Sep 6, 2007 / 08:41 am
A coalition of concerned citizens gathered on the steps of New York City Hall to express their concerns regarding the opening of a new school, designed to immerse students in the Islamic culture.
Citizens are concerned because the new Khalil Gibran International Academy has three fundamentalist imams on its board of advisors as well as other people with connections to militant Islamic organizations. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is reportedly affiliated to the school.
According to a press release issued by the Thomsas More Law Center, federal prosecutors have listed the CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing case against the Holy Land Foundation, which is alleged to have provided material support to foreign terrorists. News media also report that FBI wiretaps have placed the current executive director of CAIR at a meeting of alleged Hamas leaders several years ago.
The citizen coalition is asking city officials for full disclosure regarding the new school.
“We want to know what the curriculum is, what textbooks are being used, who the teachers are, and what groups affiliated with the school, like the Council on American-Islamic Relations, will have access to the children,” said Brian Rooney, an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center, which is acting on behalf of citizens.
“The Law Center will continue to use the courts to get information on the school that the city has refused to provide,” said Rooney. “This lack of response to our request for information strongly suggests that the school cannot meet state education standards. Moreover, it continues to raise suspicions that the Khalil Gibran International Academy is an anti-American, anti-Christian, and anti-Jewish propaganda center operating as a public school.”
Rooney said the Law Center will also monitor the school in order to ensure that it comports with state and federal law.
Citizens are concerned that the city is setting up “a segregated, separate but equal public school system: one for Islam and another for everyone else,” he added.