"Many of my friends were too frightened to get on the bus," said Jamie Gutterman, 17, a senior at Plainview Old Bethpage/John F. Kennedy High School on Long Island, N.Y. "After Sept. 11," she added, "there had been a few anti-Muslim remarks made by kids at school and on the bus." Jamie was part of a 42-student social studies class visiting a mosque at the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, N.Y.

Recently, there had been a number of bomb threats to the facility, and parents at Plainview/JFK High School were reluctant to allow their sons and daughters to go on the field trip. The sponsoring by the school's humanities studies program called Facing History and Ourselves encourages students to study and confront issues of religious and racial prejudice, and understand their responsibility in dealing with them.

Those who got on the bus were not disappointed. During the visit, Al-Haaj Ghazi Khankan, director of Interfaith Affairs at the Islamic Center of Long Island, spoke about the history of Islam and took questions from the students. He cited the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad as the true sources of Islam. Student Ryan Kase asked about the meaning of Jihad, which is often interpreted as meaning "holy war." Khankan clarified its definition: "Jihad means individual struggle of good over evil; it does not mean holy war." Khankan continued: "The acts of terror that Osama bin Laden preached are against the teaching of Muhammad and are not Islamic."

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Facing History and Ourselves was organized 25 years ago to train teachers and students in middle and high schools to examine racism, prejudice and intolerance. The two-semester elective is taught in about 300 New York schools and in about 3,000 schools throughout the country. For more information, contact the national office at: Facing History and Ourselves, 16 Hurd Road, Brookline, MA 02445; phone: (617) 232-0281; Web: www.facinghistory.org. The Web site also lists addresses for regional offices.

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