Comments on: Khalil Gibran International Academy

By: mevans212

mevans212 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:14:51 +0000

JokersWild – Almontaser talked to the Post and then Weingarten talked to the Post. So when you criticize someone for talking to the Post, are you criticizing both of them?

It sounds like you’re looking for an excuse to critize Weingarten, so don’t let what happened stand in your way. People who talk to the Post hate America! Flame on!

By: SOC ST TEACHER

SOC ST TEACHER — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:43:07 +0000

Martin Luther King:
“When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism.”

from “The Socialism of Fools: The Left, the Jews and Israel” by Seymour Martin Lipset; in Encounter magazine, December 1969, p. 24.

By: JokersWildNYC

JokersWildNYC — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:03:56 +0000

Mevans – the post does nothing but attack teachers, the UFT, and organized labor in general. She might have well gone to “Jihad-Watch” or some other reich-wing institution. Does she think by flexing her Zionist credentials the NYPost will give her a free-pass in the future? I remember a few years ago there was an anti-Bush button/bumper sticker – “NOT MY PRESIDENT.” Thats how I feel about Randi. So very out-of-touch with the rank-and-file teachers.

By: mevans212

mevans212 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:06:06 +0000

Hey…
The Almontaser interview was in the Post, so of course Weingarten would respond in the Post as well.

By: JokersWildNYC

JokersWildNYC — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:36:00 +0000

Why would Randi run to the post, of all papers? She has proven herself little better than the anti-Muslim racists who have attacked this school from the beginning.

By: Crazy Dave

Crazy Dave — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 21:25:36 +0000

History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.–Dr. King, “Letter From a Birhingham Jail.”

By: mklonsky

mklonsky — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 21:05:49 +0000

Leo Casey: “With the apology and resignation of the principal-to-be, that incident has been put to rest.”

Judging from the responses on your and other’s sites, I’m afraid, not quite yet, Leo.

As for you lectures on non-violence (I’ll be watching to make sure you protest every expression of violence, especially the ones more grievous than the word on a t-shirt) are you saying that Principal Almontaser was an advocate of, a condoner of, or a participant in violence?

By: Steve Perez

Steve Perez — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 15:14:21 +0000

Jonathan, sorry if I misunderstood you when you asked

I don't recall much (anything?) critical of how oppressed people fought back

To me, King was always speaking out about the means of fighting back, and was always clear about his support for nonviolence.

What did you think of King's Beyond Vietnam speech?

By: Would Martin Luther King, Jr. fire the principal? « PREA Prez

Would Martin Luther King, Jr. fire the principal? « PREA Prez — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 12:57:09 +0000

[...] what has to be the one of the most bizarre discussions on the web, there is actually a quotation war going on at Edwize over whether Martin Luther King [...]

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 12:23:30 +0000

“This was a high-tech lynching.” That’s how Rabbi Michael Paley, scholar-in-residence at UJA-Federation* (and father of Naamah Paley, who’s in charge of enrollment at KGIA) described what was done to Debbie Almontaser. He is quoted in the The Jewish Week (“Jewish Shootout Over Arab School, August 17), in an excellent article that details the blatantly islamophobic roots of the campaign against Ms. Almontaser and KGIA, and the dirty tricks used by the Post to spark the “intifada” controversy. Rabbi Paley recounts how Ms. Almontaser is active in We Are All Brooklyn, an inter-ethnic initiative supported by the Jewish Community Relations Council, and has trained with A World of Difference, the anti-bias program of the Anti-Defamation League. Rabbi Paley thinks the message to the Arab-American community of this whole sorry episode is: “You’re a fool to think they’ll accept you.”

I urge Edwize readers to listen to what Arab-Americans themselves have to say about this affair. Look at the website of Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media (AWAAM), the group that produced the offending T-shirt. Read the transcript of the August 13 broadcast at the website of Democracy Now. Read the piece in The Jewish Week online to see all of what Ms. Almontaser said, not just excerpts. Come out to Tweed at 6PM on Monday for a community mobilization called by Arab, Muslim, and Jewish groups, among others.

It was a lynching alright. The UFT didn’t string up the noose—that was done by the anti-teacher, anti-labor Murdoch media and hate-mongering websites. We just kicked away the stool.

Steve Quester
UFT chapter leader
P372/418K The Children’s School*

*Rabbi Paley speak for himself, not his organization. Same with me.