Engaging NY Mayor on Opposition to Eid School Holiday
July 29, 2009
To engage or disengage? This is the question many leaders of the New York City Muslim community have been asking themselves recently when it comes to Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
Given the Mayor's recent public statement declaring he would likely veto the recently passed City Council bill in favor of adopting two additional holidays in observance of Eid into the public school calendar.
MPAC was part of the coalition of over 80 religious, ethnic, and civil rights organizations that have been advocating for the bill for over two years. When the bill -- sponsored by Council member Robert Jackson (also a Muslim) -- was passed a few weeks ago, local Muslims were deeply disappointed to hear the Mayor announce within hours his plan to veto the bill for fear that there are already too many days off in observance of religious holidays in the city's public schools.
Our MPAC-NYC board took a deliberate stance of engagement, recognizing that it is indeed in these difficult times that dialogue (not silence) is most needed. For this reason, we attended a breakfast held last week at Gracie Mansion in celebration of Arab Heritage Week.
As head of the NYC-MPAC Board, I attended the breakfast and attempted to speak with the mayor privately regarding his recent threat to veto the school holiday bill. We are committed to maintaining open and frank dialogue with the Mayor in the hope of gaining his support.
-- Dalia Mahmoud (dalia@mpac.org)
MPAC-NYC Board Chair
