Sweatshirt with Twin Towers Worn by Arab Students Causes Controversy in Dearborn

UPDATE: Some additional information today from FoxNews...

The boys are Arab-American, as are about half the school's 1,700 students.

They belong to the 2011 class. On the shirts, the number 11 resembles two buildings, with the school's "Thunderbirds" mascot flying toward them. Printed beneath the image are the words, "You can't bring us down."

The boys are to meet with school officials but suspensions are not planned.

Back to original post ...

Typical high school high jinx?  (Emphasis added.)

Arab-American students create controversial twin towers sweatshirt

NBC -- About 15 Arab-American students at Edsel Ford High School in Dearborn, Michigan are in trouble over a sweatshirt they had made over the holiday break.

On the back of the sweatshirt, the number 11 is made to look like the World Trade Center Towers. The school's mascot, a thunderbird, is seen flying toward the number. 

Under the graphic, a tagline reads, "You can't bring us down." 

The students wore the hooded sweatshirts to school Monday. They were immediately sent to the principal's office.

The sweatshirts were confiscated.

"What took place here today was an inappropriate, distasteful act," said David Mustonen, a spokesman for Dearborn Schools. "(It was) totally inappropriate, totally disrespectful, and they just were not thinking."
The students told the principal they didn't mean any harm by having the sweatshirts made.

Other students who heard about and saw the shirts said they were disgusted.

"I found them very offensive and I didn't think it was funny or fun at all," said Brittany Johnson, a senior at Edsel Ford High.

The school has not said what disciplinary action will be taken against the students.

"If I was in charge, I would have them expelled," said Lindsey Winstrand. "But I think suspension is the least they can do."

The students told the principal they had the sweatshirts made at the Gibraltar Trade Center for about $25 each.

I think the Winstrand (I guess she's a student) calling for the kids to be expelled a bit excessive.  Confiscating the sweatshirts and lecturing them is enough.  Over-reacing would give CAIR a case to pursue, plus why treat this any more harshly than other offensive things kids wear to school?

Dearborn, Michigan ... a city with the nation's largest Arab population.  Here's what Wikipedia has:

Dearborn's population includes 30,000 Arab Americans. It has the largest proportion of Arab Americans for a city of its size (about 100,000).^[9] The first Arabs who immigrated here in the early to mid-1900s to work in the automotive industry were chiefly Lebanese Christians. Since then, Arab immigrants from Yemen, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, most of whom are Muslim, have joined them. Lebanese Americans are still the most numerous group. The city is also the location of the Islamic Center of America, the largest mosque in North America,^[10] and the Dearborn Mosque. The Arab American population has settled primarily on the city's eastern side, though in recent years it has expanded west.

You would think the kids would have heard somewhere that such sweatshirts would be offensive.  Why wouldn't they think otherwise?  But, then again ... they're teenagers.  They don't think too much about repercussions.