'Welcome Fordson Class of 2012! Have You Embraced Islam?'

The report on how to improve Dearborn’s schools released last week by the Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI) focused its most serious criticisms on Fordson High School, specifically, its bad-tempered Principal, Imad Fadlallah.

To deflect attention from the troubled institution known locally as “Hezbollah High” and its spiritual leader, the Detroit News and the Dearborn Press & Guide both portrayed the report in a false light as nothing but a demand to banish Arabic from Dearborn schools.

As I wrote yesterday, none of the local coverage on the MLI report even mentions Fadlallah. But we did get to read comments from Imad Hamad explaining that the First Amendment protects the inalienable right of an immigrant from hearing anything at his local public school but his native language.

Unfortunately, anyone reading the MLI report for himself has to contend with its back-asswards style combining descriptions of serious problems with chipper language meant to say, “everybody’s doing their best!” and “we’re all winners here!”

For example, see how long it takes this writer to say “Imad Fadlallah has created a hellish workplace for his staff”:

The dynamics of Fordson are complicated at best. A significant number of the teaching staff, parents and students indicate a belief that the current Principal has the best interest of students at heart. Without question, he has many supporters who believe in and support the direction in which he has been taking the school. However, many of those staff who support the current Principal also point to areas where he needs to improve if he is to gain the support of the entire staff.

[BUT] For many staff, a culture of fear and uncertainty exists, and for them, we believe the work environment at Fordson has been in the recent past, and remains now, very hostile. . . .We believe that some staff has [sic] interpreted the Principal’s passion as anger—others do see this as a problem area or even a concern. [Emphasis added].

How's that for burying the lead? Rather than quote more of this unhelpful prose, I’ve tried to excavate the main problems the MLI report identifies:

--Fadlallah has created a culture of “fear and uncertainty,” and a “hostile” and “intimidating” work environment, for staff, students, and parents;

--There is distrust between various groups and individual staff members, divided along lines of their relationship with Fadlallah, so serious that “meaningful progress” will be “difficult at best”;

--Many Fordson support staff and administrators believe they’ve been treated by Fadlallah and his people “unfairly and/or unprofessionally”;

--If Fadlallah remains on as Principal, there are sure to be “additional complaints from staff” and, necessarily, “corresponding investigations of fact to be conducted”; [note use of plural];

--Fadlallah needs to be made to understand that his “former methods of ‘motivating’ staff” are unacceptable;

--Fadlallah needs a set of expectations imposed on him by the Superintendent—in writing—that he must follow; he also needs a coach—one not accountable to him;

--While everyone has seen improvements in Fadlallah’s behavior this year, credit for that goes solely to the presence of MSI monitors— everyone surveyed believes as soon as the monitors are gone, “the Principal will revert to prior behavioral approaches”;

--Fadlallah “needs to be seen in the hallways and classrooms more often” [except when he’s on Hezbollah missions in Southern Lebanon], and “[h]is appearance must be viewed as being supportive as opposed to being a threat” [exactly, just like when he’s on Hezbollah missions in Southern Lebanon].

--The “administration” (Fadlallah and his pets) also are seen by staff and students as employing blatant favoritism (“There is no room for special favors or exceptions!”);

--Fordson students routinely roam the halls during classtime, and security is so lax there’s no control over who comes into the building or leaves. This may be due, the report placidly suggests, to a “buddy” system between some students and security staff, a problem that "should be considered” because it “diminishes the possibility that the security staff can effectively assist with the control of the student population.” (Oh?).

Fadlallah was already in trouble last year for allegedly slapping a student, then applying "community" pressure to cover it up. Then there was the matter of his unlawful firing of wrestling coach Trey Hancock because of his Christianity ("Fordson Principal Pile Drives First Amendment"). Shortly after the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006 Fadlallah abandoned his post to go help out his cousin in south Lebanon inventory Hezbollah's remaining rocket supply. In July 2008 the anti-religious outfit Americans United of Michigan documented how:

Numerous church and state allegations against Fordson’s principal, Imad Fadlallah, came pouring into AU-Michigan’s office in May and June. The allegations: a sign placed in the school library reading “Have You Embraced Islam?”; the school’s policy of serving exclusively halal food in the cafeteria; allegations of unreasonable religious accommodations granted to Muslim students and staff; discrimination against non-Muslim staff and students; discrimination against non-Shia Muslims; and the questionable termination of Fordson’s long-time wrestling coach.

[NOTE: The "Have You Embraced Islam?" poster was reportedly displayed prominently in the media center in Dearborn High as well.]

What are the chances that Fadlallah, no matter how bad a principal he is and how many civil rights and other laws he violates, remains on the job because the Dearborn School Board is terrified of crossing the Muslim community? And that Fadlallah sees his mission as ridding Fordson High School from the filthy influence of the infidels? (The report notes the "many of the traditions of the past have been discontinued (i.e. pep assemblies, honors recognitions programs, etc.)" ). And that the Muslim community already considers Fordson High an inalienable part of the Ummah?

As a case in point, consider the Victim Triumphant tone that the Arab American News used last summer reporting how Fadlallah was supposedly "found innocent" at a school board meeting of the charge that he'd slapped that student:

But there is a larger issue involved here and that is no less than the future of Fordson. The student who was the focus of the allegation never stated that he was slapped but did say that he was pressured by staff members to make the claim. And from the passionate testimonies of parents and students who showed up at the meeting in the hundreds to support Fadlallah, it became clear that an evangelistic effort is underway at Fordson, pitting a few of the staff and an outside group against the 90% Arab and Muslim student population.
("The fight for freedom at Fordson").

What is it exacty Fordson's 90% Muslim population needs to be "freed" from? And isn't someone attacking Islam all it takes to justify jihad?

Your Local Press Lied About a Ban on Arabic in Schools

Leave it to our local newspapers to camouflage the whole point of a Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI) report released last week discussing ways to improve performance in Dearborn’s high schools. The real bombshell at the heart of the MLI report is that Fordson High School Principal Imad Fadlallah uses anger and intimidation to beat down his staff, his performance is seriously subpar, and Fordson has problems with security and indiscipline comparable to a dysfunctional inner-city high school.

Instead, hoping to throw Dearborn residents off the scent, Tanveer Ali at The Detroit News chose to spin it that the key proposal was for Dearborn schools to “ban Arabic.” (“Dearborn schools urged to ban Arabic”).

A recommendation to bar Arabic speech in the city's most heavily Arab public high school unless it is absolutely necessary has sparked a sharp debate between those who say it's necessary to help students perform better and those who say it only helps alienate them.

Surprisingly, in spite of all the detail the report goes into about the unnamed Principal at Fordson High, none of the local stories (two in the Detroit News, and one in the Dearborn Press & Guide), ever mentions Fadlallah. Ali wanted to create a kerfuffle over a nonexistent ban on Arabic, which of course became a rumour that DPS was discontinuing bilingual classes for many of Dearborn’s Arab-only-speaking pupils.

And lo!, the power of the press. Two days later, flush with success, Ali was able to write the following lead:

Stung by a report recommending that English only be used at one of the district's most heavily Arab high schools, administrators fielded phone calls all day Thursday from community members worried about a ban. (“Dearborn schools to remain bilingual”).

Any chance that getting “stung” might help chill the enthusiasm of wishy-washy administrators for implementing the report’s real recommendations about Fadlallah?

You may be interested to learn that the MLI report, which is 44-pages long, contains exactly one short paragraph mentioning the use of Arabic (or actually, English) at Fordson:

Prohibit the use of any language other than English within the school. (Except as required when dealing with parents or students who are not proficient in the English Language) [sic] This should include commencement addresses. To do otherwise reinforces a perception of some that Fordson is an Arab school in America rather than an American school with Arab students.

That’s it. Hardly a ban on speaking Arabic. Otherwise would there be that two-mile wide loophole about Arabic being okay when talking to parents or kids who aren’t English proficient?

Obviously this recommendation is aimed at staff and teachers urging they stick to English “except as required.” Ali falsely paraphrased this to demand a “bar [to] Arabic speech. . . unless it is absolutely necessary.” And was there a problem at staff level to justify this recommendation?

Yes. Kevin Harris, president of the Dearborn Federation of Teachers and a former economics teacher at Fordson, confirms something like this was the case. "The report's concern is that there's an overuse of the native tongue when there didn't really need to be," Harris said. When English speakers choose to communicate in Arabic he said, "It does make me suspicious and I think it's rude for them to do this. If situations were reversed, how would you feel? I don't think they get that."

The section also mentions sticking to English in “commencement addresses.” I had no idea commencement addresses at Fordson High School were being delivered in Arabic. Do Fordson school officials really need to be told this isn’t a good idea? How, for instance, can ACLU monitors know the commencement speakers aren't quoting from the Koran, or worse, know when to kill the mike if someone mentions their Lord and Savior, Jesus?! Arabic speakers get saved, too!

(I wish I could entice more Dearborn public school people and parents to send us at DU their reports about what goes on. I'm too old to pass for high school and it all sounds so interesting!)

Lastly, this short paragraph in the MLI, (which I repeat, is only a minor detour from the report’s real subject: Fadlallah), warns of “a perception. . .that Fordson is an Arab school in America rather than an American school with Arab students.”

That perception isn’t imaginary. Recently Gregg Krupa, Detroit News Muslim Affairs Correspondent, (so a guy well Down with the Community), described Fordson as a “predominantly Muslim school.” Need I ask you to imagine how fast any ACLU Commissar would denounce a mom at a Canton or Brownstown PTA meeting who accidentally described her child’s local elementary as a “predominantly Christian school”?

These articles were designed to kill the report’s findings about Fadlallah in the press, and they worked.

Imad Hamad was standing by to warn us all that speaking Arabic in a Midwestern high school is a guarantee of the First Amendment. (“Limit use of Arabic at high schools”). Four days after Ali wrote his first piece, the Press & Guide’s Jason Carmel Davis repeated almost word-for-word Ali’s “unless absolutely necessary” misstatement:

So what prompted the Michigan Leadership Institute (MLI) in a 48-page report detailing several aspects of the Dearborn Public School District's (DPS) three public high schools to single out Fordson in a recommendation to prohibit all non-English language use unless absolutely necessary to communicate with parents or students?

Three articles. Not one anywhere mentions the word, “Fadlallah.” More on the substance of this report later.

Fordson Principal Pile Drives the First Amendment

“DEARBORN -- A veteran wrestling coach at Fordson High School lost his job amid concerns that his one-time assistant, who is a local minister and parent of a wrestler, attempts to convert local Muslim youths to Christianity.” (“Fordson High coach let go after parent tried to convert Muslims”).

Discussion questions:

(1.) In what year did the practice of personal evangelism by American Christians toward nonChristians lose its protection under the First Amendment?

(2.) In what year did the United States adopt as our public policy that public school personnel are subject to termination for extra-curricular associations with evangelistic Christians?

Let’s get one thing straight: the fired coach, Jerry Marszalek, was not fired for using his public-school coaching job to try to convert Muslims. He was fired because he was friends with a local minister who sees his mission as winning all people to Christianity. And Fordson’s Islamic principal, Imad Fadlallah, and the Muslim parents at Fordson, (also know, with very good reason, as “Hezbollah High,” ), simply don’t like that.

Is this such a big deal?

Then try to imagine you’re the employee. I mean, I happen to be friends with a local minister or two, and many lay Christians, who are extremely zealous, and vocal, about trying to win people to Christ--and they wouldn’t make exceptions about talking to Muslims. Does that mean that someday soon we'll be reading the headline, “Hapless paper-pusher let go after pal tried to convert Muslims”?

Well, you say, that may be, Clancy, but you don’t let your friends come in an evangelize your workplace, do you? No I don't, and neither did Marszalek. Nor did the Christian pastor, Trey Hancock, who says he never spoke about the Lord while at the school or on school activities. (None of the stories offer any facts to the contrary).

That’s why the Detroit News headline, “Fordson High coach let go after parent tried to convert Muslims” while technically accurate, at a first glance is completely misleading. It comes across as if the coach was using practice time to browbeat his captive wrestlers into giving up their 72 virgins in exchange for a starry crown.

But that’s nowhere near what happened. What really happened is that Fadlallah hated Hancock because he talked to Muslim kids about Jesus Christ--(and not even during school activities, and not on school grounds--but apparently where Allah could still see him). Fadlallah ordered Marszalek to fire Hancock as assistant coach, and then to ban him from all the wrestling matches, even though one of the team stars was Hancock’s own son. Marszalek did let Hancock go as coach--three years ago. (News reports actually say that Hancock baptized a Muslim kid three years ago, in 2005, and wasn’t even a Fordson student).

That Marszalek didn't do. So Fadlallah earlier this month told Marszalek “he was being let go because he had ignored his earlier directive to keep the pastor away from the team.” (“Coach's firing draws praise from Muslims”). Fadlallah didn’t want Hancock anywhere near Fordson’s Muslim wrestlers with his Jesus talk, because Sharia strictly forbids that.

The only thing wrong here is we Americans haven’t quite finished transferring over from the U.S. Constitution to Sharia. So while hundreds of Muslim parents at a board meeting may have praised Allah for Fadlallah’s act of jihad, the principal clearly violated both state and federal laws against discrimination based on religion.

It isn’t clear if Marszalek’s going to do anything about it legally, but I hope he does. Some people are trying to say Marszalek's contract didn't have to be renewed, and he was only an at-will employee. But at-will status still doesn't justify an illegal firing, which is what this is. Fadlallah told him he was letting him go for refusing to ban Hancock based on Hancock's Christianity.

If Marszalek doesn't take any legal action, this story won’t be around long, just like so many of the others. We’re too used to this kind of thing now.

Why do we accept this stuff as so matter-of-fact? Why are the news articles expressing shock at what Trey Hancock may have done, instead of what hundreds of Dearborn parents just did?

I think that ever since Desert Shield in 1991, when we first stationed a lot of American military personnel in the Middle East, we’ve been told and told again that we have to be careful of Muslim senisbilities. We had to get along with Saudis, Kuwaitis, Afghanis, and Iraqis, all Muslim nations completely unashamed of demanding we comply with their Islamic proscriptions of evangelism--no Bibles or even necklace crosses for US military guarding Saudi Arabia--and of course we went along with it.

Then there’ve been all those hundreds of hours watching Muslims riot around the globe because some Westerner insulted the Prophet or offended Islam. And nothing’s more insulting to the Prophet than converting a Muslim to Christianity! We Americans have been so conditioned to see applying Great Commission to Muslims as a religious crime we’re almost as offended when it happens as the imams are. (If you think I’m exaggerating, read this and notice the tone of shock: “Iraqis say Marines handed out Christian coins.” You’d think the Marine was handing children DVDs of the R. Kelly sex tape instead of telling these poor people that God loves them.)

It's become second nature to us that Muslims simply aren’t going to tolerate evangelism on their turf.

But even if that made any sense for us to feel that way, it still raises the whole question, is Fordson High School Muslim turf? Or is it a state-financed, Dearborn-taxpayer supported, American public school?

These news stories seem to take for granted that Fordson is indeed part of the Ummah. The Detroit News’s Muslim Affairs Correspondent, Gregg Krupa, describes Fordson High as “a predominantly Muslim school,” not even bothering with the distinction that Fordson is really a public school with a majority of students who are Muslim.

Still, if Fordson’s “predominantly Muslim” parents don’t want their impressionable kids exposed to Christianity, why not just let them fire their Christian staff out of deference to cultural sensitivity?

Well, it looks to me as if that’s what we’re doing.

But don’t forget that it’s still against the law to fire people in this country because you don’t like their religion. And we’ve been serious enough about that historically to reinforce that part of the Constitution by passing a Civil Rights Act banning religious discrimination in the workplace.

Not that those laws mean anything if no one’s going to see they’re enforced.