The WaPo on ISA? Delusional!
The Washington Post has finally chimed in on the proposed expansion of Islamic Saudi Academy in rural Fairfax County, Virginia. And, judging by the things that the Post has chosen to focus on, I can say with confidence that they are as clueless as ever:
The Islamic Saudi Academy has asked the county for permission to build a state-of-the-art building on one of its two campuses, a 34-acre property near Fairfax City. The increased capacity could draw as many as 200 additional students to the 750-student campus each day, which has sparked concern among neighbors.
What's left out? The fact that the "state-of-the-art building" is to be built on conserved land. Have any of you homeowners here in Fairfax County (or abroad) tried building on land that the Government tells you is environmentally protected?
And are any of you living under the illusion that you could build a 111,000 square foot monstrosity without any amount of government interference?
That's what ISA's doing, and the County is not concerned at all. Why is that not worthy of discussion?
The school, which serves pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students, is funded by the Saudi Arabia Embassy. Students learn Arabic and religion along with general subjects including math, English and social studies. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the school has been the subject of intense scrutiny, in part because of unfounded anti-Arab suspicions but also because of course material that troubled some elected leaders.
Unfounded anti-Arab suspicions? Like, perhaps, the fact that graduates of the school have gone on to fight the Jihad against us?
The Washington Post obviously sees nothing to be concerned about there, since they bury reference to the school's graduates way down in paragraph 9. (Pop quiz: If this were a Christian school who graduated an abortion-clinic bomber, does anyone here doubt that it would be mentioned in the lede?)
School officials, who say they do not teach hate or intolerance, have since adjusted the course materials. Lynne J. Strobel, an attorney for the school, said at Wednesday's hearing that the matter before the county is strictly an issue of land use. And in connection with the transportation and environmental concerns, she said, the school "has tried very hard . . . to make sure we carefully examine all the issues associated with this proposal."
Part of the proposed expansion, as it was pitched to the Planning Commission, involved ensuring that the school offers increased busing to all students, to reduce the amount of traffic brought by adding 900 additional students to the rural road.
Yet, in testimony given to the board, one Arab grandmother openly admitted that her grandchildren would not be riding the bus to school.
The Post, for some odd reason, doesn't feel that inconsistencies like that are worthy of a mention.
"The Islamic Saudi Academy's purpose is to train young and innocent Muslim children to hate and wage war into the future against our children," James Lafferty, a spokesman for the Traditional Values Coalition, a church lobbying group, said during the hearing.
His remarks prompted heckles and boos from teachers, parents and other supporters of the school.
... Which the Commission did nothing to stop.
"Don't you sometimes have people who get in trouble with the law who graduate from school who go to churches?" asked Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in an interview. "It is guilt by association, and I hope the commissioners will see that this is pure hate propaganda and driven by a political agenda."
The Washington Post continues to use un-indicted terror co-conspirators as trustworthy sources of information?
Residents who opposed the plan on the basis of the possible impact on the neighborhood said they felt their concerns were drowned out during the tense meeting.
DARNED TOOTIN' they were. What the Washington Post fails to tell you is that residents feel this way because the Planning Commission completely ignored their testimony, combined with the fact that they were up speaking against an effort supported by a rather vocal crowd of over 200 people in the audience.
The school wants to consolidate some of its activities on its Fairfax City area campus and might abandon its campus off Route 1 in the Mount Vernon area, which they lease from the county. They plan to erect a 100,000-square-foot building on the Fairfax campus, which requires county approval.
A sweetheart rental deal that the Washington Post has never put out to investigate. (Hint: The County's lease of that building was only intended to last for 5 years.)
Wonder why?
"If this was a Christian school, I guarantee this wouldn't be happening," said Sana Bakir, whose daughter is in eighth grade at the academy.
Yup, Ms. Bakir is obviously right. Christian schools would never have made it this far in the process.
I've got a request in with Channel 16 to provide an archived copy of the video for anyone who wants to see this circus for themselves. I am also trying to get in touch with school leadership at Fairfax Christian School, who used to own the land that ISA is trying to expand. Judging by the articles I've seen in the Post's archives on LexisNexis, there's a good chance that FCS has quite a lot to tell about how "well" Fairfax County treats Christian schools.
Stay tuned, y'all!
"unindicted co-conspirators" is another way of saying innocent. you can indict pretty much anyone in this country. as they said in law school, a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich. if they don't have enough for an indictment, that means they have nothing. as we also learned in law school "unindicted co-conspirator" is a shorthand for smearing innocent people by making it sound like they're criminals.
