Hamas Comes to South Philadelphia

During the early months of 2008, Philadelphia-based scholar of Islam and the Middle East Dr. Daniel Pipes chronicled the failed attempts of soul-music-mogul-turned-Muslim-activist Kenny Gamble (aka Luqman Abdul-Haq) to shake down the Philadelphia Housing Kenny Authority and create an all-Muslim enclave in South Philadelphia.

While the sordid affairs makes for fascinating reading – not least because it led to the resignation of Bush Administration HUD secretary Alphonso Jackson and the collapse of the attempted shake-down – its “happy ending” should not have lulled anyone into complacency.

Now comes the news that the Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has given to Gamble two South Philadelphia public schools – Audenried High and Edwin Vare Middle School – to be converted by him into charter schools, with an estimated annual income to Gamble’s Universal Companies of 9 million Philadelphia taxpayer dollars.

Not surprisingly, this latest Gamble shake-down has all the trappings of a back-room deal, which has provoked South Philly residents and Philadelphia school activists to outrage. The Philadelphia Public School Notebook, a respected newsletter and website “for parents, educators, students and friends of the Philadelphia public schools,” reports that “neither the public nor the SRC [School Reform Commission] will be given a say in plans to turn over the schools to Universal Companies.”