Arab School Furor Casualty
Ousted Principal Wants Job Back

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

The former Principal of an Arabic language school who was pressured to resign amid a media storm of controversy announced last week that she had re-applied to be the school's Principal, even as city officials said they would not consider her application.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James FIGHTING BACK: Debbie Almontaser, the founder and former Principal of the Arabic-language school Khalil Gibran International Academy, announced last week that she was submitting an application to get her old job back. She is also considering a lawsuit and claimed that she resigned in August only after city officials threatened to close the school if she refused. 'Establishing KGIA was my American dream,' she said. 'It turned into an American nightmare.'

Cites Threat to Close

Debbie Almontaser, who helped found the Khalil Gibran International Academy, became the target of attacks in August after she explained in a newspaper interview that the word intifada, often used to refer to the Palestinian rebellion against Israel, also meant "shaking off" in Arabic.

She claimed last week that her resignation came only after officials from the Mayor's Office and the Department of Education threatened to close the school if she didn't step down. She said that she was also preparing a lawsuit for violation of her First Amendment rights and that she had been the victim of an anti-Arab, anti Muslim campaign by right-wing advocates.

DOE officials denied that they or the Mayor's Office threatened to close the school.

Officials from the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the union that represents Ms. Almontaser and was quiet at the time of the controversy, called the situation "unfair" and argued that she should be allowed to reapply for the position.

"Establishing KGIA was my American dream," said Ms. Almontaser at an Oct. 16 press conference. "It turned into an American nightmare."

DOE spokesman David Cantor issued a statement in response to the press conference: "In August, Ms. Almontaser said she resigned as principal from Khalil Gibran International Academy to protect the stability of the school and give it 'the full opportunity to flourish.' The Chancellor agreed with her decision, accepted her resignation, and now considers the matter closed."

Will Need New Leader

The current acting Principal, Danielle Salzberg, is not planning to apply for the position, according to sources. There are about 25 people who have applied.

Chancellor Klein would not answer why he was refusing to consider Ms. Almontaser's application when approached at City Hall Oct. 17, saying only, "I've said what I've said, and I fully answered the questions yesterday. The matter's in litigation, and we'll answer it there."

While CSA did not take a position advocating for Ms. Almontaser over the other candidates applying for the job, President Ernest Logan said the DOE should consider her application. "The controversy surrounding Khalil Gibran and Principal Almontaser has been unfortunate and unfair," he said in a statement. "Debbie is a respected educator and played a significant role in developing the school. She has every right to apply for the principalship there."

Ms. Almontaser, who now works as an administrator at DOE headquarters, attracted national media attention and criticism after she declined to condemn a t-shirt created by a young Arab women's group that displayed the words "NYC Intifada." Ms. Almontaser had no connection to the group, but after her comments were criticized by Mayor Bloomberg, United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, and the editorial boards of several newspapers, she stepped down from her post.

Claims Post Distortion

At the press conference, she said that the New York Post, which published the original interview, had distorted her words. She said she had told the newspaper that she would never affiliate herself with a group that condoned violence, but that she did not think that the young women who made the t-shirt meant to "promote a 'Gaza-style uprising' in New York City."

Nonetheless, she said that since the interview accurately reflected the fact that she did not condone violence, "that should have been the end of the matter." She added that DOE officials should have stated that she had no connection to the t-shirts and pointed out her extensive history of advocacy for peaceful conflict resolution and dialogue between ethnic and religious communities. "Instead, they forced me to issue an apology for what I said," she stated. "And when the storm of hate continued, they forced me to resign."

The coalition that organized the press conference reflected some of the work Ms. Almontaser has done to promote understanding between Christians, Jews and Muslims, speaking at churches and synagogues throughout the city in the wake of Sept. 11. A statement signed by about two dozen city rabbis was read by Rabbi Michael Feinberg, charging that Ms. Almontaser's resignation was the result of activism by small, right-wing groups who falsely accused her of hostility to Jews and Israel. "We state emphatically that those groups do not represent the views of the mainstream Jewish community in New York City," said Mr. Feinberg.

Gets 'Risk-Taker' Award

In addition, the community group Jews For Racial and Economic Justice last week presented Ms. Almontaser with its annual Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Risk-Taker Award.

Queens Councilman John Liu, who also spoke at the press conference, condemned the DOE for not coming to Ms. Almontaser's defense. "The DOE left Debbie out there to be vilified," he said. "Their total inaction was their action."

Ms. Almontaser initially tried to meet with Chancellor Klein and DOE officials, requesting that the application process be suspended while they discussed the option of her return, but DOE officials declined to meet with her, according to Ms. Almontaser's lawyer Alan Levine.

The former Principal said that she had chosen this time to speak out because she believed the controversy had caused damage citywide. "While I have been the victim of a serious injustice, the far larger offense has been to the Arab and Muslim communities of New York City," she said. "The attacks on me are part of a larger campaign to intimidate and silence marginalized communities."

Mr. Levine said that if the matter is not resolved, he plans to file a lawsuit against both the DOE and the Mayor's Office within the next few weeks.