Idul Fitri dan Idul Adha Ditetapkan sebagai Hari Libur Resmi di New York
NYC Will Become Largest School District in the Nation to Recognize Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
Jum'at, 06 Maret 2015
"Ratusan ribu keluarga Muslim tidak lagi harus memilih antara menghormati hari paling suci atau tetap perg ke sekolah," kata Walikota Bill de Blasio saat mengumumkan kebijakan barunya tersebut (Foto2: MailOnline)

SEKOLAH NEGERI di New York akan menambah dua hari libur Muslim untuk kalender liburan mereka, Walikota Bill de Blasio, Rabu, sesuai janjinya ketika menjalani masa kampanye pemilihan walikota.

Perubahan kebijakan tersebut disambut gembira oleh para pemimpin Islam di New York City.

Di bawah kebijakan baru, 1,1 juta-murid sekolah negeri akan libur pada 24 September untuk merayakan Idul Adha, yang juga dikenal sebagai Hari Raya Kurban.

Liburan Idul Fitri, yang menandai akhir bulan Ramadhan, akan diberlakukan pada tahun ajaran 2016.

Ramadhan didasarkan pada kalender Islam dan setiap tahun tanggalnya berbeda mengikuti kalender Tahun Hijriah, seperti dilansir MailOnline.

"Ratusan ribu keluarga Muslim tidak lagi harus memilih antara menghormati hari paling suci atau tetap perg ke sekolah," kata Walikota Bill de Blasio saat mengumumkan kebijakan barunya tersebut.

"Setelah masyarakat Muslim New York City bertahun-tahun melakukan advokasi, siswa sekolah negeri Muslim akhirnya mendapat manfaat tidak lagi dikenakan sanksi apabila harus merayakan hari besar Islam," kata Zead Ramadan, anggota dewan Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Linda Sarsour, advokat komunitas Muslim dan sekolah negeri orangtua yang bergabung dengan de Blasio di sebuah sekolah di Brooklyn, mengatakan, "Inilah apa yang dibutuhkan New York City. Pengakuan, inklusi dan penghormatan.'

Diperkirakan jumlah Muslim yang tinggal di New York City bervariasi sekitar 600 ribu sampai 1 juta.

Tokoh masyarakat telah lama mendesak tambahan dua hari libur Muslim kalender sekolah, dan Dewan Kota mengeluarkan resolusi yang mendukung perubahan pada 2009.

Mantan Walikota Michael Bloomberg menentang kebijakan de Blasio dan kandidat lainnya yang berkampanye mendukung Bloomberg pada 2013 menjanjikan hal sama untuk menerapkan kebijakan seperti diterapkan de Blasio.

Kalender baru menetapkan jumlah hari sekolah tidak berubah yakni 182 hari: sesuai ketentuan libur selama 180 hari dan tambahan dua hari libur Islam.

Sekolah negeri di New York City telah menetapkan hari libur Yahudi seperti Rosh Hashana dan Yom Kippur serta libur Kristen Natal dan Hari Paskah.

Penerapan libur hari besar Islam di sekolah negeri juga akan diterapkan di kota-kota lain seperti Waterbury, Connecticut dan Frederick County, Maryland.


NEW YORK PUBLIC schools will add two Muslim holidays to their vacation calendars, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, a promise he made during his election campaign.

The policy change was hailed by Islamic leaders in New York City.

Under the new policy, the city's 1.1 million-pupil public school system will close on Sept. 24 for Eid al-Adha, which is also known as the Festival of Sacrifice.

The holiday of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, will be observed during summer school in 2016.

Ramadan is based on the Islamic lunar calendar and moves each year.

'Hundreds of thousands of Muslim families will no longer have to choose between honoring the most sacred days on their calendar or attending school,' Mayor Bill de Blasio said in his announcement.

'After years of advocating by New York City's Muslim community, Muslim public school students will finally and thankfully no longer be penalized for observing their religious holidays,' said Zead Ramadan, a board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Linda Sarsour, a Muslim community advocate and public school parent who joined de Blasio for the announcement at a school in Brooklyn, said, 'This is what New York City is all about — recognition, inclusion and respect.'

Estimates of the number of Muslims living in New York City vary from 600,000 to 1 million.

Community leaders have long urged adding the two Muslim holidays to the school calendar, and the City Council passed a resolution supporting the change in 2009.

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg opposed making the change but de Blasio and the other major candidates who campaigned to succeed Bloomberg in 2013 all said they would implement it.

The new calendar will keep the total number of school days unchanged at 182: the state-mandated 180 plus two more in case there are snow days.

New York City public schools have long closed for major Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur as well as the Christian holidays of Christmas and Good Friday.

Other public school systems that have moved recently to observe Muslim holidays include those in Waterbury, Connecticut and Frederick County, Maryland.
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