Khalil Gibran School
Washington Post has a story on Brooklyn Principal Debbie Almontaser, who resigned Aug. 10 after the New York Post quoted her talking about definitions of the word "intifada."
Almontaser's critics say she failed to immediately condemn the slogan "Intifada NYC" on a T-shirt displayed by a group with no connection to the school. She later condemned it.
At core in the debate is a linguistic disconnect. The word "intifada" crystallized in its current Arabic meaning during the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s and early '90s. It is seen by many Arabs as a valid term for popular resistance to oppression, while for many English speakers it has come to conjure images of violent attacks on civilians.
It seems the school was under attack even before it had opened.
Daniel Pipes, a pro-Israel conservative who created Campus Watch, a Web site dedicated to exposing alleged bias in university Middle East-studies programs, wrote in the New York Sun that the school would cause problems because "learning Arabic in [and] of itself promotes an Islamic outlook."
A group called the Stop the Madrassa Coalition coalesced in Brooklyn to fight the school. Various blogs, Fox News, the New York Post and the New York Sun variously probed Almontaser's background and editorialized against the school.
Ironically, Almontaser was replaced by an orthodex Jewish Principal, who cannot speak Arabic.
After her resignation, officials named as interim principal Danielle Salzberg, who is experienced in setting up new schools. But some supporters of the academy said they fear she, too, will be a divisive figure because she does not speak Arabic and happens to be an Orthodox Jew.
Almontaser's critics say she failed to immediately condemn the slogan "Intifada NYC" on a T-shirt displayed by a group with no connection to the school. She later condemned it.
At core in the debate is a linguistic disconnect. The word "intifada" crystallized in its current Arabic meaning during the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s and early '90s. It is seen by many Arabs as a valid term for popular resistance to oppression, while for many English speakers it has come to conjure images of violent attacks on civilians.
It seems the school was under attack even before it had opened.
Daniel Pipes, a pro-Israel conservative who created Campus Watch, a Web site dedicated to exposing alleged bias in university Middle East-studies programs, wrote in the New York Sun that the school would cause problems because "learning Arabic in [and] of itself promotes an Islamic outlook."
A group called the Stop the Madrassa Coalition coalesced in Brooklyn to fight the school. Various blogs, Fox News, the New York Post and the New York Sun variously probed Almontaser's background and editorialized against the school.
Ironically, Almontaser was replaced by an orthodex Jewish Principal, who cannot speak Arabic.
After her resignation, officials named as interim principal Danielle Salzberg, who is experienced in setting up new schools. But some supporters of the academy said they fear she, too, will be a divisive figure because she does not speak Arabic and happens to be an Orthodox Jew.
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