Pine Bush High School, 104 kilometres from New York City, opted to have the pledge read by an Arabic-speaking student as part of national foreign language week. The script - an expression of fealty to the US as "one nation under God" - is commonly recited each morning at American schools.

The negative response was immediate. District superintendent Joan Carbone told a local newspaper, the Times Herald-Record, the Arabic pledge had "divided the school in half".

According to the paper, students began "catcalling" during the announcement and expressed criticism in the classroom, around the school grounds and online. Parents and residents complained to the school, arguing the pledge was inappropriate because their family members were killed in the war in Afghanistan.

"The pledge should always be said in English. They could've just said 'Good Morning' in a different language each day," Amanda Rebelo tweeted.

Pine Bush resident Joyce Larsen told CBS News: "I think it should be spoken in English. This is America."

That sentiment was common. The following morning, several cars in the school parking were adorned with the phrase: "We live in America. Speak English."

The incident has been seized on by conservative commentators as evidence of liberal excess. Fox News radio host Todd Starnes felt the Arabic pledge was "less about celebrating a foreign language and more about stirring up trouble", reflecting his belief that "the nation's public schools have been turned into indoctrination centres".

While protocol stipulates the required wording of the pledge, it does not dictate the language, according to the state's education department.

More than a million Americans speak Arabic at home, according to Pew analysis of US census data and the American Community Survey. That represents a 71 per cent increase from 2000, and Arabic is now the seventh most commonly spoken language other than English.

Arabic is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

But suspicion lingers. In an extreme 2009 case, California college student Nicholas George was detained at Philadelphia Airport for five hours after security officers spotted Arabic language flashcards in his carry-on luggage.

According to the ensuing lawsuit, an officer from the Transportation Security Administration asked Mr George if he knew what language Osama bin Laden spoke. "Do you see why these cards are suspicious?" the officer then asked. The lawsuit against the Justice Department was settled in January this year for $US25,000.

Pine Bush High apologised "sincerely" to students, staff and community members "who found this activity offensive". In the statement, the school noted its intention was "to promote the fact that those who speak a language other than English still pledge to salute this great country".

The need for an apology was itself questioned by county residents, students and organisations such as the New York branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"All Americans who value our nation's history of religious and ethnic diversity should be concerned," said the council's spokeswoman Sadyia Khalique.

Another Pine Bush local, Joel Heir, told CBS: "It doesn't bother me that they did it. Everybody should be welcome. Everybody should be free."

The same school district, home to almost 6000 students, has also been accused of overlooking reports of anti-Semitism and was subject to a lawsuit by a group of Jewish families. Last year the US Attorney's Office agreed there had been insufficient attempts by administrators to deal with anti-Semitic bullying at the area's schools.

with agencies