The sad state of affairs here in the Twin Cities is that we have no real investigative journalism. Well, OK, to be fair, we have good investigative journalism, but it is highly biased. I submit into evidence an opinion piece by our own Katherine Kersten that recently appeared in the Red Star about a Minnesota charter school that has a history of being in trouble with the state. The school, Tarek Ibn Ziyad Academy (website here) has campuses in Blaine and Inver Grove Heights. It has been investigated by the state because it has been accused of teaching Islam alongside the normal education that charter schools engage in. In her opinion column, Kersten gives details about felony activity occurring at the school in Inver Grove Heights that the Red Star or any other MSM outlet has not seen fit to investigate.
But at one Minnesota public school, critics may be in for something more sinister. Khalid Elmasry says in an affidavit that after he criticized Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA), which his child used to attend, the school’s executive director made a statement at a parent meeting that Elmasry took “as an attempt to incite violence against me and my family.” Even more disturbing is what Janeha Edwards -- a former administrative assistant at the school -- says in an affidavit the director suggested after she displeased him: “We could just kill you, yeah tell your husband we’ll do his job for him.”
At least the last time I checked, death threats were against the law. Kersten reports,
These bizarre developments are described in documents filed in a legal battle royal between TiZA -- a K-8 charter school with campuses in Inver Grove Heights and Blaine -- and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. Last year, the ACLU filed a federal suit claiming that TiZA impermissibly promotes religion. In January, the ACLU sought a protective order, telling the court that intimidation by TiZA was discouraging potential witnesses from appearing. On Feb. 10, the court barred witness harassment or intimidation by either party.
So, not only are death threats illegal, so is witness tampering. And this appears in an opinion piece? And the Minnesota ACLU is nervous enough about it that they sought a protective order? Just what is this school about, anyway? Apparently, it is all about threats and itimidation.
...according to the parent’s account, Asad Zaman, the school’s director and an imam -- or Muslim religious leader -- accused Elmasry of talking to the Minnesota Department of Education and “selling” his “Iman,” meaning his Islamic faith, according to Elmasry’s affidavit. Elmasry was frightened, he says. “It is well-known in Islam that a Muslim who rejects his or her faith is committing an act punishable by death,” according to his affidavit. “There are many accounts of Muslims taking matters into their own hands and killing people they believe have sold or rejected their Islamic faith or Iman.”
Unfortunately for Elmasry, it isn’t well-known outside Islam that it is punishable by death because most Minnesotans and most Americans live in denial of shariah law and its implications. Well, the Inver Grove Heights campus shares a building with the Minnesota chapter of the Mulim American Society.
During her tenure, [Edwards] says in an affidavit, she saw “no real distinction” between the operations of TiZA and the Muslim American Society, with which the school shares a building. For years, “I watched [school officials] lash out in order to control those around them, and to retaliate against anyone who spoke poorly of the school, or otherwise challenged their authority.” According to her affidavit, Zaman suggested that “we could just kill you” after becoming upset when she “challeng[ed] his authority.”
In case you’re wondering, the Muslim American Society is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, with offices all over the world. We have trouble brewing in Minnesota, which really isn’t a surprise to me. We have exported our own Somali citizens back to Somalia to engage in the local jihad activities there. One can only imagine what sort of teaching is going on in between math and reading. The school’s website seems innocuous enough; here is an excerpt:
The mission of the Tarek Ibn Ziyad Academy is to contribute to building a diverse, virtuous and moral America by helping children to understand their stewardship role in the world, embedding in them a sense of care, responsibility, love, tolerance and cooperation. Strengthened by these virtues, our students will be prepared to participate actively in civic life and take leadership roles in their communities. In addition, the Academy aims to help students integrate into American society, while retaining their identity. [emphasis added]
And then there’s this interesting tidbit:
As an inspiration to our students, we have named our school after Tarek Ibn Ziyad, the Ummayad administrator of medieval Spain. Thirteen hundred years ago, serving in the multifaceted roles of activist, leader, explorer, teacher, administrator and peacemaker, he inspired his fellow citizens to the same striving for human greatness that we hope to instill in our students today.
This is from the conquerer’s perspective. In reality, he wasn’t much of an explorer or administrator; he was an invader from the Dar al-Islam bent on the conquest of Christian Europe. According to an entry in WickedPedia, the invading armly landed in Gibraltar, burned the ships, and heard a speech from the namesake (legendary, of course, but chilling):
Oh my warriors, whither would you flee? Behind you is the sea, before you, the enemy. You have left now only the hope of your courage and your constancy. Remember that in this country you are more unfortunate than the orphan seated at the table of the avaricious master. Your enemy is before you, protected by an innumerable army; he has men in abundance, but you, as your only aid, have your own swords, and, as your only chance for life, such chance as you can snatch from the hands of your enemy. If the absolute want to which you are reduced is prolonged ever so little, if you delay to seize immediate success, your good fortune will vanish, and your enemies, whom your very presence has filled with fear, will take courage. Put far from you the disgrace from which you flee in dreams, and attack this monarch who has left his strongly fortified city to meet you. Here is a splendid opportunity to defeat him, if you will consent to expose yourselves freely to death. Do not believe that I desire to incite you to face dangers which I shall refuse to share with you. In the attack I myself will be in the fore, where the chance of life is always least.
Remember that if you suffer a few moments in patience, you will afterward enjoy supreme delight. Do not imagine that your fate can be separated from mine, and rest assured that if you fall, I shall perish with you, or avenge you. You have heard that in this country there are a large number of ravishingly beautiful Greek maidens, their graceful forms are draped in sumptuous gowns on which gleam pearls, coral, and purest gold, and they live in the palaces of royal kings. The Commander of True Believers, Alwalid, son of Abdalmelik, has chosen you for this attack from among all his Arab warriors; and he promises that you shall become his comrades and shall hold the rank of kings in this country. Such is his confidence in your intrepidity. The one fruit which he desires to obtain from your bravery is that the word of God shall be exalted in this country, and that the true religion shall be established here. The spoils will belong to yourselves.
Remember that I place myself in the front of this glorious charge which I exhort you to make. At the moment when the two armies meet hand to hand, you will see me, never doubt it, seeking out this Roderick, tyrant of his people, challenging him to combat, if God is willing. If I perish after this, I will have had at least the satisfaction of delivering you, and you will easily find among you an experienced hero, to whom you can confidently give the task of directing you. But should I fall before I reach to Roderick, redouble your ardor, force yourselves to the attack and achieve the conquest of this country, in depriving him of life. With him dead, his soldiers will no longer defy you.
These certainly aren’t the words of a peaceful administrator. This “explorer” was successful in his conquering of the Iberian Peninsula in AD 711. The Moorish advance was only stopped at the Battle of Poitiers in 732 at the hands of Charles Martel (the “Hammer” - how cool is that?) in central France and the Moors weren’t finally removed from the Iberian Peninsula until 1492 from the same point which they entered. One must be forced to wonder if the Tarek Ibn Ziyad Academy has established itself in the Minnesota version of Gibraltar and will advance here in the same way.