Supporters and advocates filled the gymnasium at the Islamic Cultural Center on the Upper East Side Tuesday evening, April 29, for the Muslim school holidays community forum.
This was an opportunity for those in the community to express what this fight means for the Muslim children who attend public school and make a case for why it’s so important to be included on the school year’s calendar.
The fight is for two holidays: Eid Ui-Fitr- the feast of breaking fast- and Eid Ui-Adha- festival of sacrifice, to be put on the public school calendar because they are the only two times throughout the year that Muslims celebrate with family for religious reasons.
Education is just as important to the Muslim community as other cultural and religious communities in the city. This makes it a difficult decision for public school children and their parents to choose between honoring their religion and missing a day of school including making up work that is missed, especially when Jewish and Christian students don’t have to do the same.
A mother of six daughters who attended public high school, Manal Zawam, spoke about the difficult decision as a parent who values education and honors her religion, “it was very, very difficult to have my children miss school and their work,” said Zawam.
She remains optimistic that this will no longer be an issue for her youngest daughter who’s still in school. “Everything is going to be successful, Inshallah,” she concluded.
In the community 95 percent of the children attend public schools making one out of eight students Muslim.
“We won’t stop, we can’t stop. This effort is about our children. It’s about educational justice. It’s about Muslim school holidays that unite segments of our diverse population,” said Aliya Latif, Coalition for Muslim School Holidays.
Public Advocate Letitia James, District 7 Council Member Mark Levine, and Deputy Commissioner of Community Outreach of the Community Affairs Unit to the Mayor’s Office Roberto Perez came and spoke in support of this fight.
During Mayor De Blasio’s campaign last year he said he was committed to making these holidays inclusive on the school calendar and now they’re holding him accountable to his word.
“We’re not here to convince the mayor to make this a school holiday we are here to tell the mayor that we are waiting for you to do this and waiting for you to do it as soon as possible,” said Linda Sarsour, director of Arab American Association of NY. “We want our children to feel included, respected and recognized for being Muslim students and being proud of who they are.”
The fight for Eid holidays to be included began in 2006 when state testing fell on the same day as one of the holidays, and it caused parents of public school children to make a difficult decision. It began just to insure that state exams didn’t fall on the same day as the holidays then through research it evolved into today’s fight.
In 2009, there was a unanimous vote by city council leaders in support of a resolution for the two holidays to be added to the school calendar, but Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor of Education Joel Klein refused to incorporate them. Since then it died down until the campaigns for new city officials began in 2013.
“It became an issue in the mayoral campaign, it became an issue in almost every borough president’s campaign, and almost every member’s city council campaign,” said Robert Jackson, former District 7 City Council Member and Chair of Education as well as a fellow Muslim.
Fortunately, this year’s school calendar will not coincide with Eid holidays, but the issue is still important in order to be added before the 2015-2016 school year.
The most compelling speaker of the evening was third grader, Imen Masmoudi, from P.S. 033 reading her letter to Mayor De Blasio.
“I want to know when you’re going to keep your promise to close school on my holiday,” said Mas-moudi as she read her letter. “Would you go to school or spend time with your family on your holiday? It’s not fair that I have to decide.”
Another student in the 9th grade at Stuyvesant High School, Fatima Irfan, read a letter to the mayor while being supported by other students from her high school behind her. “This is an unfair choice and a missed educational opportunity,” said Irfan. “I cherish every moment because through the entire hectic year this is the only chance I get to spend with my entire family.”
Being included on the school calendar is not just about having the day off to celebrate, but the opportunity for their peers to be knowledgeable about their holiday tradition just like they are with other cultures such as Christmas, Yom Kippur, Cinco de Mayo, and Chinese New Year.
“Once schools close down for Eid holidays imagine the opportunities for conversations and the amount of knowledge that will be shared,” said Irfan.
