To rehearse the details of this controversy: a Brooklyn organization called Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media (AWAAM) printed t-shirts with the slogan “Intifada NYC.” Debbie Almontaser, as principal of the soon-to-open Khalil Gibran International Academy, a Brooklyn middle school with no connection to AWAAM, defended the use of the slogan when asked about it by reporters. She was then bombarded with right-wing attacks from the NY Post, NY Sun, cretins like Daniel Pipes — groups and individuals that had been waging a campaign against the Gibran academy for months.
Almontaser then retracted her initial comments. Referring to the word “intifada,” she said: “By minimizing the word’s historical associations, I implied that I condone violence and threats of violence.” Almontaser then resigned as principal, citing the school’s best interest.
Former mayor Ed Koch isn’t someone I’d expect to cite favorably, but he got it largely right, save for the fact that Almontaser wasn’t technically fired:
“I believe there is nothing wrong with having a school related in Islamic culture,” said former Mayor Edward I. Koch. “ I don’t think there is anything wrong with the idea at all.” He added, referring to Ms. Almontaser: “They were too quick to fire her though. I thought she apologized and gave what she thought was an adequate response and is believable.”
I agree: Almontaser responded forthrightly and shouldn’t be out of a job.
Representatives of AWAAM point to Almontaser’s resignation as evidence of a climate of xenophobia and political intimidation. They’re right, but only up to a point. Condemning Israeli policy toward the Palestinians is one thing; endorsing the Palestinian intifada, a violent campaign directed very frequently against Israeli civilians, is another; calling for “Intifada NYC” is another still.
Appearing on Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now!” — a program I’ve taken issue with here and here — Paula Hajar and Mona Eldahry make a rather disingenuous case. Eldahry speaks about the various pressures facing New York’s young Arabs and Muslims. Echoing Almontaser’s earlier comments, she cites the generic definition of “intifada” as literally “shaking off” and says that “Intifada NYC” simply refers to the need to speak out. Hajar argues:
You know, the language is a large language. Obviously words can be used any and in many different ways. And “jihad,” for example, “jihad” has an explanation. “Jihad” is a struggle. It’s more relevant to the inner struggle. It’s like your twelve-step program or Al-Anon or Alcoholics Anonymous or Weight Watchers. It’s what you do to get clear, to kind of clean up your own business. That’s what a jihad really is. But people use it always as a holy war. And this “intifada” — I mean, Mona gave a beautiful explanation, and that was what Debbie was referring to. And people cannot just have these knee-jerk reactions. They have no context. They’re not allowing for context either.
Hajar is nothing if not a politically minded person, and yet here she is insisting that we interpret words like “jihad” and “intifada” in only the most apolitical way. It doesn’t wash. She is the one who is eliding context. Jihadists in Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan are not talking about anything resembling Weight Watchers, and she knows it.
Interestingly, the AWAAM website carries an angry letter to Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, from an organization called the Center for Immigrant Families. Weingarten publicly took issue with Debbie Almontaser over her initial defense of the “Intifada NYC” t-shirt. CIF attacks Weingarten as follows:
…do you not know that in most parts of the world, the word intifada connotes resistance to an unethical and illegal and brutal occupation? It is not the word intifada that promotes violence or that should be denounced; rather, what should be denounced is an occupation that promotes violence and that made the intifada necessary.
AWAAM proudly posts this letter on its site as a call to activism, under the banner “Letter Writing Anyone?” Seems that the real meaning of “intifada” isn’t so murky and open to interpretation after all.
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