LA public school district, superintendent Mohammed Z. Islam, assigns students to debate veracity of Holocaust

The assignment asked students to write about whether the Holocaust was “merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain.” Has any reporter had the guts to inquire as to whose idea this was? Was Superintendent Islam aware of the assignment before it aroused controversy?

And now police are saying that Islam received death threats because of the assignment, even though we’re also told in this article that no parents complained about it. Have police actually seen the threats received? Are they sure that the threats themselves weren’t fabricated to deflect unwelcome attention and claim victim status, as we have seen in so many cases?

In any case, they posted guards outside school district headquarters: threats or claimed threats to Muslims always get action, while death threats against counter-jihadists (I just got another yesterday) get scant law enforcement attention. They’re just business as usual.

“School District Officials Reportedly Threatened Over Holocaust Assignment,” CBS Los Angeles, May 5, 2014 (thanks to all who sent this in):

RIALTO (CBSLA.com) — School district officials in Rialto have received death threats in connection to a class assignment instructing students to debate the veracity of the Holocaust, according to reports Monday.

Rialto Unified School District officials first responded last week to reports of the assignment, which asked students to compose a written debate over whether the Holocaust was “merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain.”

The controversial question in the assignment read: “…write an argumentative essay, based upon cited textual evidence, in which you explain whether or not you believe this was an actual event in history or merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain wealth…”

The district initially defended the eighth-grade assignment – which was one part of an 18-piece essay – as an exercise to help students “evaluate the quality of evidence made by advocates or opponents of an issue.”

Rialto Police Captain Randy De Anda told KCAL 9′s Tom Wait the school district’s interim superintendent, Mohammed Z. Islam, received death threats in connection with the assignment. A district spokesperson was also threatened, De Anda said.

Officers were seen Monday standing guard outside district headquarters in response to the reported threats.

“We do not know who the suspect is at this time,” De Anda said. “However we do have some leads to follow up on.”

District officials – who say they have not received any complaints from parents about the project – are now revising the assignment, admitting it was a mistake, Wait reported.

“We are striking the sentence that claims, ‘Did the Holocaust occur?’ Absolutely the Holocaust occurred,” Rialto District spokesperson Syeda Jafri. “It was an error and we have to correct it,” Jafri added.

Jafri also said that the Education Services department was behind the assignment, and will be required to undergo sensitivity training….

LA public school district, superintendent Mohammed Z. Islam, assigns students to debate veracity of Holocaust

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