WASHINGTON — An Arab American slated to serve as the principal of the first Arabic-language public school in New York was pressured to resign in 2007 over comments she made to the media. This month, a judge dismissed Deborah Almontaser’s case against the city, saying her free speech and due process rights were not violated.

Deborah Almontaser

The offending statement she allegedly made was that “intifada” meant “shaking off” oppression in Arabic in response to reporters who suggested it meant “uprising.”
Her school, the Kahlil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, was under close political scrutiny at the time. “Stop the Madrassa,” an ad hoc group against the school, held a protest outside New York’s city hall demanding the school be closed. The New York Times reported the controversy ensued as a result of an “organized movement to stop Muslim citizens who are seeking an expanded role in American public life.”

Opponents of the school found out she was connected to a Muslim girls’ group that printed t-shirts saying “Intifada NYC.” They made it into a public issue.

When reporters asked her about it, she explained the meaning. “I don’t believe the intention is to have any of that kind of (violence) in New York City,” the New York Post quoted her as saying. “I think it’s pretty much an opportunity for girls to express that they are part of New York City society … and shaking off oppression.”

Almontaser claims she was not quoted accurately.

“She didn’t talk about T-shirts,” said Almontaser’s lawyer, Alan Levine, in a 2007 New York Daily News story.

“She was asked the definition of intifada.”

Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein dismissed her lawsuit. Almontaser accused school officials in federal court in Manhattan of violating her right to free speech and rights to a fair hearing.

The judge said that Almontaser’s comments in a 2007 interview with the New York Post were “pursuant to her official duties,” and therefore not protected by the First Amendment. He also rejected an allegation that school officials also had violated her right to due process.

Citing a previous case, public employees who make statements in the capacity of their official duties are not speaking as citizens who are protected by the First Amendment purposes. The other case says that “the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline.”

Almontaser’s attorney said in a statement Wednesday that his client would still pursue her claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Leine said about the recent ruling that nothing in “yesterday’s decision questions the underlying facts concerning the (Department of Education’s) actions: Ms. Almontaser was the target of hate-filled attacks because she was an Arab and a Muslim and because she said something that public officials disagreed with.”

The City of New York welcomed the case’s dismissal. Paul Marks, a deputy chief with the city Law Department, said officials “were pleased the court found that the city did not violate either Ms. Almontaser’s First Amendment or due process rights.”

Almontaser was largely vilified for her comments. Newspaper articles, websites and talk radio called her a radical jihadist.

School officials issued an apology.

When the public pressure did not relent, a deputy mayor asked her to resign, according to Almontaser. She quit the next day and took an administrative job. When she re-applied for the position months later, she was not hired.