Justice for Debbie Almontaser?

[ProgressiveMuslim]

Federal Panel Finds Bias in Ouster of Principal
By ANDREA ELLIOTT
Published: March 12, 2010



A federal commission has determined that New York City’s Department of Education discriminated against the founding principal of an Arabic-language public school by forcing her to resign in 2007 following a storm of controversy driven by opponents of the school.
Liz O. Baylen for The New York Times

Acting on a complaint filed last year by the principal, Debbie Almontaser, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that the department “succumbed to the very bias that creation of the school was intended to dispel and a small segment of the public succeeded in imposing its prejudices on D.O.E. as an employer,” according to a letter issued by the commission on Tuesday.

The commission said that the department had discriminated against Ms. Almontaser, a Muslim of Yemeni descent, “on account of her race, religion and national origin.”

The findings, which are nonbinding, could mark a turning point in Ms. Almontaser’s battle to reclaim her job as principal of the school, the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn.

The commission asked the Department of Education to reach a “just resolution” with Ms. Almontaser and to consider her demands, which include reinstatement to her old job, back pay, damages of $300,000 and legal fees. Should the two sides fail to reach an agreement, the dispute will end up in court, her lawyer said...

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/nyregion/13principal.html?hp

[ProgressiveMuslim]

1. In Almontaser coverage, ‘NYT’ gives Israel lobby a pass

by Philip Weiss on March 14, 2010 · 24 comments

Did you see the NYT article on the EEOC decision that Debbie Almontaser was the victim of bias when she was forced to resign as head of a Arabic-language high school? It is a classic case of the Times refusing to acknowledge the lobby’s efforts. The article says:

A group of opponents, including conservative commentators and a City University trustee, mounted a campaign against the school and Ms. Almontaser, claiming that she carried a militant Islamic agenda.

Despite Ms. Almontaser’s longstanding reputation as a moderate Muslim, her critics succeeded in recasting her as a “9/11 denier” and a “jihadist.”

But of course it doesn’t say who the “conservative commentators” were. Turns out it was Daniel Pipes and the NY Sun that led the charge against her, as the Times reported two years ago. And that unnamed City University trusteee is Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, whose grandparents lived in Israel, which he characterized as "the Jewish enterprise." And of course the case turned in some measure on her connection to some "intifada" t-shirts, which upset Israel supporters....

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/03/in-almontaser-coverage-nyt-gives-israel-lobby-a-pass.html