Intifada NYC

Those Che Guevara t-shirts are such popular items, why not some harmless "Intifada NYC" shirts to help raise awareness?

Activists with ties to the principal of the city's controversial new Arabic-themed school are hawking T- shirts that glorify Palestinian terror, The Post has learned.

The inflammatory tees boldly declare "Intifada NYC" - apparently a call for a Gaza-style uprising in the Big Apple.

The organization selling the shirts, Arab Women Active in Art and Media, shares office space on Brooklyn's Third Avenue with the Saba Association of American Yemenis.

Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser, principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy - which is scheduled to open in Brooklyn next month - is a board member and spokeswoman for Saba.

Members of AWAAM refused to comment.

But Almontaser downplayed the significance of the T-shirts.

"The word [intifada] basically means 'shaking off.' That is the root word if you look it up in Arabic," she said.

"I understand it is developing a nega tive connotation due to the uprising in the Palestinian-Israeli areas. I don't be lieve the intention is to have any of that kind of [violence] in New York City.

"I think it's pretty much an opportunity for girls to express that they are part of New York City society . . . and shaking off oppression."

If they want to "shake off oppression," why are they going to attend an Arabic academy? After all, women are oppressed under Islam. So how about some "Renounce Islam" t-shirts?

AWAAM's co-founders, Rama Kased and Mona Eldahry, are also active in the more militant pro-Palestinian group, al-Awda, whose main U.S. office is in California.

That organization, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is an active supporter of the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

"The T-shirt is a reflection of a movement that increasingly lauds violence against Israelis instead of rejecting it. That is disturbing," said Oren Segal, a spokesman for the ADL.

Almontaser, a community activist and Muslim, has said the new grade 6-12 public school will be modeled on other dual-language city schools and have no religious component.

Sure.

As it so happens, Ms. Almontaser has some interesting connections, including one Linda Sarsour.

Linda Sarsour is the director of the Arab American Association of New York. In 2005 she organised the Arab American Heritage festival together with her friend Dhabah aka Debbie Almontaser, the principal designate of The Khalil Gibran International Academy. In a 2004 article Sarsour revealed that Arab men pictured in an Arab newspaper recruiting suicide bombers for martyrdom were relatives and friends - one of them was her brother in law who is serving a 12 year sentence for his involvement with Hamas. Sarsour's husband is facing deportation and she was "questioned by US authorities". One reason could be that her husband together with his brother and Sarsour's cousin, may have been involved in Hamas activities as well. He comes from El Bireh and his name was given as Maher Judh" in the article below. Note that Sarsour too "was questioned by US authorities".

Daniel Pipes has A Madrassa Grows in Brooklyn.

Arabs or Muslims, Ms. Almontaser says, are innocent of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: "I don't recognize the people who committed the attacks as either Arabs or Muslims." Instead, she blames September 11 on Washington's foreign policies, saying they "can have been triggered by the way the USA breaks its promises with countries across the world, especially in the Middle East, and the fact that it has not been a fair mediator."

At a community meeting with the New York Police Department commissioner, she berated the NYPD for using "FBI tactics" when informants were used to prevent a subway bombing, thereby polarizing the Muslim community. For Ms. Almontaser, it appears, preventing terrorism counts less than soothing Muslim sensibilities.

Rewarding these views, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a foreign-funded front organization, in 2005 bestowed an honor on Ms. Almontaser for her "numerous contributions" to the protection of civil liberties.

More on Almontaser here.

“President Bush is trying to destroy the United States that I love and of which I am a result. He has abandoned our forefather's ideals of a society of freedom; democracy and pluralism build by immigrants. He is a nightmare."

“We are in favor of combating terror, but that cannot be done by violating fundamental human rights, says Debbie Almontaser (37). - After the terror attacks last year our government has put aside our civil rights and it is particularly Muslim, Arab-American and South Asian families that suffer under this."

UPDATE: Bryan at Hot Air links. Michelle Malkin and Gateway Pundit also link. Also check out the video at One Jerusalem.