Posted on 05/28/2004 10:26:52 AM PDT by NYer
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) _ Atlantic City has become the fourth school district in New Jersey to recognize Muslim holidays.
The city's board of education approved districtwide days off for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, two sacred Islamic holidays, for the upcoming school year. Previously, under state law Muslim students and teachers were allowed to take off Islamic holidays without being penalized.
According to Superintendent Fredrick P. Nickles, about 560 of the city's 7,800 children are Muslim. Board member Cornell Davis, who is Muslim, called the decision ``courageous'' in light of current tensions between Americans and Islamic extremists. ``It shows a lot of character about us as Americans,'' Davis told The Press of Atlantic City.
Eid al-Fitr, a festival celebrating the breaking of the fast of Ramadan, will be observed on Nov. 15. Eid al-Adha, a festival of sacrifice and pilgrimage, will be observed on Jan. 21.
To fit the two holidays into the school calendar, officials reduced the number of days schools can take off for emergencies from six to four. That means if schools close for snow or other emergencies more than four days, the days would have to be made up during spring recess or on Saturdays in June, Nickles said.
School districts in Trenton, Paterson and Irvington already recognize Islamic holidays.
AP-ES-05-28-04 1312EDT
The camel is comfortably inside the tent, defecating at will.
Holy Hajj, Batman!
what has happened up there in my protracted absence that has caused such lunacy?
Why not simply take off the Jewish ones as well? The Old Testament is part of the Christian Bible, is it not?
Isn't that special, after all we already celebrate Ramadan at the "Peoples House". So now can we call the Christmas break the Christmas break? I suppose we will end up having to celebrate 9-11 as a great Islamic holiday.
redoglum, Christmas is not a religious holiday; it's a secular holiday. Maybe some freepers can tell us why secular rather than religious. Rush brought this up a few months ago.
" Eid al-Fitr, a festival celebrating the breaking of the fast of Ramadan, will be observed on Nov. 15. Eid al-Adha, a festival of sacrifice and pilgrimage, will be observed on Jan. 21.
To fit the two holidays into the school calendar, .."
Just what are they calling the holidays on the school calendar? If they state they are Moslem holidays, that is a clear violation. Not only that, but if they attempt to teach what the holidays are, that also is a violation. And don't tell me it is a cultural thing.
Meanwhile, the Christmas Holiday has been bannished and supplanted with the "Winter Holiday", or the "Holiday Season" vacation, in every public school in America. You cannot even make the allusion of this December 25th holiday as being the "Christmas" holiday without recrimination from school officials or legal action being taken against you. Welcome to hedonist America, where God has been replaced by gods and pleasures.
Yes and no. It is a "secular" holiday in the US, but the name "Christmas" means Christ's mass. It has become secular, but the name is not. That is why I asked if they celebrated "winter holiday or solstice".
Isn't that the truth? How can schools allow this when Christmas and Easter are some other kind of holiday and when people can not even say, "Merry Christmas"? I forgot, Christian holidays are bad for the children.
not character, just stupidity
You might call it 'spanish' as well.
I was referring more to France and the Low Countries, where they've practically rolled out the red carpet for Muslim immigrants, almost to the point where it's too late to reverse course. That combined with their low birthrates is putting them in a headlong plunge toward Islamization. Not that America appears too far behind at times.
even in Barcelona (considered very left by Spanish standards) cops always have and continue to check papers based on a skin color basis (even with socialists in power). and after the Madrid bombings, "North African looking" males were stopped at train stations and on subways...(note) NOT Spanish grandmothers.
Thanks, that's quite interesting indeed.
Let's see. What is wrong with this picture? I want to know how this district handles Christian and Jewish religious holidays.
By the way, I'm not defending the Muslims. If they all left our country in the next nanosecond, it wouldn't be soon enough for me.
While we're on that tack, I'm forced to wonder exactly how "religious" this Eid al-Fitr holiday is. According to the article, it's the celebration of the "the breaking of the fast of Ramadan" - that is, the end of Ramadan, when they get to eat again. Sounds to me like they're celebrating the relief from a religious observance, not the religious observance itself.
Inquest, you brought up an excellent point. I agree with you.
As a New Yorker who depends on alternate-side parking, I wish NYC would recognize all Muslim holidays, as well as those for Hindu, Shinto, Scientology, Raelian and Hale-Bopp. The more suspension the merrier!
As long as they also get off Yom Kippur, Earth Day, Stalin's birthday, Sivaratri, and Mardi Gras, I'm Okay with it. (not....)
Winter (not Christmas) vacation, institute days, teacher training days, etc. I'd assume that's what they're doing here. I don't know about NJ, but in Illinois many schools schedule institute days on Jewish holidays since some state aid to school districts is based on attendance days. Scheduling a school day when you know you'll have a extra 10% absence rate can be costly.
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