Plan for Arabic School in Brooklyn Spurs Protests

The Khalil Gibran International Academy was conceived as a public embrace of New York City’s growing Arab population and of internationalism, the first public school dedicated to the study of the Arabic language and culture and open to students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

But nearly three months after plans for the middle school were first announced, a beleaguered Department of Education is fending off attacks from two angry camps: parents from Public School 282, the elementary school in Park Slope, Brooklyn, that was assigned to share building space with the Khalil Gibran school, and a handful of columnists who have called the proposed academy a madrassa, which teaches the Koran.

Daniel Pipes, the famous (or infamous) anti-Islamist has multiple concerns. Normally, I tend to agree with him on various issues, but here he seems a little paranoid, especially given that the proposed school is seeking to be part of the NYC education system, not apart from it. I would be much more concerned with real-life madrassas that might be open privately.

I found this post 9/11 article written by the proposed principal, Yemini-American Debbie Almontaser. I can't believe that this woman would run anything but a school that was for the benefit of every American.

By the way, Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese Christian poet who came to America at the age of 12 over a hundred years ago.

A sample of his writings can be found here.

THE WISE DOG

One day there passed by a company of cats a wise dog.

And as he came near and saw that they were very intent and heeded him not, he stopped.

Then there arose in the midst of the company a large, grave cat and looked upon them and said, “Brethren, pray ye; and when ye have prayed again and yet again, nothing doubting, verily then it shall rain mice.”

And when the dog heard this he laughed in his heart and turned from them saying, “O blind and foolish cats, has it not been written and have I not known and my fathers before me, that that which raineth for prayer and faith and supplication is not mice but bones.”