On January 14, Scott Johnson at Power Line posted an article about the ongoing legal battles between the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA) K-8 public charter school in suburban St. Paul and the ACLU Minnesota. I am generally not a supporter of the ACLU either on a state or federal level, but in this case they are right to bring this lawsuit. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy K-8 public charter school appears to be an Islamic school operating illegally at taxpayer expense.
The article states:
"Among other things, school executive director Asad Zaman is an imam and almost all of its students are Muslim. As a charter school it was originally sponsored by Islamic Relief USA. The school is housed in a building that was owned by the Muslim American Society of Minnesota. The study of Arabic is required at the school. The Arabic comes in handy for the Koranic studies that follow the regular school day."
The Minnesota ACLU brought a lawsuit challenging the legality of the school's operation on public funds; the lawsuit is pending in federal court in Minnesota. When Church Samuelson, ACLU executive director of the ACLU Minnesota, made the statement, "The issue with TiZA, frankly, was the incredible commingling of church and state. It's a theocratic school. It is as plain as the substantial nose on my face," TiZA claimed that the ACLU had defamed the school. The school asserted several counterclaims against the ACLU Minnesota for amounts in excess of $100,000 (i.e., an unlimited amount).
The article further reports:
"The ACLU Minnesota's lawsuit against TiZA is predicated on the establishment clause of the First Amendment as interpreted by the Supreme Court. I was quite sure that there was another clause of the First Amendment that applied to TiZA's counterclaims against the ACLU Minnesota, but even the common law of defamation provides that truth is a defense.
"In the event, Minnesota federal district Judge Donovan Frank summarily dismissed TiZA's counterclaims. In an order issued in late 2009, Judge Frank held that, as a public school, TiZA could not assert a claim for defamation."
There is more to this story. Through the discovery process as the litigation has gone forward, the Minnesota Department of Education discovered that TiZA has made multiple misrepresentations to the Department.
The article concludes:
"(Star Tribune metro columnist Katherine)Kersten concluded her most recent column on TiZA with this pointed observation: "Every time we read about this lawsuit, we have to pinch ourselves and say: We're talking about a public, taxpayer-funded school." The pending lawsuit is important, and not just for the result to which it might give rise when it is concluded. Along the way it is producing revelations that deserve attention regardless of the result."
If you follow some of the recent court cases and lawsuits involving Muslims, you realize that the actions of TiZA follow a pattern. When confronted with the truth of what they were doing, they charged defamation. One of the methods of Islamists who are radical is to use our judicial system against us. Even if they cannot win a case, they can sufficiently drain the resources of their adversaries and discourage other actions against their Muslim agenda. There are many peace-loving Muslims who are as offended by these actions as are most Americans. We need them to speak up in opposition to the sort of behavior.
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