Posted on 05/05/2014 12:45:57 PM PDT by BenLurkin
RIALTO (CBSLA.com) — School district officials in Rialto have received death threats in connection to a class assignment instructing students to debate the veracity of the Holocaust, according to reports Monday.
Rialto Unified School District officials first responded last week to reports of the assignment, which asked students to compose a written debate over whether the Holocaust was “merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain,” according to the San Bernardino Sun.
The district initially defended the eighth-grade assignment – which was one part of an 18-piece essay – as an exercise to help students “evaluate the quality of evidence made by advocates or opponents of an issue,” The Sun reported.
Rialto Police Captain Randy De Anda told KCAL 9′s Tom Wait the school district’s interim superintendent, Mohammed Z. Islam, received death threats in connection with the assignment. A district spokesperson was also threatened, De Anda said.
Officers were seen Monday standing guard outside district headquarters in response to the reported threats.
“We do not know who the suspect is at this time,” De Anda said. “However we do have some leads to follow up on.”
District officials – who say they have not received any complaints from parents about the project – are now revising the assignment, admitting it was a mistake, Wait reported.
“We are striking the sentence that claims, ‘Did the Holocaust occur?’ Absolutely the Holocaust occurred,” Rialto District spokesperson Syeda Jafri. “It was an error and we have to correct it,” Jafri added.
The United Nations passed a 2007 resolution that condemns any denial of the Holocaust – which killed roughly 6 million Jews during World War II – and urges all member nations to “unreservedly” reject any denial of the Holocaust.
superintendent, Mohammed Z. Islam, received death threats in connection with the assignment.
I’m Shocked...shocked I tell you!
1. I have no problem with this debate as an intellectual exercise for sufficiently intelligent students.
2. So long as it considers actual historical evidence and doesn’t have an agenda.
3. Bless my hardened little heart but for some reason I suspect Mr. Islam of having an agenda, and;
4. Mr. Islam is projecting. He hasn’t received death threats, but he might be familiar with them.
Do you suppose they will put pork back on the lunch menu and take down the picture of the Blind Sheik or is that just asking too much?
I’d be surprised if these kids could name the president during ww2.
This is a great assignment. Make these kids study this. Who cares if half of them think it was a fake. At least they would be talking about it.
The stupidity of people never cease to amaze me. What did they think they were getting with someone named Islam... never mind look at what our country go when all the morons voted for someone named Obama.
what kind of insane “education” are parents subjecting their children to in California?! My Lord! Any teacher who does this to our kids should be run up on child abuse charges, pronto!
I hope this "interim" job tenure is pretty short. What were they thinking of? What are this guy's qualifications to run a school in America? Or even in California?
Except that it is a historical fact. The last thing we need to do is to teach kids to debate things that have been established. It reeks of 1984.
“Did World War 2 even happen?”.
I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a class project to debate whether the Prophet (Pigs belch upon him)was or was not a child rapist.
I found his website here. Apparently he was director of Business Services in the school district:
Yes, it is an historical fact. And there are people out there who deny it. Just as there are people who believe that FDR knew the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor and that we dropped the Bomb on Japan because we wanted to intimidate the USSR. Don’t forget the people who believe that mankind is responsible for “Climate change.” It’s the whole notion of “there’s a consensus” and “this is settled” that is dangerous.
It never hurts to re-evaluate the historical evidence. In so doing, it leads to a greater understanding and fresh appreciation. The memory of the Holocaust should never be forgotten. I for one would welcome the debate because it will give an entirely new generation the tools they need to confront and rebut the Holocaust deniers. As well as every other kook fringe group out there. No matter how much we know, there is always more to discover.
If students are encouraged to objectively look at the record, they will be filled with an appreciation of the Holocaust, and disgust with those who perpetrated it then and those who attempt to cover it up today.
In other words, I don’t want to tell kids what to think so much as I want to teach them how to think for themselves.
You mean World War Eleven?
You can’t compare actual events that could be photographed, for example, with suppositions of a person’s intent, which are brain activity.
There’s is a difference between “How did this happen?” and “Did this happen?”. The latter implies that it did not occur. The Muslims tie the state of Israel to the Holocaust. If the Holocaust never happened, Israel can be dismantled.
It sounds suspiciously like Hillary going to Treblinka and asking “What difference does it make?”.
It is historically very important that Germany tried to eradicate the Jews. The reasons and methodology are very crucial to the future. Why the Jews? Why the gypsies?
It’s possible to kill 6 million jews in 4 years but
we cant deport 40 million illegal aliens in 10.
Remember, the jews that came to America were fleeing
persecution not communism. Some wonder why some of these
jews don’t support Israel but will support a socialist
like Obama. That would be because they are died in the wool
dirtbag commies.
Makes me wonder how much money Mohammed Z. Islam is taking in — both from US taxpayers and foreign sources.
Suffice to say I would approach teaching this topic, and handling the debate, much more differently than Mohammed Z. Islam.
I think we should ask the kids “Islamic states surrounding Israel espouse the belief that the Holocaust never happened. Do they have a valid reason to hold that belief?” And let them go from there.
I was a coach for our local high school’s “We the People” Constitutional Law team that just finished in the top 5 in national competition. They are bright kids. Given the opportunity to find the truth, I trust they will do so.
If I don’t have that trust, then there is no hope for the future anyway.
If a student says “yes”, you have a huge problem.
There is no point having a Constitutional Law team if the US Constitution never existed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.