Chicago area Islamic day school closes Friday after receiving "hate letter"
CHICAGO (CBS) – An Islamic day school in southwest suburban Bridgeview chose to close on Friday and switch to remote learning after receiving what its principal called a "threatening hate letter."
Tammie Ismail, principal of the all-girls Aqsa School, wrote to parents that the school received the letter through the mail on Thursday. She said she immediately informed Bridgeview police, the Cook County Sheriff's Office, and Illinois State Police about the letter.
She said the school was also on a soft lockdown on Thursday because of the letter.
Ismail told CBS News Chicago by phone Thursday night that the school convened an emergency meeting of Islamic schools in the area as soon as they received the letter to alert them. Ismail's school is also increasing security.
"The letter itself was very violent," Ismail said, adding the person who wrote it referenced the hate crime and stabbing death of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, in Plainfield Township.
The letter was "applauding his killing," Ismail said, and called the man accused of the killing a "national treasure." She said it was riddled with racist, anti-Palestinian, and anti-Muslim language, and discussed killing Muslims and Palestinians.
"I do feel a lot of the rhetoric used in this letter echoes a lot of the really hateful rhetoric that some media outlets have put out," Ismail said. "It dehumanizes Muslims and Palestinians in particular. Because when you dehumanize people, then terrible things happen because then you see them as the 'other.'"
She added many of her students are afraid for their safety and having nightmares – not only after Wadea's murder but from the stories and images they've seen of Palestinians killed in Gaza.
"It's incredibly difficult as an educator to see your students traumatized by seeing the inhumanity. Our children at our school – we want them to be proud of who they are, Muslim and Palestinian, and not feel like being [Palestinian and Muslim] is a reason for people to attack them," she said. "They need to feel safe. You cannot learn without safety and security."
Ismail said parents of students at Aqsa school are afraid and nervous for their children to return to in-person learning. The school is taking it day by day, beginning with e-learning on Friday. She also said the school brought in mental health professionals to speak to students.
"Our children are precious to us in the same way all children are precious," Ismail said. "We want a future where they feel a sense of security in who they are and pride in our background."
For Friday, students in grades six through 12 will take classes online, and younger students were sent home with packets to complete at home.
Until further notice, no adult was allowed inside the school without a prior appointment.
The school had already canceled a "fall festival" scheduled for Saturday "due to recent events happening to our brothers & sisters in Palestine and rising tensions here in our very own community." In a Facebook post, the school wrote, "Safety is our number one priority."
Bridgeview police confirmed the letter was sent anonymously and communicated hate toward the Muslim community. Police said school officials decided to opt for a remote learning day.