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Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Censorious MN State Rep Mindy Greiling, Lauded By Terror Friendly CAIR

Censorious MN State Rep Mindy Greiling, Lauded By Terror Friendly CAIR

May 13, 2008

Censorious MN State Rep Mindy Greiling, Lauded By Terror Friendly Group CAIR

May 13, 2008 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Branding Minneapolis Star writer Katherine Kersten an "Islamophobic Columnist" in its May 12 newsletter, the Council on American Islamic Relations, CAIR - a Saudi funded unindicted co-conspirator in the nation's largest terror prosecution - is championing a campaign to censor a critic of Islamic radicalism in Minnesota, led by State Representative, Mindy Greiling [DFL].

The controversy stems from a series of reports made by Ms. Kersten, critical of the operating practices at Minnesota's Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy [TIZA], a taxpayer-funded charter school for kindergarten through eighth grade pupils.

As Kersten wrote in a April 9, 2008 column:

"...TIZA has many characteristics that suggest a religious school. It shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is 'establishing Islam in Minnesota '. The building also houses a mosque. TIZA's executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief. Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves halal food - permissible under Islamic law -- and 'Islamic Studies' is offered at the end of the school day..."

Ms. Greiling, quick to defend the Islamizing of a public school, wrote a letter to the Minneapolis Star in which she claimed to have personally visited TIZA. Greiling's conclusions after being led around by the nose by TIZA's Executive Director, Asad Zaman, who just happens to be an imam, are unfortunately predictable:

"...What I learned during a tour late last month is that none of Kersten's concerns that the charter school is promoting religion in violation of a state law that prohibits public schools from doing so is valid. What I did see was excellent teachers hard at work in the classroom focused on improving student achievement..."

Based upon this staged visit Greiling then went on to demand Ms. Kersten's head, charging her with "reckless journalistic standards" and a "gross distortion of facts."

Possibly more familiar with how TIZA actually operates, a substitute teacher at the school, Amanda Getz has gone on the record corroborating the facts revealed in Kersten's reporting. Getz states that she observed, while teaching at the school on Friday, that Islamic prayer and the ritual washing beforehand [wudu, as commanded in Sura 5, "O you who believe! when you rise up to prayer, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles..."] was mandatory and that Islamic studies, including copying parts of the Qu'ran by students into their notebooks, seemed to be a normal part of the daily lesson plan.

Greiling's reprehensible abuse of power in this matter proves that there are no dearth of politicians willing to take on the mantle of dhimmitude in order to curry favor with groups interested in Islamizing American schools.

As long as that continues there will always be organizations such as CAIR who stand at the ready to provide assistance towards that end. http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=tiza5.13.08%2Ehtm

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