Middle East studies in the News

Judge Rules Against Muslim School Administrator [incl. Khalil Gibran International Academy, Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser]

by Chad Groening
OneNewsNow
September 9, 2009

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=674298

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/8295

A best-selling author and critic of Islam is pleased that a judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by the founding principal of an Islamic-oriented Arabic language school in New York City who claimed her free-speech rights were violated.

Debbie Almontaser, the former principal of Brooklyn's Khalil Gibran International Academy, had claimed her First Amendment rights were violated when she was fired in 2007. Almontaser had commented in a New York Poststory about a T-shirt with the word "intifada" on it. She said the word had nonviolent origins and literally meant "shaking off," although some contend it means "uprising."

Almontaser's comments set off a barrage of complaints to city officials. Federal Judge Sidney Stein dismissed the case, saying Almontaser made her statements as an administrator and therefore was not protected by the First Amendment.

Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, says the judge's decision is good news. "It indicates that the courts are not entirely in the control of the politically correct multiculturalists who have sold themselves out to the Islamists," he contends.

According to Spencer, numerous problems have been associated with some of the people connected with the school.

"Some of the connections that they have to groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations...indicate that this is not the neutral Arabic language school that it has been portrayed to be, but something that would much more likely become a stomping ground for those engaging in Islamic indoctrination," he concludes.

Note: Articles listed under "Middle East studies in the News" provide information on current developments concerning Middle East studies on North American campuses. These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of Campus Watch and do not necessarily correspond to Campus Watch's critique.

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