NYPost forces out principal of city school, Khalil Gib

Principal of English-Arabic school resigns amid T-shirt controversy
WABC By Art McFarland

(Brooklyn - WABC, August 10, 2007) - The embattled principal of Brooklyn's controversial English-Arabic school resigned Friday morning amid a firestorm over her failure to immediately condemn T-shirts with the message "Intifada NYC."

Principal Debbie Almontaser encountered the backlash, including from United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, over the shirts.

Mayor Bloomberg said Almontaser submitted her resignation this morning.

"She really does care, and she said something a couple days ago, she got a question, she's not all that media savvy maybe, and she tried to explain a word rather than just condemn," Bloomberg said on his radio show.

"But I think she felt she had become the focus of, rather than having the school the focus, and so today she submitted her resignation, which is nice of her to do. And I appreciate all her service, and I think she's right to do so."

The controversial "Intifada NYC" shirts are sold by the activist group Arab Women Active in Arts and Media that operates out of the same office as a Yemeni-American association that Almontaser represents.

Rather than denounce the shirts, Almontaser tried to explain that "intifada" means "shaking off" and the shirts represented women "shaking off" oppression. She later condemned the T-shirt message's connection to Palestinian terrorism.

The school, the Khalil Gibran International Academy, was envisioned by Almontaser as a multicultural institution serving grades 6-12 for native Arabic speakers and students wanting to learn the language.

Students would become fluent in both languages while immersed in Arab culture and history under her plan.

At least for the first year there will only be a handful of sixth-grade students able to enjoy the boxes of books and textbooks translated into Arabic that Almontaser ordered.

Bloomberg defended the idea for the school, saying it is important to cultivate Arabic-speaking New Yorkers.

"Having an Arabic language dual language school is a really important thing," he said. "Down the road we need Arabic language speakers in this city."

The mayor said the search for a new principal is already underway.

"I understand why this is controversial," he said. "I think we'll find a principal that will be able to carry on the mission. This is part of the educational process of a diverse city."

The school is at 345 Dean Street in the Boerum Hill section, the same building as the Brooklyn High School of the Arts and the Math and Science Exploratory School.

(Copyright 2007 WABC-TV)

Right, but what does "intifada" mean in this instance?
I've only heard it in use by Palestinians while killing Jews in Israel.
Please elaborate.

Also, why hasn't this school submitted a curriculum like all other public schools

what does a public language school need a 'religious council'?

sprite wrote:
That said, I can't see what the shirts have to do with Gibran or the school. Why was she even asked about them? This seems like a case of the media creating news instead of reporting it.

I think the school is a good idea - the government has a huge need for Arabic speakers, so why not pay for their education with public money?

According to two sources who spoke to her, Almontaser had been declining media requests for interviews all summer at the Department of Education’s advice. But the department urged her to talk to New York Post reporter Chuck Bennett after he submitted his questions in advance as requested. All of them related directly to the school.

At the very end of the interview, Almontaser told one of these sources, Bennett, without bringing up the t-shirts, asked her almost incidentally what the word “intifada” meant. She consulted an Arabic dictionary and told him:

'The word basically means 'shaking off.' That is the root word if you look it up in Arabic.”

Bennett then told her about the t-shirts, adding that they were produced by a group that shares space with another group on whose board she sits. She replied: 'I understand it is developing a negative connotation due to the uprising in the Palestinian-Israeli areas. I don't believe the intention is to have any of that kind of [violence] in New York City. 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.'

In a prepared statement, the New York Post denied misrepresenting the questions it planned to ask. “We were upfront regarding our intentions to ask about the t-shirt as well as the school from the very start,” the Post statement said. “This line of questioning was included in what our reporter sent to the Department of Education.

An Education Department spokesperson declined to comment.

The story was published Monday, and Almontaser quickly realized the problem she faced. In an e-mail that day, she told community supporters, “I was misrepresented and trapped by the reporter. Those were not my exact words, and the words I did use were taken out of context.”

Through the Education Department’s press office Almontaser also released a statement to the public Monday declaring unequivocally: “The use of the word ‘intifada’ is completely inappropriate as a T-shirt slogan. I regret suggesting otherwise.”

But it was too late. By Thursday, a crucial supporter, Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, denounced her response in a letter to The Post — a critical loss. Almontaser’s resignation letter to Mayor Bloomberg came the next day.

“I have spent the past two decades of my life building bridges among people of all faiths — particularly among Muslims and Jews,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, a small group of highly misguided individuals has launched a relentless attack on me because of my religion.”