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NYC group concerned about pro-Muslim potential in new school

A New York City-based grassroots coalition is concerned that it has not received satisfactory answers regarding the creation of a new public school in Brooklyn to teach Arabic history, culture, and language.

The Khalil Gibran International Academy is projected to open its doors in September, but a citizens group known as the Stop the Madrassa Community Coalition says Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the NYC Department of Education have refused to address community concerns about just what will be taught in the school.

Sarah Springer, a resident of Brooklyn and a leader in the coalition, says "We have asked to see what the lessons plans are; where the textbooks are coming from; who the teachers are -- Will they be accredited? Will they have an Islamic slant in their teaching? And no answers, nothing satisfactory -- only platitudes, non-responsive answers have been given."

Springer says the woman chosen to be school’s principal has questionable connections as well. "Dhabah Almonstasser has documented ties to terrorist organizations. She was given a national award from CAIR," says the coalition leader. CAIR -- the Council on American-Islamic Relations -- is a U.S-based pro-Muslim lobbying group accused by at least one Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill of having "ties to terrorism" and "intimate links to Hamas."

Springer says Joel Klein, the school's chancellor, told her that the school will be monitored and would be closed down should there be any religious or Islamic slant to the education.

Calls for more information according to the Freedom of Information Act have not been adequately responded to, and Springer says there is no concrete information as to what the school is all about. The coalition leader says the Stop the Madrassa Community Coalition must have some answers before it decides what action it might take in regard to the school.