Hannah Grossman | Fox News
A Fairfax, Virginia, school board member recommended curriculum materials for teachers to use for their lesson plans which opposed using terms such as “radical Islamic terror,” “Islamic terrorists” and “jihadists” when discussing the history of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Abrar Omeish is a school board member and Georgetown law student who has become marred in controversy over a series of controversial statements. In one instance, she refused to vote on a motion to commemorate 9/11 victims.
Fox News Digital found that in 2021 Omeish recommended public school teachers use a “culturally responsive” curriculum guide for their lesson plans about 9/11 history.
It said, “Do not frame the lessons as a chance to explore the definition of terrorism or a clash of two different societies/cultures.”
“There is much disagreement about what terrorism means, and it’s often used in a biased manner,” the guide continued.
Teachers should screen themselves for biases against Arab-Muslims using an online test before educating students on 9/11, it recommended. To create a “safe space” teachers should “wear cultural items from Muslim countries as a show of support (e.g., scarf).”
In order to be “culturally responsive,” teachers should focus “on the impact of 9/11 on communities of color, including Muslim Americans,” the guide said.
Teachers should bring up “Islamophobia at the structural level (policies that were enacted at national, state, and local levels) and individual level (policies at the individual level, outside of government).”
“Muslim communities… responses of resilience but also depression and anxiety” should also be raised about the topic.
Fox News Digital reached out to Omeish for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Omeish was accused of attacking 9/11 victims after she refused to vote on a resolution to honor the lives of 2,977 Americans killed by al-Qaida terrorists on 9/11.
The resolution was not “anti-racist” enough and failed to address “state-sponsored traumas” experienced by Muslims, she appeared to suggest. A local Fairfax County editorial board called the rhetoric “callous.”
The local GOP called for Omeish’s ouster, stating, “Her cruel attacks on the memory of 9/11’s victims and heroes should be the last straw. They were not just incredibly tone deaf — they were vicious and, frankly, anti-American.”