Dhabah ("Debbie") Almontaser, principal-designate of the Khalil Gibran International Academy
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/8174
October 31, 2025
Excepts from full NYPost article below:
"Andrew Cuomo is making inroads with New York City's Muslim community — vowing to open the first Arabic language charter school, if elected mayor, The Post has learned.🧎🏾♂️
The former governor, who is trailing front-runner Zohran Mamdani by at least 10 points in the latest polls, recently made the pledge to influential Sheikh Ibrahim Niass of the Ansarudeen Islamic Center in The Bronx.🧎🏾♂️
"His willingness to support our efforts for an Arabic charter school is welcomed news," Niass said.
"I know parents who send their kids to Egypt to learn Arabic. We wouldn't have to absorb these costs if we had an Arabic charter school," he said, emphasizing the school would not preach Islam'. (See articles below)
Cuomo's campaign confirmed he would make opening an Arabic charter school a priority.
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https://x.com/MIslamMonitor/status/1983398916637737406
'QUID PRO CUOMO' PROMISES MUSLIMS HE WILL OPEN TAX PAYER FUNDED SCHOOL FOR THEM IN NYC TO SAVE THEM FROM THE EXPENSE OF SENDING THEIR KIDS TO EGYPT & SENEGAL TO LEARN ARABIC
(The poor dear)
"But Niass said he sends his children to his native Senegal to learn Arabic, and that many of his
children to his native Senegal to learn Arabic, and that many of his congregants sacrifice by spending thousands of dollars to do the same. (The infidels must pay for this with their Jizya)
I know parents who send their kids to Egypt to learn Arabic. We wouldn't have to absorb these costs if we had an Arabic charter school," he said, emphasizing the school would not preach Islam.
Cuomo's campaign confirmed he would make opening an Arabic charter school a priority.
"On education — when schools are failing, I believe we should close them and replace them with charter schools. I'm a strong believer in charter schools," Cuomo said during a recent speech at the Ansarudeen Islamic Center.
Meanwhile, Niass swatted away (aka quid pro quo) Mamdani's claim that Cuomo is stoking Islamophobia. He praised Cuomo for defending the opening of a mosque near Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001,terror attacks, when he was state attorney general.
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ABOUT
(Ansarudeen aka Supporters Of The Faith)
Ansarudeen Islamic CenterWe are the servants of Allah: In the name of Allah, the infinitely compassionate and Merciful, Peace be upon His servant and messenger Muhammad. In Surah Aal-i-Imran verse 52, when Prophet Isa (AS) said: "Who will be my helpers to (the work of) Allah?" The disciples said: "We are Allah\'s helpers: We believe in Allah and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims.? Based on these verses, Ansarudeen was founded by Sheikh Ibrahim Niass (RA) in 1966 in Kaolack, Senegal to propagate Islam, promote mutual understanding, and better co-operation between all Muslims worldwide.
🥷Ansarudeen is a non-profit organization aiming to educate people, spread the teachings of Islam 🧎🏾♂️in the community, promote the Quranic school, build mosques, and help the poor and needy.
The New York City branch of Ansarudeen located in the Bronx at 641 East 224 Street, Bronx NY 10466 is set to carry out this message throughout communities. Through the leadership and guidance of Sheikh Ibrahima Niass Ibn Sheikh Ahmed Dame Niass (RA) Ibn Sheikh Ibrahima Niass, we are on the verge of renovating the whole building from the ground up. We, the members of Ansarudeen with the help of some good Muslims managed to pay off the mortgage. We have a mosque, a Quranic school, and social apartments for guests or the needy. The building is close to 100 years old, so it's very old and is deteriorating.
Our main goal is to build a newer, better, and more modern building in which the mosque will be separated from the Quranic school and the conference room. We also want to have a couple of apartments for guests or the needy. In 2019 on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, the masjid burnt down and the insurance company denied us our claim. Through the help of the Muslims in the community, we managed to start fixing the masjid, but we still have a lot of reparation to do. For the sake of Allah, we are seeking financial help to start the project of the New York City Branch of Ansarudeen. JazakAllahu Khayran. https://cars4jannah.org/ansarudeenny/about-us#
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Published Oct. 28, 2025, 4:26 p.m. ET
Andrew Cuomo is making inroads with New York City's Muslim community — vowing to open the first Arabic language charter school, if elected mayor, The Post has learned.
The former governor, who is trailing front-runner Zohran Mamdani by at least 10 points in the latest polls, recently made the pledge to influential Sheikh Ibrahim Niass of the Ansarudeen Islamic Center in The Bronx.
"His willingness to support our efforts for an Arabic charter school is welcomed news," Niass said.
Cuomo, running as an independent, has been stumping for votes in Muslim communities as he faces off against Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the Nov. 4 election.
Mamdani would be the city's first Muslim mayor, if elected, and has focused on turning out supporters in the South Asian and Arabic communities of the Islamic faith.
The democratic socialist Queens assemblyman opposes lifting the cap to open more charter schools in the city.
The Big Apple currently has some dual language charter schools, such as the Hebrew Language Academy and the Hellenic Charter Schools in Brooklyn and Staten Island that offer Greek language classes.
But Niass said he sends his children to his native Senegal to learn Arabic, and that many of his congregants sacrifice by spending thousands of dollars to do the same.
"i know parents who send their kids to Egypt to learn Arabic. We wouldn't have to absorb these costs if we had an Arabic charter school," he said, emphasizing the school would not preach Islam.
Cuomo's campaign confirmed he would make opening an Arabic charter school a priority.
"On education — when schools are failing, I believe we should close them and replace them with charter schools. I'm a strong believer in charter schools," Cuomo said during a recent speech at the Ansarudeen Islamic Center.
I know many oppose them, but when a public school fails generation after generation, and we keep it open anyway, that's unacceptable," he said. "If a school has been failing for a prolonged period, shut it down and give a charter school or a specialized school the chance to succeed."
The Mamdani campaign declined to comment on Cuomo's pitch for an Arabic charter school.
Meanwhile, Niass swatted away Mamdani's claim that Cuomo is stoking Islamophobia.
He praised Cuomo for defending the opening of a mosque near Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when he was state attorney general. Cuomo defended my religion. (BR: Dhimmi Dem)
He respects every religion, Niass said. "I don't believe he's Islamophobic. I believe that's a lie." (BR: And there's also a 'lie' in 'believe')
Niass also blasted Mamdani for saying "sex work is work" while backing legislation to decriminalize prostitution between consenting adults an assemblyman.
"Prostitution is against Islam," he told The Post. (MIM: Unless its a politician)
As governor, Cuomo approved laws making it easier to open and site charter schools in New York City.
The teachers' union and critics complain charters siphon funds from traditional public schools and oppose their expansion.
The United Federation of Teachers endorsed Mamdani in the general election after he trounced Cuomo in the Democratic primary.
Charter schools are publicly funded but privately managed by not-for-profit institutions. They typically have a longer school day and year, and the staff are mostly non-union.
There are now 286 charter schools with more than 150,000 students, representing 15% of all public school students.
The alternative schools typically outperform traditional public schools on the state's standardized math and English exams, particularly in the south Bronx and other low income and disadvantaged communities.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/28/us-news/cuomo-makes-inroads-with-nyc-muslim-community-vows-to-open-first-arabic-language-charter-school-if-elected-mayor/? Report
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MIM: Arabic language schools invariably involve religious instruction despite all claims to the contrary.
"Specifics about the KGIA confirm these apprehensions, including its roster of sponsors and enthusiasts. The school's key figure, principal-designate Dhabah ("Debbie") Almontaser, has a record of extremist views, as William A. Mayer and Beila Rabinowitzhave shown at PipeLineNews.org.
Arabs or Muslims, Ms. Almontaser says, are innocent of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: "I don't recognize the people who committed the attacks as either Arabs or Muslims." Instead, she blames September 11 on Washington's foreign policies, saying they "can have been triggered by the way the USA breaks its promises with countries across the world, especially in the Middle East, and the fact that it has not been a fair mediator."
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"Hamas sympathiser Linda Sarsour's ties to Khalil Gibran Academy and principal designate Dhabah Almontaser"
July 19, 2007
Hamas Sympathizers Tied To Khalil Gibran International Academy?
By Beila Rabinowitz and William Mayer
July 17, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - In previous articles the writers have documented why Dhabah aka "Debbie" Almontaser, the Yemeni born principal designate of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, does not belong in the public school system.
She promotes an Islamist agenda, operates in an environment populated by radical Muslim organizations and individuals, holds extreme leftist political views and aims to use the KGIA as a tool of indoctrination. [see Khalil Gibran Jihad School - Indoctrination Not Education]
Almontaser has a close working relationship with Linda Sarsour, a radical Islamist activist with a power base in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge district. Sarsour is the director of the Arab American Association of New York, a provider of social services including immigration assistance and legal aid to Arab community. She along with Almontaser are board member of the AAA's Dialogue Project and Sarsour is the Co-Chair of the Dialogue Project's Interfaith Events program.
Sarsour's association with Almontaser provides an alarming insight into the forces that will drive KGIA if the school becomes a reality in September.
This relationship poses a serious challenge to those who blindly maintain that KGIA is just another New York City charter school, because Linda Sarsour is tied to the terrorist organization Hamas as well as other radical causes. Deepening the concern, the community from which Sarsour operates shares her views as well as her support for Islamism.
In a 2004 piece by Sarmad S. Ali, "Kerry Drew Disenchanted Arabs in Bay Ridge" published in the Columbia Journalism Review, Linda Sarsour matter-of-factly documents her family's ties to Hamas as depicted in the Arab language terrorist newspaper that she is reading while being interviewed: interviewed:
"As the presidential election grew near, Linda Sarsour sat in her small office at the Arab-American Association in , Brooklyn, looking at the photos of two thickly bearded young Arabs on the front page of an Arabic-language newspaper.The paper carried fervent slogans calling on young people to become martyrs in the conflict with Israel.
Sarsour, a 24-year-old Palestinian-American, sighed. One of the men, she said, was a cousin who has been in Israeli jails for 25 years. The other man, she said, was a family friend serving a 99-year prison sentence in Israel. Her brother-in-law, she said, is also serving a 12-year sentence, accused of being an activist in the Hamas, the religious militant group, though, she said, he was secular in his beliefs."[source http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/election/2004/minority_ali01.asp]http:0//www.americansagainsthate.org/Kerry_Drew_Disenchanted_Arabs.htm(original article - text is below]
The rest is here: https://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3056
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"A Madrassah Grows In Brooklyn"
Daniel Pipes
New York Sun
April 24, 2007
Come September, an Arabic-language public secondary school is slated to open its doors in Brooklyn. The New York City Department of Education says the Khalil Gibran International Academy, serving grades six through 12, will boast a "multicultural curriculum and intensive Arabic language instruction."
This appears to be a marvelous idea, for New York and the country need native-born Arabic speakers. They have a role in the military, diplomacy, intelligence, the courts, the press, the academy, and many other institutions — and teaching languages to the young is the ideal route to polyglotism. As someone who spent years learning Arabic, I am enthusiastic in principle about the idea of this school, one of the first of its kind in the United States.
In practice, however, I strongly oppose the KGIA and predict that its establishment will generate serious problems. I say this because Arabic-language instruction is inevitably laden with pan-Arabist and Islamist baggage. Some examples:
Franck Salameh taught Arabic at the most prestigious American language school, Middlebury College in Vermont. In an article for the Middle East Quarterly, he wrote: "even as students leave Middlebury with better Arabic, they also leave indoctrinated with a tendentious Arab nationalist reading of Middle Eastern history. Permeating lectures and carefully-designed grammatical drills, Middlebury instructors push the idea that Arab identity trumps local identities and that respect for minority ethnic and sectarian communities betrays Arabism."
For an example of such grammatical drills, see the just-published book by Shukri Abed, "Focus on Contemporary Arabic: Conversations with Native Speakers" (Yale University Press), one chapter of which is titled "The Question of Palestine." Its intensely politicized readings would be unimaginable in a book of French or Spanish conversations.
The Islamist dimension worries me as well. An organization that lobbies for Arabic instruction, the Arabic Language Institute Foundation, claims that knowledge of Islam's holy language can help the West recover from what its leader, Akhtar H. Emon, calls its "moral decay." In other words, Muslims tend to see non-Muslims learning Arabic as a step toward an eventual conversion to Islam, an expectation I encountered while studying Arabic in Cairo in the 1970s.
Also, learning Arabic in and of itself promotes an Islamic outlook, as James Coffmanshowed in 1995, looking at evidence from Algeria. Comparing students taught in French and in Arabic, he found that "Arabized students show decidedly greater support for the Islamist movement and greater mistrust of the West." Those Arabized students, he notes, more readily believed in "the infiltration into Algeria of Israeli women spies infected with AIDS … the mass conversion to Islam by millions of Americans," and other Islamist nonsense.
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Dhabah ("Debbie") Almontaser, principal-designate of the Khalil Gibran International Academy |
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Specifics about the KGIA confirm these apprehensions, including its roster of sponsors and enthusiasts. The school's key figure, principal-designate Dhabah ("Debbie") Almontaser, has a record of extremist views, as William A. Mayer and Beila Rabinowitzhave shown at PipeLineNews.org.
Arabs or Muslims, Ms. Almontaser says, are innocent of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: "I don't recognize the people who committed the attacks as either Arabs or Muslims." Instead, she blames September 11 on Washington's foreign policies, saying they "can have been triggered by the way the USA breaks its promises with countries across the world, especially in the Middle East, and the fact that it has not been a fair mediator."
At a community meeting with the New York Police Department commissioner, she berated the NYPD for using "FBI tactics" when informants were used to prevent a subway bombing, thereby polarizing the Muslim community. For Ms. Almontaser, it appears, preventing terrorism counts less than soothing Muslim sensibilities.
She calls George W. Bush a "nightmare" who is "trying to destroy the United States."
Rewarding these views, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a foreign-funded front organization, in 2005 bestowed an honor on Ms. Almontaser for her "numerous contributions" to the protection of civil liberties.
Her intentions for the KGIA should raise alarms. An Associated Press report paraphrases her saying that "the school won't shy away from sensitive topics such as colonialism and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis," and she notes that the school will "incorporate the Arabic language and Islamic culture." Islamic culture? Not what was advertised — but imbuing pan-Arabism and anti-Zionism, proselytizing for Islam, and promoting Islamist sympathies will predictably make up the school's true curriculum.
To express your concerns about this planned Arabic school, please write the New York City chancellor, Joel Klein.
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Apr. 24, 2007 update: This column builds on a weblog entry, "On New York's 'Khalil Gibran International Academy'," where further updates will be posted.
May 22, 2007 update: I published today a second column on the KGIA, "The Travails of Brooklyn's Arabic Academy." It focuses on the school's advisory board and on parental objections to the school.
Aug. 15, 2007 update: I published a third column today on the KGIA, "Stop the NYC Madrassa," focusing on the role of the "Stop the Madrassa Coalition."
https://www.danielpipes.org/4441/a-madrasa-grows-in-brooklyn
Khalil Gibran Arabic School Anatomy of A Disaster
Published April 6, 2011, 12:37 a.m. ET
The Khalil Gibran International Academy, an Arabic language and culture middle school named after the famed Lebanese Christian poet, was a lightning rod of controversy from the very beginning. Given the school's demise this week, we felt it was time for a fond look back.
• February, 2007: The city announces that the Khalil Gibran International Academy will be located somewhere in Brooklyn.
• March, 2007: The fight begins as the city announces that the academy will share space inside PS 282 in Park Slope.
• April, 2007: The outrage begins: Daniel Pipes, a commentator on radical Islam, writes that "Arabic-language instruction is inevitably laden with pan-Arabist and Islamist baggage." A week later, the city announces that the school won't be in Park Slope.
• May, 2007: The school is officially moved to Boerum Hill.
• September, 2007: The first day of school was covered by practically more media than were in Little Rock for the desegregation of the high school.
• August, 2007: Founding principal Debbie Almontaser resigns amid pressure from the city after she didn't forcefully condemn a T-shirt reading, "Intifada NYC." The city appoints non-Arabic speaker, Danielle Salzberg, to replace Almontaser.
• November, 2007: Almontaser sues the city for violating her free speech.
• January, 2008: The school gets its third principal, Holly Reichart, who replaces Salzberg.
• March, 2008: School relocated to the PS 287 building in Fort Greene.
• April, 2008: Parents there say they feel "bamboozled" after learning that the academy would be housed inside their Navy Street building.
• March, 2010: Almontaser is vindicated when a federal commission rules that the city "succumbed to the very bias that creation of the school was intended to dispel" when it forced Almontaser to resign.
• This week: The city plans to kill the Gibran middle school and try to turn it into a high school.
— Gersh Kuntzman
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New York Post
@nypost
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8h
Cuomo makes inroads with NYC Muslim community, vows to open first Arabic language charter school if elected mayor https://trib.al/RjLK1hB
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/8174