Re: Not With My Money by Susan Gill
Reader comment on: A Madrassa Grows In Brooklyn
in response to reader comment: Not With My Money!

Submitted by Flora Huang, Oct 18, 2007 10:34

The school will not teach Islamic doctrine; it is a completely secular school. Someone pointed out in a previous post that Khalil Gibran was a Christian. If you want to open a Germanic school you can propose that to the DOE, as long as it does not teach the doctrines of protestant reformation.

Schools with themes are common now. There are health care-themed schools, media-themed schools, and public service-themed schools, and I am sure you do not have a problem with your tax dollars going to that. The theme of this school happens to be Arabic culture and language. Will there be discussions about Islam? Probably, but from a completely academic perspective, discussing its influence on the history of the middle east, just as Christianity is discussed to understand the history or Europe. I don't see anything wrong with doing that.

Even Debbie Almontaser's refusal to denounce the word Intifada has been taken completely out of context. In fact, she was trying to separate the word from the extremists who have misused the word. Debbie Almontaser has devoted years to promote cultural understanding and tolerance in this city. This is why she developed the school, which is welcome to both Arabs and non-Arabs. Instead, she gets attacked for doing so. I am not Arab, but I would consider going to a school like this if I was eleven. My son is not Latino, but I am considering sending him to a dual language English-Spanish school in our neighborhood. Learning another language is another occupational skill, and the dual language model is much more effective than your typical foreign language class in school. How well do you speak the foreign language class you took in high school? Probably, not very well.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
The blatant and terrifying bigotry, racism, and ignorance--not to mention misinformation--on display both from the author of this article and... [MORE]	Jessica	Sep 16, 2007 13:39
In September, 2001, I warned a close friend that the ugly mushroom cloud of bigotry would soon envelop our nation.... [MORE]	JIm	Sep 4, 2007 16:10
The parents should consider that they are possibly training their children for no job opportunities later in life. Job opportunities... [MORE]	Dusty	Aug 8, 2007 22:02
↔	Sharry	Sep 7, 2007 11:17
↔ The goverments job should be to help assimilate immigrants into the "American Way of Life" . At home you can... [MORE]	NYKEVIN	Aug 8, 2007 11:14
↔ Regarding the example that Arabic promoted an Islamic outlook. Isn't it more probable that those who learned Arabic had a... [MORE]	ora	Jul 19, 2007 11:59
↔	The Mechanic	Jul 17, 2007 00:40
↔ It never ceases to amaze me when people like Ms. Almontaser say the Sept. 11 attacks were our own fault... [MORE]	Derek	Jul 12, 2007 03:20
↔ Since we are all being so multi-cultural, why don't we open a companion Hebrew speaking school in Brooklyn. There are... [MORE]	Cezanne270	Jul 8, 2007 20:51
↔ I completely agree with Dave Hall. Arab does not equal Muslim, and yes, the author and readers are definately confused... [MORE]	HMG	Jun 27, 2007 19:49
↔ Such a policy is hardly calculated to promote acculturation, assimilation, American history and values, or even teach English, which are... [MORE]	John K	Jun 20, 2007 22:40
↔ I applaud the idea of a school where students can learn Arabic and have a different window on the world.... [MORE]	Karen Vaughan	Jun 18, 2007 13:36
↔ For all of you who are putting in your two cents, you should get a perspective from someone who has... [MORE]	Flora Huang	May 31, 2007 19:51
↔ ↔ Commentator and Public school educator of "ten years", Flora Huang, indicated on her posting that this Arab public school... [MORE]	susan gill	Jul 16, 2007 07:41
↔ ↔ ↔ The school will not teach Islamic doctrine; it is a completely secular school. Someone pointed out in a previous post...	Flora Huang	Oct 18, 2007 10:34
↔ ↔ ↔ Read the book "While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam Is Destroying the West from Within" by Bruce Bawer. He talks... [MORE]	Mary	May 21, 2007 12:11
↔ ↔ ↔ It's normal, even necessary, to learn about the accompanying culture when learning a language. I do so with Spanish and... [MORE]	Jeteon	May 18, 2007 20:30
↔ ↔ ↔ When I was using textbooks to teach English in Arab countries - I often found the texts to be culturally... [MORE]	lawrence	May 16, 2007 03:47
↔ ↔ ↔ I am a graduate student in history. I am not a Middle East expert; Russia is my field. Recently I... [MORE]	Timothy Buchanan	May 11, 2007 10:11
↔ ↔ ↔ The article by Daniel Pipes decrying the proposed Khalil Gibran International Academy is a classic polemic. Mr. Pipes, you are... [MORE]	Tim Geoghegan	May 8, 2007 22:21
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔	Mike	Jul 15, 2007 13:01
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ I am deeply disappointed at the outcry over the Khalil Gibran International School. An American, I lived in North Africa... [MORE]	MLO	May 4, 2007 14:14
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔	Brendon Carr	May 22, 2007 07:05
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔	Omar Sawaf	Apr 29, 2007 21:10
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ Rev Deeter is right. I think Mr. Pipes should have done a little more research. Actually the title of his... [MORE]	Omar Sawaf	Apr 29, 2007 20:59
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ I am convinced America is filled with ridiculously gullible people! For being a supposed literate nation, I find it amazing... [MORE]	Lorrin	May 8, 2007 09:05
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ Daniel Pipes, in his article, A Madrassa Grows in Brooklyn (April 24), first states that it "appears to be a... [MORE]	Daniel Meeter	Apr 28, 2007 09:51
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ In this country, we speak English as our first language. English as a second language is an acceptable subject to... [MORE]	ex-teacher	Apr 28, 2007 00:29
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ To Ex-Teacher from another ex-teacher, there are, in fact, dual language English/Spanish and English/Chinese schools found throughout the city, such... [MORE]	f	May 31, 2007 19:25
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ What you say is true, our country is going crazy but do your reseach please. Spanish is our second language.... [MORE]	ANONYMOUS	Jul 2, 2007 21:56
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ The Sun is right to give room in its pages to people who espouse views, like Daniel Pipes ("A... [MORE]	The Rev. Charles H. Straut, Jr., DMin	Apr 27, 2007 20:53
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ When I first read the article, my first reaction was, "Are American taxpayers now going to fund another politically correct... [MORE]	Arthur O. Milller	Apr 25, 2007 11:47
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ Indoctrination was part of the educational system in this country from the beginning. It's simply that in recent years the... [MORE]	Beth	Aug 14, 2007 08:28
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ According to Daniel Pipes' article, it appears that there are too many serious consequences to consider in permitting the establishment... [MORE]	Judith Carpet	Apr 24, 2007 23:00
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ Mr. Pipes should ask himself this simple question: would he have been opposed to the idea of KGIA before 9/11?... [MORE]	Robb	May 16, 2007 22:37
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔	Martha Jennings	May 25, 2007 14:44
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ Do you think the mayor or the chancellor have given any thought as to how the subject of Israel would... [MORE]	Irene Alter	Apr 24, 2007 21:04
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔	Ed Bennett	Apr 24, 2007 15:44
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ Mr. Pipes is absolutely right on the money. There is no way to learn Arabic without having to swallow a... [MORE]	Luigi Frascati	Apr 25, 2007 01:14
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔	Tim	Apr 24, 2007 11:23
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ Aleopard does not change its spots. Pipes is correct and thepast performance of recent Arabic education will continue heading in... [MORE]	alfred ritter	Apr 24, 2007 09:51
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔	Ed	Apr 24, 2007 07:14
↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔	Jack	Jun 4, 2007 01:36