From Jihad Watch:
The Ottoman Charter Schools of Pennsylvania
“Go sell crazy somewhere else—we're all stocked up here!” That is one of the great lines in 1990s American cinema. It was spoken by the misanthropic recluse played by Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets, and it pretty well describes the business we're in, resisting jihad. Every day, at least one of the news stories Robert or Marisol posts reads like something that couldn't actually be happening, but instead is a first draft of a bad idea discarded by Evelyn Waugh or Anthony Burgess for a satire they thought to write, but tossed into the trash can as too implausibly caustic. Then somebody at Jihadwatch, desperately short of copy, fished the idea out, flattened the crumpled paper on his desk, retyped the thing and posted it as fact. Indeed, Robert and I have discussed the idea of creating an April Fools' edition, a Jihad “Onion” issue full of stories so wildly outrageous that readers would spot them instantly as parodies. But he's inclined not to do it, since (as he put it): “How could people tell? What's already happening is so completely insane I doubt you could improve on it.” Indeed, I've written acid satires in the past, only to see them pretty much come true before I could get them published. The speed with which reality outpaces parody these days is deeply dispiriting. Even with the Internet, it's hard to iron out the typos in a timely satire before real headlines spoil the thing. It's as if these horrific ideas that come to me are puppets like Pinocchio—and Satan loved them so much he made them real.
Which brings me to today's installment: The Ottoman Charter Schools of Pennsylvania. Doesn't it sound like some bitter fantasy cooked up over pork rinds and bourbon after a gun show? Perhaps it's the sequel to a bleak daydream like: The Cloned Scientologist Sex Slaves of Hawaii. Only this one is all too real, as the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Sunday:
Fethullah Gulen is a major Islamic political figure in Turkey, but he lives in self-imposed exile in a Poconos enclave and gained his green card by convincing a federal judge in Philadelphia that he was an influential educational figure in the United States.
As evidence, his lawyer pointed to the charter schools, now more than 120 in 25 states, that his followers - Turkish scientists, engineers, and businessmen - have opened, including Truebright Science Academy in North Philadelphia and another charter in State College, Pa.
That's right, the Poconos, home of cheesy resorts with heart-shaped hot tubs where middle-aged American Methodist couples go for second honeymoons to “reconnect.” But amidst that world of comfy, silly normalcy there's at least one man who's thinking wistfully about the Caliphate, the jizya, and janissaries. Jihadwatch has reported before on Gulen's reputation as the “Turkish Khomeini,” citing a report by Asia News that stated that Gulen
has been criticised by a large number of secularists who believe that underneath a veneer of humanist philosophy, Gülen plans to turn Turkey’s secular state into a theocracy.
Secular Kemalists have compared him to Khomeini and fear that his return to Turkey might turn Ankara into another Tehran. The governments of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also weary and suspicious of his “Turkish schools promoted by Islamic missionaries.”
At the basis of Gülen’s teachings is the notion that state and religion should be reconnected as they were in Ottoman times and that Turkey should play the role of beacon for the Balkans and the republics in the Caucasus.
Oh, that Fethullah Gulen. Now that we know the hero of the story, let's consider his accomplishments. According to the Inquirer, Gulen's public charter schools
are funded with millions of taxpayer dollars. Truebright alone receives more than $3 million from the Philadelphia School District for its 348 pupils. Tansu Cidav, the acting chief executive officer, described it as a regular public school.
"Charter schools are public schools," he said. "We follow the state curriculum."
But federal agencies - including the FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education - are investigating whether some charter school employees are kicking back part of their salaries to a Muslim movement founded by Gulen known as Hizmet, or Service, according to knowledgeable sources.
The Inquirer then throws in the obligatory, “Please don't blow up our editorial offices!” disclaimer:
Unlike in Turkey, where Gulen's followers have been accused of pushing for an authoritarian Islamic state, there is no indication the American charter network has a religious agenda in the classroom.
Religious scholars consider the Gulen strain of Islam moderate, and the investigation has no link to terrorism.
Of course, if AsiaNews is right, Gulen doesn't need to employ terrorist tactics. If democratic “reforms” in Turkey take hold and cut the already slackening grip of its secularist military and constitution, orthodox Muslims like Gulen will take power by the ballot box. As the anti-Semitic French authoritarian Charles Maurras once said, rakishly: “We will use any means to come to power—even democratic ones.” So will Gulen.
But if you can read past this bit of dhimmi nonsense the rest of the Inquirer report is thoroughly damning—of the broken American immigration system. Because as it turns out, Gulen's organization is staffing its schools with Muslim imports from Turkey. The paper notes that the investigation is “focused on whether hundreds of Turkish teachers, administrators, and other staffers employed under the H1B visa program are misusing taxpayer money.” And further:
Another aim of the Gulen schools, a federal official said, is fostering goodwill toward Turkey, which is led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the pro-Islamic prime minister, whose government recently detained journalists after they alleged that Gulen followers were infiltrating security agencies.
Gulen schools are among the nation's largest users of the H1B visas. In 2009, the schools received government approvals for 684 visas - more than Google Inc. (440) but fewer than a technology powerhouse such as Intel Corp. (1,203).
The visas are used to attract foreign workers with math, science, and technology skills to jobs for which there are shortages of qualified American workers. Officials at some of the charter schools, which specialize in math and science, have said they needed to fill teaching spots with Turks, according to parents and former staffers.
Ruth Hocker, former president of the parents' group at the Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School in State College, began asking questions when popular, certified American teachers were replaced by uncertified Turkish men who often spoke limited English and were paid higher salaries. Most were placed in math and science classes.
"They would tell us they couldn't find qualified American teachers," Hocker said.
That made no sense in Pennsylvania State University's hometown, she said: "They graduate here every year."
Other school parents described how uncertified teachers on H1B visas were moved from one charter school to another when their "emergency" teaching credentials expired and told of a pattern of sudden turnovers of Turkish business managers, administrators, and board members.
...
Further evidence of the ties comes from a disaffected former teacher from Turkey who told federal investigators that the Gulen Movement had divided the United States into five regions, according to knowledgeable sources. A general manager in each coordinates the activities of the schools and related foundations and cultural centers, he told authorities.
Ohio, California, and Texas have the largest numbers of Gulen-related schools. Ohio has 19, which are operated by Concept Schools Inc., and most are known as Horizon Science Academies. There are 14 in California operated by the Magnolia Foundation. Texas has 33 known as Harmony schools, run by the Cosmos Foundation.
The next time someone tells you that fear of sharia and stealth jihad is just some paranoid fantasy, tell them about the neo-Ottoman theorist sitting in a heart-shaped tub in the Poconos running a string of Turkish-staffed schools throughout America on the taxpayer's dime. And he will think you are crazy. Then show him the evidence—rub it in his face—and he will admit you are right, then dismiss you as an “Islamophobe.” In response, remind him that the person in The Lord of the Rings who dismissed Gandalf the Grey as “Stormcrow” was the traitor, Grima Wormtongue. Then smile, wink and walk away with the line: “Don't behead the messenger.” Say it in your best Jack Nicholson voice.
Posted by Roland Shirk on March 20, 2011 9:33 PM
The Ottoman Charter Schools of Pennsylvania
“Go sell crazy somewhere else—we're all stocked up here!” That is one of the great lines in 1990s American cinema. It was spoken by the misanthropic recluse played by Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets, and it pretty well describes the business we're in, resisting jihad. Every day, at least one of the news stories Robert or Marisol posts reads like something that couldn't actually be happening, but instead is a first draft of a bad idea discarded by Evelyn Waugh or Anthony Burgess for a satire they thought to write, but tossed into the trash can as too implausibly caustic. Then somebody at Jihadwatch, desperately short of copy, fished the idea out, flattened the crumpled paper on his desk, retyped the thing and posted it as fact. Indeed, Robert and I have discussed the idea of creating an April Fools' edition, a Jihad “Onion” issue full of stories so wildly outrageous that readers would spot them instantly as parodies. But he's inclined not to do it, since (as he put it): “How could people tell? What's already happening is so completely insane I doubt you could improve on it.” Indeed, I've written acid satires in the past, only to see them pretty much come true before I could get them published. The speed with which reality outpaces parody these days is deeply dispiriting. Even with the Internet, it's hard to iron out the typos in a timely satire before real headlines spoil the thing. It's as if these horrific ideas that come to me are puppets like Pinocchio—and Satan loved them so much he made them real.
Which brings me to today's installment: The Ottoman Charter Schools of Pennsylvania. Doesn't it sound like some bitter fantasy cooked up over pork rinds and bourbon after a gun show? Perhaps it's the sequel to a bleak daydream like: The Cloned Scientologist Sex Slaves of Hawaii. Only this one is all too real, as the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Sunday:
Fethullah Gulen is a major Islamic political figure in Turkey, but he lives in self-imposed exile in a Poconos enclave and gained his green card by convincing a federal judge in Philadelphia that he was an influential educational figure in the United States.
As evidence, his lawyer pointed to the charter schools, now more than 120 in 25 states, that his followers - Turkish scientists, engineers, and businessmen - have opened, including Truebright Science Academy in North Philadelphia and another charter in State College, Pa.
That's right, the Poconos, home of cheesy resorts with heart-shaped hot tubs where middle-aged American Methodist couples go for second honeymoons to “reconnect.” But amidst that world of comfy, silly normalcy there's at least one man who's thinking wistfully about the Caliphate, the jizya, and janissaries. Jihadwatch has reported before on Gulen's reputation as the “Turkish Khomeini,” citing a report by Asia News that stated that Gulen
has been criticised by a large number of secularists who believe that underneath a veneer of humanist philosophy, Gülen plans to turn Turkey’s secular state into a theocracy.
Secular Kemalists have compared him to Khomeini and fear that his return to Turkey might turn Ankara into another Tehran. The governments of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also weary and suspicious of his “Turkish schools promoted by Islamic missionaries.”
At the basis of Gülen’s teachings is the notion that state and religion should be reconnected as they were in Ottoman times and that Turkey should play the role of beacon for the Balkans and the republics in the Caucasus.
Oh, that Fethullah Gulen. Now that we know the hero of the story, let's consider his accomplishments. According to the Inquirer, Gulen's public charter schools
are funded with millions of taxpayer dollars. Truebright alone receives more than $3 million from the Philadelphia School District for its 348 pupils. Tansu Cidav, the acting chief executive officer, described it as a regular public school.
"Charter schools are public schools," he said. "We follow the state curriculum."
But federal agencies - including the FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education - are investigating whether some charter school employees are kicking back part of their salaries to a Muslim movement founded by Gulen known as Hizmet, or Service, according to knowledgeable sources.
The Inquirer then throws in the obligatory, “Please don't blow up our editorial offices!” disclaimer:
Unlike in Turkey, where Gulen's followers have been accused of pushing for an authoritarian Islamic state, there is no indication the American charter network has a religious agenda in the classroom.
Religious scholars consider the Gulen strain of Islam moderate, and the investigation has no link to terrorism.
Of course, if AsiaNews is right, Gulen doesn't need to employ terrorist tactics. If democratic “reforms” in Turkey take hold and cut the already slackening grip of its secularist military and constitution, orthodox Muslims like Gulen will take power by the ballot box. As the anti-Semitic French authoritarian Charles Maurras once said, rakishly: “We will use any means to come to power—even democratic ones.” So will Gulen.
But if you can read past this bit of dhimmi nonsense the rest of the Inquirer report is thoroughly damning—of the broken American immigration system. Because as it turns out, Gulen's organization is staffing its schools with Muslim imports from Turkey. The paper notes that the investigation is “focused on whether hundreds of Turkish teachers, administrators, and other staffers employed under the H1B visa program are misusing taxpayer money.” And further:
Another aim of the Gulen schools, a federal official said, is fostering goodwill toward Turkey, which is led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the pro-Islamic prime minister, whose government recently detained journalists after they alleged that Gulen followers were infiltrating security agencies.
Gulen schools are among the nation's largest users of the H1B visas. In 2009, the schools received government approvals for 684 visas - more than Google Inc. (440) but fewer than a technology powerhouse such as Intel Corp. (1,203).
The visas are used to attract foreign workers with math, science, and technology skills to jobs for which there are shortages of qualified American workers. Officials at some of the charter schools, which specialize in math and science, have said they needed to fill teaching spots with Turks, according to parents and former staffers.
Ruth Hocker, former president of the parents' group at the Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School in State College, began asking questions when popular, certified American teachers were replaced by uncertified Turkish men who often spoke limited English and were paid higher salaries. Most were placed in math and science classes.
"They would tell us they couldn't find qualified American teachers," Hocker said.
That made no sense in Pennsylvania State University's hometown, she said: "They graduate here every year."
Other school parents described how uncertified teachers on H1B visas were moved from one charter school to another when their "emergency" teaching credentials expired and told of a pattern of sudden turnovers of Turkish business managers, administrators, and board members.
...
Further evidence of the ties comes from a disaffected former teacher from Turkey who told federal investigators that the Gulen Movement had divided the United States into five regions, according to knowledgeable sources. A general manager in each coordinates the activities of the schools and related foundations and cultural centers, he told authorities.
Ohio, California, and Texas have the largest numbers of Gulen-related schools. Ohio has 19, which are operated by Concept Schools Inc., and most are known as Horizon Science Academies. There are 14 in California operated by the Magnolia Foundation. Texas has 33 known as Harmony schools, run by the Cosmos Foundation.
The next time someone tells you that fear of sharia and stealth jihad is just some paranoid fantasy, tell them about the neo-Ottoman theorist sitting in a heart-shaped tub in the Poconos running a string of Turkish-staffed schools throughout America on the taxpayer's dime. And he will think you are crazy. Then show him the evidence—rub it in his face—and he will admit you are right, then dismiss you as an “Islamophobe.” In response, remind him that the person in The Lord of the Rings who dismissed Gandalf the Grey as “Stormcrow” was the traitor, Grima Wormtongue. Then smile, wink and walk away with the line: “Don't behead the messenger.” Say it in your best Jack Nicholson voice.
Posted by Roland Shirk on March 20, 2011 9:33 PM
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