Showing posts with label Valley Park Middle School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Valley Park Middle School. Show all posts
Friday, November 25, 2011
Meir Weinstein, Ron And The Other Skinny Hindi From The CHA, Arnie And Kathy
...feel free to blow me. The kids at Valley Park Middle School still get to have their Friday prayers on the property. Canadian compromise wins out again! Booyah! And, for my American readers, if I have any, I hope you enjoyed your Sharia Turkey this Thanksgiving.
Sunday, September 04, 2011
Valley Park Middle School Protesters Import Yankee Wingnut
The media advisory from NoIslaminschools.ca, the folks behind various protests re Muslim prayers sessions at Valley Park Middle School, describes the "mystery" speaker for their upcoming fundraiser as:
...a 9-11 Survivor & 1st Responder on the Bucket Brigade will be the Keynote Speaker. A leader in the fight against the New York City, Ground Zero Mosque, he has been on Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS and a Documentary on the Ground Zero Mosque.
But if you run the various key-words through Google they point pretty clearly to standard-issue American Muzzie basher Tim Brown, of the 9-11 Families for a Secure America, itself an off-shoot of the Federation for Immigration Reform, both which groups might safely be described as far right, a few cans short of a six-pack, and etc. Don't know what the big mystery is supposed to be. As far as I can tell, Mr. Brown doesn't have any trouble crossing borders.
In any case, equating the ground zero mosque with the cafeteria at Valley Park seems like more than a bit of a stretch.
Tim Brown speaks out here.
...a 9-11 Survivor & 1st Responder on the Bucket Brigade will be the Keynote Speaker. A leader in the fight against the New York City, Ground Zero Mosque, he has been on Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS and a Documentary on the Ground Zero Mosque.
But if you run the various key-words through Google they point pretty clearly to standard-issue American Muzzie basher Tim Brown, of the 9-11 Families for a Secure America, itself an off-shoot of the Federation for Immigration Reform, both which groups might safely be described as far right, a few cans short of a six-pack, and etc. Don't know what the big mystery is supposed to be. As far as I can tell, Mr. Brown doesn't have any trouble crossing borders.
In any case, equating the ground zero mosque with the cafeteria at Valley Park seems like more than a bit of a stretch.
Tim Brown speaks out here.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Valley Park Middle School Update: Canadian Hindu Advocacy Vows More Protests!
And their leader, Ron Banerjee, doesn't care whose prayers get interrupted:
“We’ll picket in front of the school when they begin praying. Let’s see how much praying they can do with our loudspeakers and hundreds of people there. We want to make it clear we don’t approve of prayer and gender apartheid inside the school. If our loudness disrupts their prayers, then so be it.”
Firstly, since Banerjee managed to scare up all of a single elderly hindi at the last protest, I question his noise making abilities (although not his ability to blow smoke). Secondly, you would think that, whatever your opinion of the school's attempts at religious accommodation, actually disrupting the prayers of 10 year old kids would be considered dirty pool. But Ron Banerjeee doesn't think that, because Ron Banerjee is a dick.
On a more civilized note:
The Toronto wing of the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) issued a statement supporting the accommodation of Muslim prayers. “School space for prayer on a voluntary, extra-curricular basis, is included in the principle of religious accommodation which Ontario school boards are required to honour under Ministry of Education guidelines,” CIJA stated. “Reasonable religious accommodation, which is enshrined in human rights legislation across the country, benefits all faith communities, including the Jewish community. The absence of reasonable religious accommodation would negatively affect Jewish students and those of other faiths. School boards should closely monitor religious accommodation activities taking place on their property and all such activities should be consistent with the values of the board.”
Expanding on that position, Howard English, vice-president of the Greater Toronto region of CIJA, said reasonable religious accommodation “benefits the Jewish community tremendously. It allows for absences on religious holidays and for voluntary extra-curricular Jewish heritage programs in schools as well.”
However, English added the TDSB “has the responsibility to monitor any kind of extra-curricular activities.” He suggested that it might require having an Arabic-speaker observe the prayers.
I am told the CIJA is what the now defunct CJC has become. Nice to see that the new org. has some of the same progressive tendencies as the old.
“We’ll picket in front of the school when they begin praying. Let’s see how much praying they can do with our loudspeakers and hundreds of people there. We want to make it clear we don’t approve of prayer and gender apartheid inside the school. If our loudness disrupts their prayers, then so be it.”
Firstly, since Banerjee managed to scare up all of a single elderly hindi at the last protest, I question his noise making abilities (although not his ability to blow smoke). Secondly, you would think that, whatever your opinion of the school's attempts at religious accommodation, actually disrupting the prayers of 10 year old kids would be considered dirty pool. But Ron Banerjeee doesn't think that, because Ron Banerjee is a dick.
On a more civilized note:
The Toronto wing of the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA) issued a statement supporting the accommodation of Muslim prayers. “School space for prayer on a voluntary, extra-curricular basis, is included in the principle of religious accommodation which Ontario school boards are required to honour under Ministry of Education guidelines,” CIJA stated. “Reasonable religious accommodation, which is enshrined in human rights legislation across the country, benefits all faith communities, including the Jewish community. The absence of reasonable religious accommodation would negatively affect Jewish students and those of other faiths. School boards should closely monitor religious accommodation activities taking place on their property and all such activities should be consistent with the values of the board.”
Expanding on that position, Howard English, vice-president of the Greater Toronto region of CIJA, said reasonable religious accommodation “benefits the Jewish community tremendously. It allows for absences on religious holidays and for voluntary extra-curricular Jewish heritage programs in schools as well.”
However, English added the TDSB “has the responsibility to monitor any kind of extra-curricular activities.” He suggested that it might require having an Arabic-speaker observe the prayers.
I am told the CIJA is what the now defunct CJC has become. Nice to see that the new org. has some of the same progressive tendencies as the old.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Did Horwath Step Into Toronto School/Mosque Debate?
Actually, given her earlier statement here, I think not. But some guy up in Orangeville is on about the Islamist menace and yada yada yada and says:
“Timid” Tim Hudak’s response to the ‘discovery’ of public school mosque-activity is entirely lacking, totally inadequate for someone seeking to become premier of Ontario, which position has direct responsibility and oversight for the totality of Ontario’s publicly funded education system. He has, effectively, stated that this “is a local school board issue.” This response is a cop-out. Obviously, politically, Mr. Hudak is mindful of “Gentleman” John Tory’s electoral chances (and silver opportunity) crashing and burning in 2007, in large part over the issue of school choice. But, this Islamification of the conventional school day is entirely different and most certainly not merely a local school board issue. It is the thickening edge of a wedge. Only Ms. Horwath, of the provincial NDP, has come out openly against school hour, in-school and in-cafeteria Islamic prayer hours in our shared public schools, ground-zero of neutral Canadian citizenship.
[...]
It may take Ms. Horwath, to stand up for Ontarians now and to say, “Enough is enough”, and that all the slights and put-downs toward females, and the wrongs done them taken together, cannot make even one right.
Did Andrea Horwath change her position 180 degrees, or can we put this down to the ramblings of a small-town opinionizer?
But while we're on the topic of Valley Park School, its important to distinguish two levels of concern with the school's actions. One is: has the school successfully navigated its way through the various legal issues (accommodation vs. gender equity) in arranging these prayer services? The 2nd is: whatever the legalities, is the school doing the right thing by inviting an Imam onto school property to lead prayers on Friday afternoons?
Because, despite the MCC's threat of legal action, the answer to the first question is almost certainly "yes". Or at least, the TDSB is as lawyered up as anyone, and it would be astounding if this decision wasn't scoped out from a dozen different angles by their legal people.
I also think that the answer to the 2nd question is a qualified "yes", but to prove it I would have to discuss the female menstrual cycle, and this would probably make me gag.
“Timid” Tim Hudak’s response to the ‘discovery’ of public school mosque-activity is entirely lacking, totally inadequate for someone seeking to become premier of Ontario, which position has direct responsibility and oversight for the totality of Ontario’s publicly funded education system. He has, effectively, stated that this “is a local school board issue.” This response is a cop-out. Obviously, politically, Mr. Hudak is mindful of “Gentleman” John Tory’s electoral chances (and silver opportunity) crashing and burning in 2007, in large part over the issue of school choice. But, this Islamification of the conventional school day is entirely different and most certainly not merely a local school board issue. It is the thickening edge of a wedge. Only Ms. Horwath, of the provincial NDP, has come out openly against school hour, in-school and in-cafeteria Islamic prayer hours in our shared public schools, ground-zero of neutral Canadian citizenship.
[...]
It may take Ms. Horwath, to stand up for Ontarians now and to say, “Enough is enough”, and that all the slights and put-downs toward females, and the wrongs done them taken together, cannot make even one right.
Did Andrea Horwath change her position 180 degrees, or can we put this down to the ramblings of a small-town opinionizer?
But while we're on the topic of Valley Park School, its important to distinguish two levels of concern with the school's actions. One is: has the school successfully navigated its way through the various legal issues (accommodation vs. gender equity) in arranging these prayer services? The 2nd is: whatever the legalities, is the school doing the right thing by inviting an Imam onto school property to lead prayers on Friday afternoons?
Because, despite the MCC's threat of legal action, the answer to the first question is almost certainly "yes". Or at least, the TDSB is as lawyered up as anyone, and it would be astounding if this decision wasn't scoped out from a dozen different angles by their legal people.
I also think that the answer to the 2nd question is a qualified "yes", but to prove it I would have to discuss the female menstrual cycle, and this would probably make me gag.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Meet Canadian Hindu Advocacy
They are, incidentally, protesting the prayer sessions offered each Friday at Valley Park Middle School for their Muslim students. Most of the media outlets put the crowd at about 50. You can see the JDL's Meir Weinstein briefly, I think, looking dapper in a black suit.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Canadian Hindu Advocacy = 2 Skinny Hindi
...Naresh Patel and Ron Banerjee, so their promise to erect "massive pickets" outside Valley Park Middle School, which brings in an Imam for Friday prayer services , can safely be met with wild gales of laughter.
As for whether the service offends the notion of public schools as secular space, I am of two minds. There may be a slippery slope here, although Joe Warmington's arguments aren't terribly compelling: putting up a nativity scene around Xmas seems far more peripheral to the Christian religion than weekly prayer services do to the Muslim one. Furthermore, does anyone really expect the school to hand out late slips every week to upwards of 400 students for running off to pray? That sounds impractical.
As for whether the service offends the notion of public schools as secular space, I am of two minds. There may be a slippery slope here, although Joe Warmington's arguments aren't terribly compelling: putting up a nativity scene around Xmas seems far more peripheral to the Christian religion than weekly prayer services do to the Muslim one. Furthermore, does anyone really expect the school to hand out late slips every week to upwards of 400 students for running off to pray? That sounds impractical.
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