At Rally, Arabic School Supporters Demand Principal's Return

The battle over the city's new Arabic-language public school is escalating as the first day of class approaches, with opponents ramping up calls for the school to be shuttered and supporters holding a rally in Lower Manhattan yesterday to demand that Mayor Bloomberg reinstate its original principal.

Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser founded the Khalil Gibran International Academy but resigned as principal earlier this month after facing angry condemnations for her characterization of "Intifada NYC" T-shirts as nonviolent messages of female self-empowerment. The condemnations followed months of concerns raised by critics who suggested the school might be hiding a violent political agenda.

In a resignation letter to Chancellor Joel Klein, Ms. Almontaser said she made the decision for the benefit of her students and teachers so that they could have "the full opportunity to flourish without these unwarranted attacks."

But at a rally in front of the Department of Education on Chambers Street last night, supporters of Ms. Almontaser urged Messrs. Klein and Bloomberg to reinstate her. Chanting "Bring Debbie Back!" speakers representing Christian, Jewish, and Muslim groups argued that city leaders could have prevented Ms. Almontaser's resignation by defending her more strongly.

"If this is a DOE school, why aren't they standing behind it? Where is the mayor? Where is Joel Klein?" a Brooklyn mother who served on the school's curriculum design team, Deborah Howard, asked. "Where is the support of standing behind this fabulous educator and shielding her from racist attacks that have no basis in truth whatsoever?"

Another speaker, Rabbi Michael Feinberg, blamed Ms. Almontaser's departure on the Stop the Madrassa Coalition, a group that has been campaigning to close Khalil Gibran. Rabbi Feinberg called the coalition "extremist" and pointed out that it receives support from a group in favor of "Minutemen"-style tactics against illegal immigration, New Yorkers for Immigration Control and Enforcement, and a group that describes itself as a watchdog against domestic terrorism, the United American Committee, that focuses almost exclusively on Muslims.

Yesterday's rally was organized by a mix of political and religious groups, including Rabbi Feinberg's group, the Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition; the group that made the "Intifada NYC" T-Shirts, Arab Women Active in Art and Media, whose stated intent in making the shirts was echoed by Ms. Almontaser, and a Baptist church in Brooklyn whose pastor donated 15 security guards for the event, one of the guards, Tom Griffin, said.

Stop the Madrassa yesterday called for the firing of an adviser to Khalil Gibran, Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, a cleric at the Mosque of the Islamic Brotherhood in Harlem, whom Ms. Almontaser appointed to an informal group of advisers.

A spokeswoman for the Stop the Madrassa Coalition, Pamela Hall, said Imam Abdur-Rashid distorts history to favor Islamic contributions in his teachings, which she described as "indoctrination in which they make everything Muslim and Islamic-centric, at the expense of the rest of the world's contribution to history."

A member of the Khalil Gibran advisory council, Rabbi Andrew Bachman, said the board has yet to meet and has been effectively dissolved since Ms. Almontaser resigned earlier this month. Rabbi Bachman said he has not heard from Khalil Gibran's new principal, Danielle Salzberg, since she took over last week.

A Department of Education spokeswoman said Ms. Salzberg will decide whether the advisory board will continue.

A call to Imam Abdur-Rashid's mosque seeking comment yesterday was not returned.

The sister of a student who will be attending the school this September, Sara Said Alkulaidi, said there is a "great need" for Khalil Gibran, describing her public school experience as dotted with racist slurs and spitting.

A Department of Education spokeswoman, Melody Meyer, said Khalil Gibran will continue to exist but did not comment on whether Ms. Almontaser would be reinstated.