There’s Something Fishy about KGIA “Advisory Board”

Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Klein:

Shut Down KGIA Now!

Citizens for American Values in Public Education and Stop the Madrassa are again demanding answers from Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein about the presence of a radical imam on the Khalil Gibran International Academy’s Advisory Board. First, we are asking why the KGIA even has an Advisory Board – what other public school do you know of that has one – a PTA, yes, but an Advisory Board?

Second, we want to know why one Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid is sitting on that board. Imam Abdur-Rashid became Imam of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem in 1989. The mosque’s website displays the slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization: “Allah is our goal, The Prophet Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah is our leader, The Qu’ran is our constitution, Jihad is our way, And death in the way of Allah is our promised end.” [https://stopthemadrassa.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/a-brief-history-of-the-mosque-of-islamic-brotherhood.pdf]

Imam Abdur-Rashid is also a prison chaplain to Muslims incarcerated in New York City and New York State prisons. Maybe that’s fine, but someone had better look into it because FBI and Bureau of Prisons analysis shows that “radicalization and recruitment in U.S. prisons is still an ongoing concern. Prison radicalization primarily occurs through anti-U.S. sermons provided by contract, volunteer, or staff imams, radicalized inmates who gain religious influence, and extremist media.” [http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress06/vanduyn091906.htm%5D

Another interesting tidbit about KGIA’s Advisory Board Imam:

Prior to joining the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, Abdul-Rashid created a Muslim Boy Scout Troop affiliated with the mosque.

According to Front Page Magazine. “…What would seem to be a wholesome American pastime, when combined with Radical Islam, could be a recipe for disaster. Unlike most Boy Scouts, MIB’s troop wore patches containing the Sword of Islam, a symbol of armed might. In time, the children got older, and MIB Boy Scout Troop 357 became Sea Explorer Ship 357, utilizing the SUNY Maritime Campus at Fort Schyler for meeting and training. This history is chronicled on the mosque’s website. Along with this are shown a series of pictures. Some are obviously old, photographed in black and white. However, some are in color and more recent. It’s the latter pictures that are disturbing, as a few of them portray older youths and adults in combat fatigues.”

One cannot help but wonder whether or not we soon will see KGIA students in combat fatigues emblazoned with patches picturing the sword of Islam…

Finally, it may interest the reader to review the list of members of the Advisory Board of a school that is supposed to be a secular public school:  Rev. Dr. Daniel Meeter, Old First Reformed Church;  Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts, Abyssinian Baptist Church; Rev. Dr. Charles H. Straut Jr., The Riverside Church; Rev. Khader N. El-Yateem, Salem Arabic Lutheran Church; Rabbi Andy Backman, Congregation Beth Elohim; Rabbi Melissa Weintraub, Rabbis for Human Rights; Rabbi Micah Kelber, The Bay Ridge Jewish Center; Lisel Burns, Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture; Imam Talib Abdul-Rashid, Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, Harlem; Imam Shamsi Ali, 96th St. Mosque,  Manhattan;  and Imam Khalid Latif, Chaplain, NYPD.

Citizens for American Values and Stop the Madrassa once again challenge Mayor Bloomberg, the City of New York and Department of Education to provide an immediate and public explanation as to why a person with such an extreme radical background, who attempts to undermine basic American beliefs and traditions, has been sitting on the “Advisory Board” of an American public school.

Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein, why is there so much stonewalling and secrecy about this particular school?

Mr. Mayor, who is teaching at KGIA, who will the new principal be, who is being invited speak to the students on school grounds, what textbooks will be used, and which impartial monitors will be allowed to find out what is going on in that taxpayer funded school?