Having my child in the Jersey City public schools is one of the best things I can imagine. She gets taught by highly professional teachers, and springboard is great. But it seems to me there has always been something missing. Children in general receive Easter, Passover, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day off, but no Islamic holidays. Which are Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha. From my point of view not having days off on Islamic holidays disrupts our first amendment right to freedom of religion. It also discriminates all Muslim children from others.

         “The Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, commonly known as the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which the Virginia General Assembly passed on January 16, 1786, is one of the most important laws that the assembly ever adopted.”Freedom of religion or freedom of belief is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.“ Now that we have established what the freedom of religion act is, not having Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha off from school feels like it’s a violation of our first amendment right because it interrupts our religious practices.”

         Discrimination - the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, religion, age, or sex. Not having Islamic Holidays off makes our children feel left out from the other kids. It isn’t fair that Children who celebrate their religious holidays get to take off but not the children that have Eid’s days. This unjust act is discriminating muslim community from others. Especially that Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha are the most important Religious Holidays for Muslims around the world. Eid Al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan. Ramadan is the Islamic holy month of fasting, which is the occasion to give gratitude to God and remembering him as our Creator.

         In conclusion Islamic Holiday are as important as Christmas and Easter are for all the different denominations of the Christian faith, as Passover is for the different denominations of the Jewish faith and as important as Memorial Day, independence Day, Labor Day and etc. This is a Beautiful and Wonderful country that is based on Religious freedom from the time the Mayflower left from England back in September 1620 to the times when Ellis Island became the door to America for immigrants in 1892.Our National Anthem gives us a perfect example: when it says "O'er the land of the free..." yet our children are marked absent for the day, Parents have to take a sick day, personal day or not even get paid for the Islamic holidays.

This is the reason for the Petition to be signed by everyone that believes in Equal Religious rights and to be recognized for all our children in public school and all Jersey City Workers.

Sources: National Anthem of the USA. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion​

http://www.virginiamemory.com/online_classroom/shaping_the_constitution/doc/religious_freedom

Written by:

Jessica Berrocal-Abdelnabbi

Amir Mohamed