Fri, Nov 7, 2003 at 4:55:27 pm
Ron Panetta, president of a school board in Dearborn Michigan, recently received a letter from Imad Hamad, head of the Michigan chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, urging him to declare the Muslim festival of Eid a school holiday and give students the day off. (Hat tip: TS.)
The letter contained what can only be described as a veiled threat:
"We are urging you to thoroughly review this matter, and consider the various concerns, before making an ultimate decision. Rushing into decisions that involve such sensitive issues might bring serious ramifications and unexpected unhealthy consequences," the letter said.
But when Panetta reported the letter to local police, they brushed him off:
Panetta said that when he read the letter, "I was confused as to why someone would be threatening me or our school board on how we handle our employees or calendar."
Panetta said he contacted the FBI, who told him to contact the Dearborn Heights Police Department. Panetta filed a report with the police.
On Wednesday, Dearborn Heights Police Chief Michael Gust said "we don't consider it to be a threat at all."
But Panetta said the letter was open to interpretation and that Hamad could have meant a physical threat.
"It's so vague in how it's worded," Panetta said.
Hamad said that "maybe the paragraph wasn't perfectly worded, and it could have been worded in a different way. But common sense says you can't take this as a threat."
The backpedaling is pretty obvious, but it was apparently enough to convince the dhimmi-ized Dearborn Heights Police Department.
UPDATE: Imad Hamad is the Palestinian “activist” who was going to be honored by the FBI before the truth about his connections to terrorist groups came out.