The founding principal of this school certainly isn't the problem, and perhaps Pipes chose the wrong "evidence"-- such as quotes taken out of context-- to create a movement against the establishment of this school-- but the fact remains that he is partially correct.

The founder claims that her intention was to create a school of global citizens--
not citizens of one supreme world power, the United States-- and to
give students exposure to various aspects of Islamic culture and to
give all students fluency in Arabic that will serve as an educational
asset to them, in addition to making them, as she says, "citizens of
the world."

Sounds good to me, in theory. The problem was and
remains that the school, like many Islamic organizations that claim to
be moderate, is actually a breeding ground for Islamic Fundamentalism.
Take a close look at her board members-- almost 100% religious Muslims
that are affiliated with various political organizations that are well
known for being terror sympathizers and even funders, among other things. Almontaser can have great intentions-- and I mostly believe that she does-- but one familiar with the education system is well aware that a school's board has potential to hijack the purpose of an institution-- especially in this case. The
school's supporters claim that regardless, the school would not preach
Islam or anything political.

That isn't enough for me, and
it's certainly not enough for the self-proclaimed opposition to the
school, composed of thousands and thousands of people. How will courses
taught in Arabic,  many by religious Muslims that are affiliated with
extremely horrific political organizations, be monitored? How will we
be certain that students are learning about history rather than Global
Jihad? The answer is that we WON'T be.

The school's supporters
raise the issue of other NYC public schools with a dual language
theme--- there are several schools, though this would have been the
first Arabic-language school. Why should KG International School be
treated any differently?

They should be treated differently
because its supporters and its board are linked to dangerous political
organizations and many have publicly made use of Islamic fundamentalist
rhetoric. The entire Western World has an enemy, and we are at war.
That enemy has a few names-- some call it Islamic Fundamentalism and
Global Jihad. Some just call it terrorism in general, and some call it
Islam. Whatever you call it, we have to protect our students, our
families, our cities, and our education system. In order to do that, we
need to completely disassociate ourselves from anything that may spread
dangerous, anti-western, pro-Jihad rhetoric in a publicly-funded forum. Yes, freedom of speech is real, but that doesn't mean that we have to create schools to serve as a breeding ground for rhetoric that has led to the deaths of many people in the city in which the school is situated. It's that simple. If
suddenly the French were responsible for a global assault of even HALF
of this intensity, I'd support shutting down French schools supported
by the State, too.

The fact remains, though, that although the
vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists--and many Muslims don't
support terrorism in general-- all terrorists (minus a FEW notable
exceptions) are Muslims, and either come from Islamic nations, learn in
Muslim schools, and/or attend a mosque with a militant
philosophy. They don't come from Spanish language schools, Greek
Orthodox Churches, or Canada. It's not racist, it has nothing to do
with hatred of Islam in general, for most-- it's a matter of calling it
as we see it, even if we have to be less than PC. All terrorists have
something in common, and we have a right to keep that ideology OUT of
reach in order to protect ourselves by any legal means possible.  A private school? Sounds great to me.  Once the school, its founder, and its board prove their intentions to be the reality of the school itself, it becomes a great idea that is worthy of public funding.

Cori C

http://cori-c.blogspot.com

coriac@gmail.com