Setting The Record Straight

Campus Watch corrects false allegations made against it.

Campus Watch Responds:

I sent the following letter to the editor of Newsweek in response to Ali's inaccurate article. Newsweek didn't print it, and so here is the text:

Dear Editor,

In "Education: Speech Impediment" (Oct. 1), Lorraine Ali misrepresents Campus Watch's mission, its reasons for opposing Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), and the sophistication of its staff.

Contrary to Ali's assertions, Campus Watch opposes not the study of Arabic, which is much-needed and which we have repeatedly endorsed. Rather, we oppose the Arabist and Islamist overtones and demands we see in KGIA's curriculum and among its supporters. We insist that KGIA teach children Arabic rather than indoctrinate them with radical, anti-Western ideas.

Because she did not contact Campus Watch for our side of the story, Ali allows gratuitously insulting comments against Campus Watch by Mahmoud Al-Batal's to go unanswered. Al-Batal charges that CW promotes "censorship," yet we have neither the means nor the desire to censor those we critique. Al-Batal's charge that, "students are much more sophisticated than the people behind Campus Watch…. step aside and just allow us to learn," attempts to substitute ad hominem attacks for reasoned rebuttal. We stand in the way not of learning, but of crude attempts to provide a publicly funded platform for Islamists to spread their propaganda to children.

Sincerely,

Winfield Myers
Director
Campus Watch
Philadelphia, Pa.

(Posted by Winfield Myers)