NEW YORK CITY
Two Muslim holidays sought in schools
NEW YORK (AP)—New York’s City Council has passed a nonbinding resolution asking the Education Department to observe two important Muslim holidays. But Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the city is so diverse schools can’t observe every holiday.
The city has the nation’s largest school system. A 2008 study by Columbia University’s Teachers College estimates at least 10 percent of its 1.1 million students are Muslim.
The resolution was passed Tuesday. It asks the Bloomberg administration to observe the holidays in schools and for the state to require it by amending education law.
The holidays are Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha. Eid al-Adha celebrates the willingness of Ibrahim—known as Abraham to Christians and Jews—to sacrifice his son. It is the most important Islamic holiday.
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