Posted on 06/08/2003 12:30:59 PM PDT by Land_of_Lincoln_John
Chicago Public Schools officials admitted Friday that they mistakenly allowed a Bridgeview man to work as a substitute teacher for 14 months after the FBI told them he had been convicted of financing terrorism in the Middle East.
Muhammad Salah, who served nearly 5 years in prison in Israel and whose name is on a U.S. government list of terrorists, worked as a substitute teacher from January 2002 until March. Schools officials continued to give him substitute jobs even after FBI agents in April 2002 recommended that he not be permitted to continue teaching.
"We had planned to stop using him as a sub but we didn't," said schools spokesman Peter Cunningham. "It may have just been a slip-up."
Oops!
Cunningham said schools officials are trying to determine why Salah kept working.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Salah is being removed from a list of approved substitutes because he lied on both his employment application and on release forms that authorize a background check, schools officials said. They said Salah said he never had been convicted of a crime. City Colleges of Chicago also fired Salah on Wednesday for failing to disclose his Israeli conviction on a job application.Sounds to me like he wanted this teaching job very badly, for some reason. It's difficult to believe that his reason was to make money.
This is an excellent "lesson" for public schools. Good job bringing the story out of hiding like this.
btw, the Tribune seems to have no problem publishing a huge article on McCarthyism's affect on a Russian immigrant in the same edition. (And I thought Connecticut was rather leftist.)
Illinois is a problem. I know, I live here.
Well, my guess is that he kept working because the school officials KEPT PAYING HIM TO WORK. These pathetic "non-answers" are typical of most journalism today and are one of the main causes of my dispair for our society. If I was a reporter, I'd like to think that I would get better answers or say only that the interviewee was non-respnsive.
NEWSMAX.com (UPI): "CHICAGO EDUCRATS FIRE ARAB TEACHER WITH TERROR TIES" (ARTICLE NOTE: The teacher is identified as Muhammed Salah, age 50.) (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "In 1998, the government seized about $1.4 million in assets from Salah and a nonprofit group alleging the funds were destined for the Islamic terrorist group Hamas, including a terrorist attack that killed an Israeli soldier.") (June 6, 2003) (Read More...)
stepping back in time...ICT.org.il - THE INTERNATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE FOR COUNTER TERRORISM - Spotlight: "PARENTS OF SLAIN AMERICAN TEEN FILE SUIT AGAINST HAMAS FRONT GROUPS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Also named was the Quranic Literacy Institute, based in Oak Lawn near Chicago, Illinois. In June 1998 U.S. law enforcement officials seized $1.4 million in cash and property from the Quranic institute. The Institute claims to be a non-profit group devoted to the publication of Islamic texts. However, according to the FBI, the group was a front group for Hamas fund-raising activities. Justice Department officials said the assets seized were used to finance Hamas activities in Israel, including the purchase of weapons, extortion, kidnapping and murder. Hamas polit-buro chief named as defendant, along with Chicago man Also among the defendants were Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzouk, head of Hamas political bureau and Mohammed Abdul Hamid Khalil Salah, head of the Quranic Literacy Institute. The FBI has linked Salah to an extensive network of money laundering activities, including bank transactions, fraudulent land deals, and wire transfers from the Middle East, Switzerland, and the U.S. between Salah, the Quranic Literacy Institute, and Hamas. The FBI claims that Salah spent more than $100,000 in "direct support of Hamas military activities," including, according to Israeli sources, the purchase of weapons used in terror attacks in Israel. For example, the M-16 rifle used in the murder of an Israeli soldier in October, 1992 was bought with money transferred to Hamas by Salah.") (May 15, 2000) (Read More...)
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