Arab School In New York To Teach “Multiple Perspectives” About America, Islam, Terrorism

By
Omri Ceren
– April 26, 2007Posted in: Multiculturalism, Political Islam

No way this can go poorly:

The new school has yet to enroll a single student. But its very existence is at the heart of a controversy in New York. The Khalil Gibran International Academy was set up to teach students about Arab language and culture. The school is only expected to open in September, but has already been called ‘jihadi’ and ‘segregationist’… Mr. Daniel Pipes, a conservative commentator, wrote on his blog: ‘In principle it is a great idea – the United States needs more Arabic-speakers. In practice, however, Arabic instruction is heavy with Islamist and Arabist overtones and demands.’

Not necessarily, Ms Almontaser said. ‘Being that we are a public school, we certainly are not going to be teaching religion,’ she said. Ms Almontaser said the school won’t shy away from sensitive topics such as colonialism and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. ‘Teachers are going to be expected to provide students with multiple perspectives on whatever the issue is. Students will, through the critical-thinking skills that they will develop, make informed decisions on the perspective that they want to believe.’

Yeah, it’s not necessary for Arabic instruction to be heavy with Islamist and Arabist shading. But in practice it always seems to turn out that way. Strange, that.

Here’s the problem with “multiple perspectives”: sometimes, some people’s perspectives simply aren’t true. We know it’s kind of banal to point out, but it seems to get lost in odes to critical thinking skills. There were multiple competing stories about the role of Jews in 1920s Germany, but only the Jewish story unlocked what was actually going on. In the Israeli-Arab conflict both sides sometimes exaggerate or obfuscate, but there is still a wild difference between Israelis underestimating the number of Palestinians at a checkpoint and the Palestinians making up tales of Israeli atrocities out of whole cloth. Just because those made up atrocities are parroted by weasel reporters using weasel phrases like “…but Palestinian sources insisted” – well, that doesn’t make those tales any more true.

That’s before we even get to which “multiple perspectives” will be represented in the textbooks being used in Arabic language classes. How many textbooks published in Arabic do you think fairly represent the Israeli side – big market for that, you think? When arguments are premised on lies, there can be no room for discussion. Pretending that the propaganda being fed to kids is actually grist for the critical thinking mill makes things worse, not better.

References:
* New York school of Arab culture draws flak

Previously:
* Does Kos Just Get to Make Things Up Now?
* Do They Just Get To Make Things Up Now?
* The Telegraph Celebrates, Excuses Palestinian Atrocities

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

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