Virginia’s Islamic Academy on Shaky Legal Ground
The controversial school funded by the Saudi Embassy had its corporate charter revoked in 2004 and has never filed required tax forms with the IRS.
An investigation by Pajamas Media has found that more trouble may be on the horizon for the Islamic Saudi Academy and the Saudi Embassy.
PJM first reported on the academy –a school sponsored by the Saudi Embassy– two weeks ago, when law enforcement authorities raided it looking for evidence that the school’s director, Abdullah Al-Shabnan, had covered up sex abuse allegations by a 5-year old student. The raid occurred just three days after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors had renewed the school’s lease despite evidence that the school continued to use textbooks promoting violence and religious hatred.
Since then Abdullah Al-Shabnan has been charged with failing to report the child abuse allegations and obstruction of justice. A protest was held last week in front of the academy and it received considerable local media coverage, including from the Washington Post. That coverage no doubt played a role earlier this week when in a stunning about-face the Fairfax Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the State Department asking them to determine whether the lease should be renewed or not in light of the report earlier this month by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that reviewed the academy’s textbooks and found that incendiary and hateful passages had not been removed.
The school has issued a press release claiming that the passages have been “mistranslated and misinterpreted,” and saying that the “textbooks are no longer at use at the Academy.” That contradicts statements made last week by school officials to the media that textbooks will be rewritten and reissued before the beginning of school. Why would the textbooks need to be rewritten if those under scrutiny are no longer in use?
The textbooks are not the only elements of the school that don’t hold up under scrutiny.
Virtually all of the establishment media press reports have wrongly claimed that the school operates independently of the embassy as a private entity. Even Tom Casey, the State Department’s deputy spokesman, made this error during his June 24 daily press briefing:
QUESTION: I understand that you’ve received a letter from the — from Fairfax County asking you whether you could give an opinion on the lease of the Saudi school in Alexandria and whether the county should extend that lease, which I am told it’s worth $2.2 million a year. But — just, I mean, do you expect to pronounce yourselves on that? Is that something that you –
MR. CASEY: Well, I think it’s something we’ve just gotten. We’ll certainly take a look at it and see what kind of response would be appropriate, but I — you know, it’s not something we’ve had a chance to really look through. As you know, this is a school that is incorporated and overseen through the county there. It’s not an institution that we have any sort of formal role in accrediting or managing. But certainly, we’ll take a look at the letter and if there’s some thoughts or advice that we can offer, we’ll certainly do it.
And State Department spokesman Nichole Thompson has also said:
This is a private school. It is not a part of the Saudi embassy. It is not part of a diplomatic mission.
These claims by State Department officials make clear their position that the Islamic Saudi Academy has maintained a separate corporate identity from the Saudi Embassy. But a review of the corporate records on file with the Virginia State Corporation Commission finds that the Islamic Saudi Academy’s corporate charter was terminated by the state on December 27, 2004. There is no indication from state records that the incorporation has been revived or renewed, and the last corporate report the school has filed with the state of Virginia that we could find was 2004 — the same year its corporate charter was terminated. A check of corporations in neighboring District of Columbia and Maryland found nothing for the academy.
Page 1 of 2 Next ->
Patrick Poole is a regular contributor to Pajamas Media, and an anti-terrorism consultant to law enforcement and the military.
 |
 |
 |
Podcasts |  PJM Home |
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
28 Comments
1. Richard:The Saudi’s are on their last legs. We’re paying them to run the country, and maintain 3 embassies in this country?
Jun 27, 2008 - 2:50 am 2. Always On Watch:Has everyone forotten that the VAST majority of the September 11, 2001 hijackers, and mass murderers were SAUDI ARABIAN?
Are we now in the business of raising that corrupt governments terrorist jihadist for them?
What in THE hell is going on in Fairfax?
The ISA has a record of having had some difficulties with serious matters for at least the past four years. Yet the school still operates?
Jun 27, 2008 - 5:25 am 3. Wayne:Richard; what’s going on in Fairfax is that the county is drifting left. The Democratic primary (that Connolly just won) was a contest between lefter and lefterer (kinda like the Dem presidential primary.) The P.C. content of the campaign junk mail this season was appalling. Virginia may go blue for the November elections due to the shift in the northern part of the state. People are affluent and feel safe, so they are comfortable enough for the luxury of moral vanity.
Jun 27, 2008 - 5:36 am 4. Lynn:Hmmm….Oily school, oily books, oily government officials and an oily media all combine to make OIL! No need to refine this recipe. And away we go!
Jun 27, 2008 - 6:08 am 5. RE:The US government’s deference to the Saudis is despicable. There is no other way to put it.
Jun 27, 2008 - 6:19 am 6. davod:“SAUDI ARABIAN?” or with Saudi Arabinasports?
Jun 27, 2008 - 7:01 am 7. davod:Sorry. I will start again.
Saudi Arabian? or with Saudi Arabian passport?
Jun 27, 2008 - 7:02 am 8. Patrick Poole:Andrew Cochran at Counterterrorism Blog has kindly posted a PDF of the Islamic Saudi Academy’s corporate history in Virginia showing the dissolution of the corporation in 2004:
http://counterterrorismblog.org/ISA%20VA%20corp%20history.pdf
Because this link was not static, there was no way to link to this info in the article. The link to the ISA’s corporate reports is static, however, and is already noted in the article:
http://scc-internet.scc.virginia.gov/corporate/arfilings/corpfilings.asp?charternumber=04982104
Here we see no further corporate activity or reporting since 2004, when the Islamic Saudi Academy, Inc. was dissolved by the State of Virginia.
Jun 27, 2008 - 7:08 am 9. Morton Doodslag:Sounds like a sweet little slice home for the Muslim invasion. Another murderous flag of the House of Islam ( Dar ul Islam ) has been established without a fight, or even the slightest resistance from us, on formerly filthy infidel land. Their jihad is moving forward with the connivance of our State Department, our President (who constantly flaks for them), our educational Academy, our media, and many other interests who refuse to see or discuss or learn about the arrogant triumphalist supremacist doctrine which motivates the Saudis, and all good Muslims everywhere. It is the brazen war doctrine of Islam. Not “radical Islam”, not a hijacked version of a “great world religion”, and certainly not a “Religion of Peace” (TM). This Saudi “academy” is the real deal.
Jun 27, 2008 - 7:26 am 10. rookie1824:gerry connolly’s publicly charging “opponents of the academy’s lease renewal of “slander” for continuing to raise questions about the school’s curriculum,” translates into another democrat choosing to live by the oft-quoted, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. they’ll stoop to anything to get elected. the “real” slander is connolly’s accusation.
Jun 27, 2008 - 8:03 am 11. J.J. Sefton:Somebody please dunk ‘em all in a mikvah…
Jun 27, 2008 - 8:26 am 12. Dawn:Apparently Virginians have their heads up their collective you know whats. How can we protect ourselves from these people if we just keep letting them walk all over us, our laws, our way of life? Close the school. We have plenty of school options available. If our schools aren’t good enough, go home.
Jun 27, 2008 - 8:44 am 13. Islamic Saudi Academy Latest Example of Saudis’ Distribution of Propaganda : Freedom Alert 2:[...] June 27: Patrick Poole has posted an explosive disclosure at Pajamas Media: – that while ISA operated for almost seven years as an entity separate from the Saudi Embassy, ISA [...]
Jun 27, 2008 - 9:21 am 14. Eowyn:I’m with Dawn.
They want Saudi-style education for their children. Wouldn’t they get it better back home? And WITHOUT the influence of the “filthy infidels.”
Jun 27, 2008 - 3:42 pm 15. Richard:Wayne,
I know NoVa’s out of control, and they believe that they truly rule the state. I have news for them however. There are still men and women in this lovely state, in which I live willing to do what it takes to make sure this crap isn’t perpetuated, and in effect, create an incubator for more of the “plants” who were predominantly SAUDI ARABIAN.
And to davod: Check it yourself. 15 of those bastards.
Jun 27, 2008 - 4:42 pm 16. Kay:Frankly I don’t care if they had a Denmark passport.
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2002/DCI_18_June_testimony_new.pdf
Sic Semper Tyrannis Language:Latin
Translation:Thus Always to Tyrants Adoption:1776
With the current hit in housing prices, NoVa is one of the worst hit in the country-its been a massive bubble for years. I don’t think there is nearly enough ’security’ for it to go anywhere near blue this November….
Jun 27, 2008 - 5:27 pm 17. Kay:And this school is the least of our worries. There are by far more dangerous schools here in this nation. The left is obsessed with bowing to islamification in this nation. We are nowhere near as bad off as Europe as become, but if the Democrats continue to get its way, they will reach the zero security level in this nation in no time. The irony is that the vast majority of democrats have no idea why they are one in the first place(the vast majority are single-issue voters) and are just on for the ride.
Jun 27, 2008 - 5:31 pm 18. Al Jizz Whines Over Saudi Islamic Academy: “These flowers, which have just begun to bloom, have sprouted on American soil” » Winds Of Jihad:[...] will. “Virginia’s Islamic Academy on Shaky Legal Ground,” by Patrick Poole for Pajamas Media via [...]
Jun 27, 2008 - 5:32 pm 19. tanstaafl:Why do I get the impression that all these “issues” with the longstanding, (est. 1984) Saudi Academy in Alexandria, VA is something like trying to close the barn door after the horses have escaped ?
Also problematical is the attempt in NY to establish The Khalil Gibran school (t-shirts, “Intifada NYC”) and another public school in Minnesota where Islamic prayers are part of the everyday curriculum.
I mean, why not just hand over the keys to the kingdom to the Islamic agendists ?
Jun 28, 2008 - 8:05 am 20. Jihad in the U.S. -- Oh, yes, it's underway here too... - Page 15 - Trackpads Community:[...] probably will. "Virginia
Jun 28, 2008 - 9:05 am 21. US Woman:One of the major cources of the persistent criticism with Islam/Islamic nations is that while they insist on their right to institutions in non-Islamic nations, they are fanatically opposed to any such reciprocal institutions on their home ground.
Even in an ‘open’ society, shouldn’t the line in the sand be drawn against such lop-sided magnanimousness (is that a word)? We make tit-for-tat rules in trade agreements (or reserve the right to do so, anyway).
Is absolutely EVERYTHING allowed just to prove we’re an open society? When is enough enough?
Jun 30, 2008 - 5:29 am 22. Tommy Boy:The Saudis have spent their money wisely in the United States. I believe they “own” many of our politicians so-called leaders including President Bush and the Clintons. All one need do is find the money trail and follow it. Yes, why is it that Saudi Arabia has never been held to account for the fact that 15 of the 19 suicide bombers were Saudi citizens? Osama bin Laden is a Saudi. Wars have been fought over less. Want to speak about racism? The Saudis are one of the most racist in the world. They only made slavery illegal in 1963, but people are still owned there. Want to talk about tolerance? No Jews allowed in Saudi. Period. And no infidels allowed to visit either Medina or Mecca. Period. A Christian can’t display a cross in public and can’t even worship except in secret. And our elected officials allow them to fund—and run—this Islamic academy here, on our soil. Bravo Zulu to our elected officials!
Jun 30, 2008 - 6:46 am 23. asdfs:I say shut down every mosque in the US untill a church is built in Saudi. 1 for 1 basis.
Jul 2, 2008 - 7:11 am 24. T:Unbelievable, I am an American citizen. I attended public schools and served my at US Army for eight years. My sons attend ISA. It’s a very good school; I have seen all their books and attended many classes. Don’t believe these lies. At one time we targeted the Japanese and the Germans and then the Catholics and the Jews. Now all eyes are on the Muslims of this country. ISA is a very good school.
Jul 3, 2008 - 1:15 pm 25. You can’t eat your way out of hungry! « Across Walk:[...] domestic terror base we don’t want to think about. In case you’re puzzled, look up the school in Virginia our government has investigated, threatened to shut down, but won’t because (see above [...]
Jul 12, 2008 - 11:08 am 26. Big Lu:Please!!! Do your research, and check it again…….remember the deal over 30 years ago. We’ll help you build the rigs, and help you drill. We’ll buy your oil, you use your profits to pay our Architects, and Construction companies to build for you, Lavish Hotels, Apartments, Cars (100% Silver Audi), and the list goes on. I have been against the teachings of violence. Whether it’s done in school, church, and at home. I’ve been a part of the US public school system for over 25yrs, and there is voilence being taught on every grade level, and even today, it hasn’t stopped. This coming 2008-09 school year, the free career building programs that has helped the public H.S. school students make better choices in life, will be slashed from the constantly shrinking list. What’s left for them to do……..Generation Kill?….OOOOOOPS!!! Too Late, It’s already here.
Jul 15, 2008 - 8:41 pm 27. State Department will not Investigate Islamic School Despite Obligation « Unto the Breach Newsdesk:[...] Poole, “Virginia’s Islamic Academy on Shaky Legal Ground,” June 27, 2008, at http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/islamic-saudi-academy-on-shaky-legal-ground/ (August 22, 2008); Monty Tayloe, “State Dept. Stands Aside,” Fairfax County Times, July [...]
Sep 5, 2008 - 9:52 pm 28. Quran Tutor:muslims are being targeted in the whole World.
Aug 23, 2009 - 7:58 am