By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN — What would someone say if a group protested a Catholic school in their area, claiming that because the young Catholics are taught to accept the overall authority of the Pope, they can’t be true Americans?
What if someone demanded that a yeshiva close down, claiming that because a small number of Orthodox Jews still follow the extremist teachings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, there’s a “good chance” that many of the students will follow his racist doctrines?
And what would happen if some local residents picketed a Lutheran school, claiming that because Luther’s doctrines are an integral part of German culture and nationality, and Hitler arose from this same culture, there must be some link between the two?
Most people would correctly dismiss these arguments as those of kooks.
However, some observers, especially those who identify themselves as conservatives, make very similar arguments about the Khalil Gibran International Academy, the Arabic-themed public school planned for Brooklyn.
For example, Daniel Pipes wrote a column for his web site, which was also printed in the New York Sun, called “A Madrasa Grows in Brooklyn.” A “madrasa” is just the word for school in Arabic, although it has come to be synonymous in the U.S. for the militant, fundamentalist-oriented schools in Pakistan that have become incubators for terrorist groups.
At one point, Pipes says, “Learning Arabic in and of itself promotes an Islamic outlook.” Now, what if he had said, “learning Italian is bad, because it makes one more sympathetic to the Mafia” or “learning Chinese is bad, because China exploits child labor?” Pipes’ argument is prejudiced, just on the face of it.
On Pipes’ web site, one also sees a photo of Khalil Gibran School Principal Debbie Almontaser. In the photo, she’s wearing a head scarf and is referred to as “Dhabah ‘Debbie’ Almontaser.” This, to me, is no different than an issue I once saw of Social Justice, an anti-Semitic magazine published during the 1930s. In its pages, Jewish-American actor Edward G. Robinson was referred to as “Edward G. (Emmanuel Goldenberg) Robinson.” In both cases, the intent was to appeal to prejudice.
Pipes also argues that an Arabic-centered curriculum will by necessity teach hatred of the United States and of Israel. It’s no news to anyone that the Arab world has a different “take” on Israel than the United States – few people would volunteer to undergo the type of humiliating treatment Palestinians undergo, by all reports, at Israeli checkpoints — and the same goes of Iraq.
However, it may surprise Mr. Pipes that there are a variety of opinions in the Arab world. For example, we should always remember that Anwar Sadat of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan both recognized Israel, and Palestinian intellectual Sam Nusseibieh, in his book “A Palestinian Life,” acknowledges the historical connection between the Jewish people and their historic homeland.
And Mr. Pipes may be surprised to know that not all Arabs are Muslims! There is a fairly large Lebanese Christian community in Brooklyn, with a Lebanese Maronite church in Brooklyn Heights. There’s even an Arabic Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge, headed by a Palestinian Christian minister.
Also in the New York Sun we find a column by Alicia Colon called “Madrassa Plan Is Monstrosity.” She talks about the “dangers of pandering to multiculturalism,” but she should know better. The United States already is multicultural — where does she think names like “Santa Fe,” “Los Angeles” and “San Diego” came from? Why does she think certain people in Louisiana have spoken Cajun French for hundreds of years?
Then, toward the middle of the article, she talks about the murder of the Dutch politician Theo Van Gogh by Islamic extremists as an example of what multiculturalism can lead to. No one would defend Van Gogh’s murder, but to somehow connect this to the Gibran school is logic worthy of the National Lampoon or Mad Magazine.
By the way, there’s already a Chinese-themed intermediate school in Manhattan’s Chinatown, but no one’s complaining about that. It seems that only when Arabs and Muslims, the country’s new whipping boys, are concerned, do people suddenly complain.
I am someone who often disagrees strenuously with the Arab political agenda (although I also disagree with much of the Israeli political agenda). But that should have no bearing on the issue of the Khalil Gibran school. Those who proselytize against it, in crude terms, are the spiritual kinsmen of those whose rhetoric led to the 1920s immigration quotas, which indirectly led to the deaths of thousands of European Jews. Shame on them!
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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