Intifada in New York

By Richard N. Weltz

Only in New York could the powers-that-be yield so broadly to the concept of pandering to ethnic minority groups who, not so many years ago, clamored to have their children integrated into American society and to achieve proficiency in the English language. Now, encouraged by demagogic leaders and unprincipled politicians and underwritten with taxpayer money, schools are established to encourage immigrants to remain as enclaves separate from the mainstream of US life.

Such is the purpose of the proposed Khalil Gibran Arabic academy, planned to cater to Arabs in our midst in the name of "multiculturalism" The taxpayer-funded charter school would emphasize Arab culture, history, and language. While the study of other cultures and languages traditionally had been a legitimate part of US school curricula, it had never until recently -- especially in public elementary and secondary schools -- been their principal focus.

The current flap about the proposed Arabic school, and its putative principal, Dhabah "Debbie" Almonaster, forced Friday to resign over the exposure of her ties to questionable Islamic organizations and her apologia for their hawking of T-Shirts emblazoned with the message "Intifada -- NYC," has also served to highlight one little-known but equally unacceptable fact. The NYC public school system has been operating other schools also promoting foreign cultures and languages, including Greek, Chinese, etc.

The only legitimate culture, history, and language for a New York school to teach as its primary curriculum is that of our own country, America. Those who wish to supplement their children's education with cultural and/or religious education of other sorts may (and for many years have) do so via privately -funded Catholic parochial schools, Hebrew schools, Buddhist schools and Muslim schools, not to mention after-school religious programs, etc.

Our ancestors who came to America to seek the better way of American life and culture did not want their children steeped in the culture and languages of the lands from which they emigrated; and it makes no sense for the city administration to collude in reversing that concept.

In that vein, today's New York Post provides, in its lead editorial an excellent critique of this unwise and counterproductive program that has been apparently growing quietly within New York City's school system until brought to light by the recent Khalil Gibran outrage.