New Jersey School Apologizes For Describing ISIS As A Terrorist Group

A New Jersey middle school has apologized for a question, and its answer, that appeared on a quiz given to seventh-graders at Schuyler Colfax Middle School in Wayne, New Jersey. Students were asked to select one answer that went along with the description “It is a terrorist organization that commits acts of violence, destroys cultural artifacts, and encourages loss of life in order to achieve its goal of global rule under strict Islamic Sharia law.”

The correct response was the Islamic State, with other responses including Peru’s The Shining Path, al Qaeda, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Then all hell broke loose. A Muslim pressure group, Teaching While Muslim (TWM), was enraged at this question, and its answer, and said in a statement that the history quiz “wrongly implies that terrorism is a fundamental part of an ‘Islamic State,’ and has a ‘goal of achieving global rule under strict sharia law.’” More on this contretemps, and the school’s capitulation to TWM, can be found here:

A Muslim group urged its followers to “call and email everyone that you can” in response to the quiz prompt. The Islamic State, otherwise known as ISIS, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.

The group, “Teaching While Muslim” (TWM), criticized the quiz answer on social media, writing in an Instagram post on Wednesday, “We have seen anti Muslim & anti Palestinian sentiments, teachers, and content in our schools over and over again. But we must not allow it to continue. Call and email everyone that you can. This is NOT okay on a million levels. Go. And yes. This is real.” Included in the post were the hashtags “anti-Muslim racism” and “Islamophobia.”…

The quiz prompt in question asked seventh graders at Schuyler Colfax Middle School in Wayne, New Jersey, to select one answer that went along with the description, “It is a terrorist organization that commits acts of violence, destroys cultural artifacts, and encourages loss of life in order to achieve its goal of global rule under strict Islamic Sharia law.”

The correct response to the prompt was the Islamic State, with other responses including Peru’s The Shining Path, al Qaeda, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization. TWM added in a statement that the history quiz “wrongly implies that terrorism is a fundamental part of an ‘Islamic State,’ and has a ‘goal of achieving global rule under strict sharia law.’” The group said that this is “anti-Muslim hate” and “factually inaccurate.”…

There is no “indoctrinating to hate Muslims” in this question. Muslims as a group are nowhere mentioned. ISIS is simply to be identified, distinguished from other groups — the Shining Path, the PLO, Al Qaeda — in strict accordance with how the American government defines it.

The group added that the seventh grade teacher “must be held accountable for this misinformation,” and included a list of school staff to contact.

“Misinformation”? What is untrue about describing ISIS as “ a terrorist organization that commits acts of violence, destroys cultural artifacts, and encourages loss of life in order to achieve its goal of global rule under strict Islamic Sharia law”?

The group Wayne for Palestine posted the response from the school, which stated, “Yesterday a concern was brought to my attention in regard to a question that was included on an assessment in one of our classes. We immediately launched an investigation into this matter.”

“The question was offensive and contrary to values of respect, inclusivity, and cultural sensitivity that we foster at Schuyler. A priority is always to cultivate safe learning environments for all students regardless of background or belief.

“We apologize for this incident and understand the impact and deep concern.”

What a mealy-mouthed and sickening response from the school’s principal. What happens when those so-called “values of respect, inclusivity, and cultural sensitivity” make it impossible to teach the truth? Now we know. It is impermissible to suggest that ISIS is a terrorist group that “commits acts of violence, destroys cultural artifacts, and encourages loss of life in order to achieve its goal of global rule under strict Islamic Sharia law.” What is it then? How would Teaching While Muslim describe ISIS? In fact, the rage against, and capitulation by, this middle school in New Jersey is likely to serve as a warning to other teachers in other schools: do not discuss ISIS, or Al Qaeda, or Hamas in any terms that Muslims would object to. And Muslims will also draw their own conclusion: if we apply enough pressure — those angry phone calls, those furious emails from Teaching While Muslim —the craven teachers, principals, school boards will capitulate to their demands. And the dangerous ignorance of Islam will continue, in order to preserve those so-called “values of respect, inclusivity, and cultural sensitivity“ that really mean surrender to the forces of Islamic darkness.