannot fight, such as women, children, monks, old people, the blind, handicapped and their likes, they shall not be killed unless they actually fight with words (e.g., by propaganda) and acts (e.g., by spying or otherwise assisting in the warfare)".
Ibn Taymiyyah, in Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam, p. 49.
ISABELLATHECRUSADER said - Hi everybody,
'Sorry I'm late. I had a friend who had an emergency and she gave us a scare but she's going to be all right. I just got back to the computer for the first time since the vote took place.
Okay, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors passed the exception but the vote was 6 to 4.
We were told two weeks ago that the vote would be unanimous but we did a little agitatin' and we got four out of ten.
Pat Herrity made the motion to deny and he read a compelling letter about traffic fatalities and the narrowness of that little country road.
Sharon Bulova, the chairman, asked for discussion. John Cook talked about driving the road and realizing how dangerous the twisting turns and narrowness of the road is. He voted against the exception.
Linda Smyth talked about the many, many emails, faxes and phone calls all the supervisors received from every state of the union except Alaska. She voted against the exception.
It was obvious that our efforts, which included putting flyers on windshields at Fairfax County slugline commuter lots, passing them out at local churches, making phone calls and sending emails to all our friends, family and associates.
The citizens came through; the supervisors flaked.
Penelope Gross, whose name fits her, talked a little bit about the traffic and land use issues but basically caved in big time.
There's nothing worse than having someone in a leadership position say that she knows there are land use and traffic issues but she's going to vote for the expansion anyway.
We will be researching what she got out of the deal and following up accordingly.
John Foust was a total embarrassment. He admitted that there were serious concerns about the traffic and land use issues AND the terrorism charges.
But he said he was so impressed with the way the teachers and students spoke that he was going to vote for the expansion. These are nice people, he said.
Mr. Foust won't be returning to the board after the next election.
Cathy Hudgens talked about how difficult this vote was but that she had voted for another school a couple of years ago and the "born agains" that had opposed the school being built came around to it after two years. So she said she could not vote yes on Pat Herrity's motion to deny.
Sharon Bulova said that she would vote against the expansion but gave the obligatory disclaimer about how impressed she was by the speeches of the students and teachers of the ISA.
It was interesting that she did not make any remarks about the positive impression made by the neighbors or experts who testified against the ISA expansion.
Was she paying homage to her Saudi masters? One freedom fighter mentioned that Bulova knew the vote was going to go the ISA's way so it was no skin off her nose to vote against it.
The good news is that the actions of the board today paved the way for a gigantic lawsuit by the homeowner's associations all along Pope's Head Road.
The fact that there is no clear indication of who the applicant is (Saudi deception?) renders the application null and void is one issue.
Our coalition met with an environmental engineer who said that the land the ISA wants to expand on cannot handle the effluent that will be coming off of it and running into the creek behind and then into the Occoquan Reservoir, the one that provides the drinking water for Prince William County.
Saudi crude in the Chesapeake Watershed, a protected area, ain't going to cut it either.
And the fact that previous applicants for an exception were all denied because of land use, traffic and environmental concerns makes this a very interesting case. The possibilities are endless.
The most telling aspect of the vote today was the complete lack of hijabs in the room. The ISA supporters didn't show up. No need to, you see, the vote was in the bag.
I'm excited about the work ahead. Once Fairfax County becomes known across the planet as the county that is a safe haven for Terror High, we'll see what those supervisors think about what they've done and how they have betrayed their own citizens, and they will rue the day they crossed us, especially Supervisor Frye, the lone Republican that voted yes for the expansion. He's going down.
-EASTVIEW said - Thank you for this detailed report, Isabella. Very interesting, indeed. "...no clear indication of who the applicant is..." ought to smell very fishy to anyone with a nose, and worthy of investigation. "...ISA supporters didn't show up...complete lack of hijabs..." was very insightful. Vote in the bag, indeed. I hope the lawsuit proceeds and this can be halted in its tracks. If it is not, knowing that the supervisors might rue the day they voted the way they did would be small consolation.
-ISABELLA THE CRUSADER told EASTVIEW - Oh, it will be stopped. Every time we call attention to this our numbers grow. A year ago June I didn't know anyone to talk to in the anti-jihad movement and now, 13 months later, I've got my fingers in all kinds of pies and know a ton of people I can call on for support and ideas about how to combat this thing.
The Muslims have to be very careful because they are still playing the good neighbor/poor little me card.
If they come out in droves it will alert the average citizen, as it has in the past several months, to what's going on and what the stakes are.
The real questions here are:
1) Who was paid off, how and how much?
2) Were there any supervisors blackmailed?
3) Are the rumors true that some of the neighbors are scared of retaliation from their "good neighbors" and if so, who is doing the scaring?
All good questions and good projects we'll be working on this fall.
-DUMBLEDORESARMY said to ISABELLA - There is something that should perhaps be borne in mind. Those board members who voted for the expansion of this Muslim indoctrination centre, *may* well have been bought; or flattered and seduced (Bulova and Foust talking about how nicely the Muslims talked).
But there is a third possibility, given the many and manifest similarities between the Ummah, or Muslim Mob, and the Mafia.
What if one or more of those board members who voted 'yes' to the expansion, has been either blackmailed and/ or directly threatened (with the usual proviso that if you dare tell the police or anyone else about the threat, you/ your kid/ your grandma/ your wife/ etc., will disappear)? Fear is an even more powerful motivator than greed or vanity.
-ISABELLATHECRUSADER replied to DDA - That could really be true.
The night we spoke at the hearing back on March 18th the county commissioners were rude, condescending and even nasty to anyone who spoke against the expansion while fawning over the Muslims who stood up at that podium to speak.
Not so at the July 13th hearing. Those supervisors looked stricken, as if they had the weight of the world on their shoulders.
-EASTVIEW told ISABELLATHECRUSADER - It certainly does smell fishy, doesn't it? This is why a background investigation to look for financial improprieties needs to be undertaken as part of the larger legal challenge.
-ISABELLA told EASTVIEW - Yes, we've got folks working on that. The fact that Nihad Awad, of CAIR notoriety, gave Gerry Connelly $500, who called Jim Lafferty a hatemonger a year ago at a board meeting because Jim opposed the hate being taught at the academy, there have got to be all sorts of little fish in the big pond with their hands held out. We're going to find out how they're being fed and who's doing the feeding.
NAKAL said -" Jim Moran is the highest recipient of Arab and Arab-American PAC funding.
He is very close to Palestinian-American Jim Zogby, head of the 'Arab-American Anti-Discrimination League', CAIR and all the Saudi Royal Family.
Hell, even Lebanese-American Congressman
Darrel Isa (R-Orange County, CA) receives only 10 % of the money that Moran receives from Arab-Americans.
Moran is only exceeded by Senator "I never met a terrorist I didn't like" John Conyers of Detroit who is a bagman for the local Arab community in Detroit, in terms of receiving Arab lobbying money.
Moran is atypical for MD and VA being the only anti-Israel politician that ever served there; this anomaly is not primarily driven by Moran's love of Arabs.
Moran's basic crude anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews has driven his pro-Arab views and not the other way around. Thus, Fairfax and Alexandria are flooded with Arabs and Islamic Schools almost directly and solely due to Moran."