Tuesday, December 21, 2004
ISB PR Blitz: Part III
The Boston Globe is really pulling out the stops with the third puff-piece in less than a week related to the Islamic Society of Boston. Today's involves an Islamic school located at their Cambridge site. The title, "Finding a Haven Amid the Storm", speaks for itself. This tone is echoed throught the article.
In the past three years, Muslim families increasingly have chosen such schools as Al Bustan, hoping that they will be havens from anti-Muslim sentiment their children might encounter in public schools, parents and Muslim educators say.
Clearly the efforts of the public schools to eradicate any trace of our Christian heritage and promote Islam are unsatisfactory. So perhaps we should just give up on trying to appease Muslim sensibilities altogether?
Each morning, the students sit in a circle in a brightly lit classroom, decorated by colored letters in English and Arabic, singing: ''If you meet a little Muslim, say Assalamu alaikum [Peace Be Upon You]."
I can't help but wonder what the children are taught to say if they meet a little Jew or kuf'r.
''If you could possibly lose your job, or be hurt or killed because of your religion, you tend to find out more about your religion," said Karen Keyworth, director of the Islamic School's League of America, which runs a website and database for Muslim parents and Islamic schools.
This country is so hostile to Islamic education that Karen's League of America site to aid Islamic schools has this helpful tip:
With the new presidential commitment to a tighter relationship between government and private schools, outside resources are likely to be more plentiful than ever in the form of services through your local education agencies or LEA's. Find out about the E-Rate program where your school could receive government grants for 10% - 90% of your telephone, internet connection, and connectivity costs. Finally, learn about possible grants (state, federal and private) that your school might be eligible to apply for...The days of asking overseas countries to bankroll our Islamic schools are over.
I propose that the vague sense of menace alluded to in the article does not actually orginate from a tangible outside threat. The real spectre looming over the school is it's landlord:
Al Bustan, though, opened on a cautious note, following a controversy over the school's landlord, the Islamic Society of Boston, which had been questioned by authorities about whether radical Islamic groups overseas were funding its mosque and a school building project in Roxbury.
The society's board of directors has denied receiving money from extremist groups. But the allegations have disturbed people at the school: Many Muslims involved in Al Bustan also pray at the mosque run by the Islamic Society.
If the tone of this post is a little more sardonic than usual, I apologize in advance, but the hypocrisy that The Globe has been enabling this week is really beginning to chap my hide.
In the past three years, Muslim families increasingly have chosen such schools as Al Bustan, hoping that they will be havens from anti-Muslim sentiment their children might encounter in public schools, parents and Muslim educators say.
Clearly the efforts of the public schools to eradicate any trace of our Christian heritage and promote Islam are unsatisfactory. So perhaps we should just give up on trying to appease Muslim sensibilities altogether?
Each morning, the students sit in a circle in a brightly lit classroom, decorated by colored letters in English and Arabic, singing: ''If you meet a little Muslim, say Assalamu alaikum [Peace Be Upon You]."
I can't help but wonder what the children are taught to say if they meet a little Jew or kuf'r.
''If you could possibly lose your job, or be hurt or killed because of your religion, you tend to find out more about your religion," said Karen Keyworth, director of the Islamic School's League of America, which runs a website and database for Muslim parents and Islamic schools.
This country is so hostile to Islamic education that Karen's League of America site to aid Islamic schools has this helpful tip:
With the new presidential commitment to a tighter relationship between government and private schools, outside resources are likely to be more plentiful than ever in the form of services through your local education agencies or LEA's. Find out about the E-Rate program where your school could receive government grants for 10% - 90% of your telephone, internet connection, and connectivity costs. Finally, learn about possible grants (state, federal and private) that your school might be eligible to apply for...The days of asking overseas countries to bankroll our Islamic schools are over.
I propose that the vague sense of menace alluded to in the article does not actually orginate from a tangible outside threat. The real spectre looming over the school is it's landlord:
Al Bustan, though, opened on a cautious note, following a controversy over the school's landlord, the Islamic Society of Boston, which had been questioned by authorities about whether radical Islamic groups overseas were funding its mosque and a school building project in Roxbury.
The society's board of directors has denied receiving money from extremist groups. But the allegations have disturbed people at the school: Many Muslims involved in Al Bustan also pray at the mosque run by the Islamic Society.
If the tone of this post is a little more sardonic than usual, I apologize in advance, but the hypocrisy that The Globe has been enabling this week is really beginning to chap my hide.
papijoe 4:36 PM
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