NYPost forces out principal of city school, Khalil Gib

sevenoneeighty · February 2008

New Life for Debbie?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/02/06/2008-02-06_court_panel_grills_lawyers_over_firing_o.html

Court panel grills lawyers over firing of former Khalil Gibran principal

By THOMAS ZAMBITO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, February 6th 2008, 4:00 AM

A federal appeals court panel Tuesday grilled city lawyers over the way officials handled the ouster of the principal of a controversial Arabic-language school.

Judge Jon Newman wondered if the city had overreacted when it forced Debbie Almontaser to quit after she tried to define the Arabic word intifadeh for a New York Post reporter.

"So, if a city employee speaks to the press, they're at risk that the press garbles their remarks and then they get fired?" Newman asked city attorney Drake Colley. "That's quite a position for the city of New York."

Almontaser sued the city last year, claiming her free speech rights were violated when she was forced out as principal of Brooklyn's Khalil Gibran International Academy in August.

In December, Manhattan Federal Judge Sidney Stein tossed out Almontaser's suit, saying her free speech rights were not violated because she was acting as a school employee when she made the comments.

The Post tried to link Almontaser to a Muslim girls' group distributing T-shirts that read "Intifada NYC." Almontaser said she was trying to explain that the root translation of intifadeh is the "shaking off" of oppression.

pitu · March 2008

Almontaser lost the appeal today. Her lawyer is not saying whether they are going to do something else.

Came across this, in looking for the details about ^^^ that
a fresh start for KGIA in Ft Greene?

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-3-6/67054.html

Controversial Arabic Public School May Move to Fort Greene
Department of Education tries to continue school despite unrest
By Evan Mantyk
Epoch Times New York Staff
Mar 06, 2008

NEW YORK—In what could be its third location in one year, the controversial Arab middle and high school Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA) may move to PS 287 in the Forte Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, according to a meeting held between New York City Department of Education official Garth Harries and parents of PS 287 last Wednesday.

Since Arabic culture is closely intertwined with the religion of Islam, the school has raised concerns among parents and advocates because of its potential for betraying the separation of Church and State and providing a potential breeding ground for future terrorists.

Parents of PS 287 last Wednesday used the meeting as an opportunity to voice concerns that their elementary school age children shouldn't have to share space with a high school, which they currently do with one high school and would continue to do with KGIA. As the economy worsens, it's a situation that many schools face.

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NYPost forces out principal of city school, Khalil Gib

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