Teachers urged to be cautious of Islamophobia when discussing 9/11 with students

[TexasTowelie]

“At 14 years old I was scared. I was scared like the rest of the country. I was scared like the rest of the world," remembered Faiyaz Jaffer. He was in the ninth grade when the September 11th attacks happened. As one of the only Muslim students in his high school, he says the bullying started almost immediately.

"I began to hear just about every single possible insult under the sky during the course of that day, during the course of that week, getting like pushed into lockers when you're walking in the hallway," said Jaffer.

He’s now an associate chaplain at the Islamic Center at NYU. Jaffer said his house was even vandalized, remembering the rhetoric he says teachers and administrators used. He believes it made him a target.

"It was stated by our teachers very often throughout the day that these were, this was an act by by Muslim terrorists," said Jaffer.

Read more: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/9-11-20-years-later/2021/09/03/teachers-urged-to-be-cautious-of-islamophobia-when-discussing-9-11-with-students

[Klaralven]

1. "And terms like "Islamic terrorists" or "jihadists" should be off limits."

What is the correct euphemism?

[cinematicdiversions]

3. Some guy named Bob apparently.

There is a strange parallel between this whitewashing and the whitewashing of the Civil War that often happens in classrooms in the south.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

2. Emphasize the fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian.

You know, a country the U.S. considers an "ally".

No mention of Islam in any way.

Also emphasize the fact that not one of them was Iraqi, yet the U.S. went to war with that country.

that'll really get the RWers fired up.

[jimfields33]

4. I thought most of the schools across the country closed for the rest of the week.

My memory is hazy on that though.

[lapucelle]

8. New York schools did not close, other than those physically impacted. N/T

[jimfields33]

9. Wow! I'm astonished.

Not that it is bad or good either way. Just surprised.

[LeftInTX]

5. You know, I can't even remember WHY they did it?

USS Cole? An other boat in the Indian Ocean? Something like that...


As with all history, emphasis should be on events that escalated the attack and WHY


Everyone was just too shocked with WHAT, then the AFTERMATH

Emphasis can also be on what they do now to prevent future attacks. Our way of life changed after that day.

I think it is bit too much to emotionally for all students, to point the finger and then trying to teach students about these wars and ISIS etc.

However, it makes me wonder what they teach in schools? Very interesting topic. My kids graduated in 2005, 2008 and 2011. However, they were all saturated from the media at home. I believe schools increases counseling services etc, but I have no idea if it was ever incorporated in any curriculum, especially the younger two? Pretty sure it was not included in the oldest one's.

https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/teaching-about-911

I'm pretty sure by the time Pear Harbor become official parts of curriculum, the war was over and there were treaties signed and suddenly our enemy became our ally. Nevertheless, many kids said racist things about Japanese. My dad was Air Force and many of my classmates had dads who had served in WWII. We were living in Japan at the time too.
Kids would get on the playground and play airplane like other kids played cowboys and Indians. This was in 1962.

[Mosby]

6. Bin Ladens reasons for his terrorism.

His words:

for over seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors, and turning its bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples."[19] In the December 1999 interview with Rahimullah Yusufzai, bin Laden said he felt that Americans were "too near to Mecca" and considered this a provocation to the entire Muslim world.[25]

The aim [of the United States] is also to serve the Jews' petty state and divert attention from its occupation of Jerusalem and murder of Muslims there. The best proof of this is their eagerness to destroy Iraq, the strongest neighboring Arab state, and their endeavor to fragment all the states of the region such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Sudan into paper statelets and through their disunion and weakness to guarantee Israel's survival and the continuation of the brutal crusade occupation of the Peninsula.[4]

The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you. (a) We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and trading with interest.[15]

[alphafemale]

7. As if only white blessed christian people died that day

At least that is what a repug commercial would have you believe.

[LiberatedUSA]

10. That is understandable.

When you are the second largest religion in the world, it makes sense that people should treat you with kids gloves as if you were a small minority with your tiny 1.8 billion people compared to the evangelical 2.3 billion people. You can see how such a shear massive difference in numbers requires the kids gloves.