When word got out last week that Fordson High School Principal Imad Fadlallah was accused of slapping a student, parents and students got angry. Fadlallah has raised the morale, the standards of behavior and the academic performance at Fordson over the past few years and no one believed he would have hit a student.

Sure enough, it was announced at a regularly scheduled school board meeting this week that an investigation had found the principal innocent of the charge.  Imad Fadlallah has been an excellent guiding force and a strong role model for students to follow. We wish every school had such leadership.

But there is a larger issue involved here and that is no less than the future of Fordson.  The student who was the focus of the allegation never stated that he was slapped but did say that he was pressured by staff members to make the claim. And from the passionate testimonies of parents and students who showed up at the meeting in the hundreds to support Fadlallah, it became clear that an evangelistic effort is underway at Fordson, pitting a few of the staff and an outside group against the 90% Arab and Muslim student population.

Students claimed that disparaging and discriminatory remarks are regularly made to them about their religion, their ethnicity and their culture in an effort to undermine the pride Fadlallah has instilled in them.  A parent who is also a pastor affiliated with the outside group has used school sporting events to try and convert students to his way of thinking and worshipping they say.

The board and Superintendent Dr. John Artis promised to have another investigation conducted and to take disciplinary action if necessary. A lengthy, drawn-out investigation is not necessay, because students and parents know who the offenders are. The community will be watching the progress and the outcome of this investigation. If the problem is not resolved now, it will fester and grow and reappear.   Our children have the absolute right to be educated in an atmosphere conducive to learning and to instilling pride and self esteem so that they may go on to become contributing citizens of this country. 

The Arab American community deserves a pat on the back for the united, organized and timely way they responded to this crisis involving their children. Unfortunately in the past, such unity and organization have often been lacking. Our detractors knew that and acted accordingly.

But this community action laid the foundation for a new era of maturity in Arab American activism. A multi-national group of parents and students spoke eloquently to the issue in front of the board, refused to allow the attempted politicization of the issue to derail their efforts, and voiced their grievances clearly. And they were successful in getting their point across.

These are the strategies for success. Applied to domestic and foreign policy alike, the Arab American community can make all the difference. Indeed we are obligated to do so. Let’s keep up the good work.