Ousted NYC Arabic School Principal Debbie Almontaser Speaks Out on the New McCarthyism & Right Wing

We begin with a broadcast exclusive. Last August, just weeks before fall classes were set to begin, Debbie Almontaser was forced out as the founding principal of New York City’s first public Arabic-language school. At issue were Almontaser’s comments in the New York Post when she explained the use of the word “intifada”, or “uprising.” The Post had questioned Almontaser because the word “intifada” appeared on a t-shirt of a women’s organization that sometimes used the offices of a community group where she was a board member. The t-shirt had nothing to do with her school, the Khalil Gibran International Academy. But Almontaser came under right-wing criticism for not denouncing the use of the word intifada on the T-shirt. She stepped down days later. On his radio program, “Live from City Hall with Mayor Mike and John Gambling” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed Almontaser’s departure.

In the months since Almontaser’s case has become a major issue of free speech and anti-Arab racism in post-9/11 America. Earlier this year she filed a federal lawsuit accusing city officials of violating her right to free speech and conspiring to remove her from her job.

On Sunday, Almontaser gave her first interview for a lengthy article on her case in the New York Times. Today, Almontaser joins us from our firehouse studio in New York for her first broadcast interview since her resignation.

Debbie Almontaser, stepped down in August 2007 as founding principal of the the Khalil Gibran International Academy.

Related Links

• New York Times article: "Critics Cost Muslim Educator Her Dream School"
• New York Times web video feature

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Related Democracy Now! Stories

• Principal at New NYC Arabic-Language School Forced to Resign (8/13/2007)

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