New York – An army of self-proclaimed “experts” from neo-conservative think tanks have hyped the dangers of Islamic radicalization, seeing Muslim or pro-Arab radicals everywhere they look, and targeting academic freedom in the name of patriotism and the “War on Terror.” FBI and Arab and Muslim community reports show hate crimes increase in relation to such media provocations as well as reports of real terror attacks.
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But with Jeffery Wiesenfeld on the CUNY Board of Trustees, CUNY seems to be providing sanctuary for yet another opponent of multicultural education who seems unafraid to make inflammatory statements against certain minority groups to achieve his radical ends.
In his first confirmation hearing for CUNY Board, State Senator Daniel Hevesi questioned Wiesenfeld sharply about these reports, including allegations from Community Advocate Isaac Abraham that he had called blacks “savages.” As Hevesi remarked, “I don’t know what to believe, but if someone calls blacks ‘savages’ they have no business being on the CUNY Board of Trustees.”
Even though Hevesi went on to say, “I know this nominee does not have the character to sit on the CUNY Board.
Most recently, Wiesenfeld has been in the forefront of the attack on academic freedom in 2007. As New York Board Chair of the Stop the Madrassa Coalition, he has joined a group that has repeated baseless charges that a new dual language Arabic English public school, the Kahlil Gibran International Academy, would inevitably become a haven for terrorists and was already a radical “Madrassa” religious school. None of the coalition’s allegations against the school or against the Principal were or are grounded in fact. Nor were the numerous articles in the New York Post or the New York Sun, which linked them to its main web page.
Read extended article [advocate]
The real issue here is not whether or not Wiesenfeld is racist or unequivocally supports Israel, but the fact that he is a member of the “Stop the Madrassa Coalition,” which is a thinly veiled, largely racist anti-Muslim organization, which equates Muslim activism with terrorism. CUNY has one of the most ethnically diverse student bodies in the nation and provides educational opportunities to scores of Muslim immigrants and Muslim Americans born in the U.S. To have someone associated with The Stop the Madrassa Campaign sitting on the CUNY Board of Trustees is a slap in the face to all of those students. Likewise, Benno Schmidt, a private education advocate, has no right sitting on the board of a PUBLIC university. It is time that the members of the BOT actually represented the interests of the students, staff, and faculty of the university rather than the interests of politicians and paranoid-driven ideologues.
There is nothing new in this world. It is easy to blame the Jews; no one will punish you for it, and you might even get something that you want: a promotion, a bonus, a pat on the back. So, tell me Yiddish News, what did you get for this piece of spite? Do you feel more powerful because you copied something from the Advocate?But you have reason to be even prouder. Yesterday, CAIR also reprinted this article in their house organ. You know what CAIR is – it is funded in part by a Saudi prince. http://www.cair.com/Home.aspx; http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?mid1=676&&ArticleID=24143&&name=n&&currPage=1 Congratulations, you injected your little Yiddish voice into the choir of your enemies.Did you check the FBI report that shows the statistics on anti-Muslim hate crimes? I did. I found that the incidence of anti-Semitic crime is several times higher than that against Muslims. Did you check ‘the girls group’ site http://awaam.org/? Look in the upper right corner of the site. What do you see? Is it a microphone or a gun? The naïve girls, as they were once called, are experienced and active in the Arts and Media. They created t-shirts “Intifada NYC.” Ms. Almontaser, the resigned principal of the infamous Khalil Gibran International Academy never said at the beginning that she has no connection to AWAAM. That lie appeared later. You have to love her because she said about 9/11 “I don’t recognize the people who committed the attacks as either Arabs or Muslims.” I guess you agree with her.
That founding principal resigned from “her dream” in August, leaving the school without a curriculum. In August they did not have any textbooks!!! You know why? Because they did not need them. Almontaser had as one of their advisors Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, who teaches that “Jihad is our way and death in the way of Allah is our promised end” (http://www.mosqueofislamicbrotherhoodinc.org/aboutus.html).
There is another help. There is CIE http://www.cie.org/index.aspx. Do please a little home work and check how step by step they ruled teachers how to bring Islam in US public schools. They started in 1991. They did partly succeed. Because they have such supporters as Adem Carrol and you and some others who do not understand that tomorrow you will not have history of your country and a little bit later a whole country.
They did not come to the full succeed, because of Mr. Jeffrey Wiesenfeld and STM and Mr.Daniel Pipes and a lot of real citizens. They take care of your children and grandchildren and grand grandchildren. They do not care who is a republican or a democrat or “from the neo-conservative think tanks”. They have the courage to speak up the truth. The CUNY Board of Trustees can be proud to have Mr. Jeffrey Wiesenfeld as their member.
PERHAPS ISSAC ABRAHAM JOIN ROBERT KASIRER AND OTHER JEWIS RATS.HE CAN DO BETTER SELLING HARDWARE SUPPLIES. JEFF DOES NOT GET PAID FROM PUBLIC MONIES AND IS ALLWAYS THERE FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
Mr. Wiesenfeld is generally right on the money. The question is, does his forthrightness help us or hurt us? If it angers “moderates” to the point where any objection to Islamic fundamentalism becomes un-PC, then we’re in trouble. On the other hand, if it broadens the debate and allows more people to speak their minds, then he is, indeed, helpful.
Your ignorance of the issues surrounding the Khalil Gibran school is astonishing. The opponents of the school have, at least, valid concerns, given the identity of some of those who back the school. One example among many is Talib Abdur-Rahman, the Imam of a mosque in Harlem whose motto is identical to the motto of the Muslim Brotherhood. This Imam serves on the school’s “Advisory Board,” and he is one of the most vociferous of the school’s supporters. Instead of swallowing wholesale the trash that is put out about the school’s opponents, perhaps you should check the facts of what they say. Do you know what textbooks are being used at the school?… neither does anyone else. Given the dangers that face us, and the nature of those who want to obliterate us and substitute Sharia law for the Constitution, you might want to be a bit more skeptical about KGIA. After all, your head will probably be among the first to fall!
The article’s author is Adem Carroll, the Chair of the Muslim Consultive Network, linked to radical islamic organizations nationwide. Dhabah Almontaser, former slated Principal for KGIA, is also on the Board. Thank goodness there are CUNY Trustees that see through what is being done in the guise of multiculturalism; code for anti-American.
Hevasi obviously has an axe to grind as Wiesenfeld is most definitely not the kind of person to make a racist statement. What Carroll et al don’t like is that Wiesenfeld is loudly pro-Jewish and pro-Israel. Adem Carroll supports Palestinian Right to Return organizations; code for the annihilation of Israel. Now do you understand?
There’s no need for scare quotes around “experts” – they are indeed experts, and far from self-proclaimed. There’s no need to hype the dangers of Islamic radicalization, because there are indeed many Muslim and pro-Arab radicals in positions of influence, claiming “academic freedom” to cover their disgraceful lack of patriotism and the fact that they actually aren’t against the war on Islamist terror – they’re on the other side. Reports of “hate crimes” against Moslems almost invariably turn out to be hoaxes or unreasonably overblown, while hate crimes by Moslems remain a serious problem. I don’t know who this “Isaac Abraham” joker is, but he should sit down and shut up.
If people take the trouble to read the full article, they will see quite clearly that this is a malicious & biased article in The Advocate. Jeff Wisenfeld, with whom I have had dealings over a number of years in my work for the Klal, is not a racist. He IS very pro-Jewish! So what’s wrong with that?
Jeff Wiesenfeld is the kind of man who makes enemies easily. To be frank, I’m not a fan of his personality. We are definitely not friends! But he is an HONEST man, he sticks to his principles, & I respect him.
From my experience with him, Isaac Abraham seems to have no problem manipulating situations & stirring up things. I remember when he started to become involved outside WB, immediately after the Crown Heights riots. Until then, I had never heard of him (maybe he was an askan in WB before then; I don’t know.)
I have no idea why Mr. Abraham would say this about a fellow Yid to anyone, especially if the “victim” is in a position where he can do good. I remember that he & Jeff clashed in the past, but I don’t know if this is the reason. Maybe he didn’t say it as it was reported? Who knows why/what newspapers choose to write?
Meanwhile, we need more Jeff Wiesenfelds in office. He is not afraid to go to bat for his principles, even if he makes himself unpopular (something at which he definitely excells!)
I really hope he weathers this storm. And I hope you print this to go some way to setting the record straight.