Loading ...Pathbreakers of Arab America—Debbie Almontaser
By: John Mason / Arab America Contributing Writer
This is the sixty-second of Arab America’s series on American pathbreakers of Arab descent. The series includes personalities from entertainment, business, sports, science, academia, journalism, and politics, among other areas. Our sixty-second Arab American Pathbreaker, Dr. Debbie Almontaser, is an American schoolteacher and community activist of Yemeni descent. She was the founding and former principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, New York. Debbie has fought relentlessly to defend Arab American and Muslim rights and identity in the aftermath of 9/11.
Committed teacher, leader, and activist, Almontaser, a champion of Arab and Muslim American rights and an advocate for interfaith relations across boundaries of race, ethnicity, and religion
Almontaser is a 25-year veteran of the New York City Public School System, where she taught and served as a director in special education and inclusion, trained teachers in literacy, and served as a multicultural specialist and diversity adviser. Having founded and served as a former Khalil Gibran International Academy principal, she co-designed a curriculum for the Muslim Communities Project at Columbia University.
Almontaser contributed to a chapter in “The Day Our World Changed: Children’s Art of 9/11” for New York University’s Child Study Center and the Museum of the City of New York. She is currently the Founder and CEO of Bridging Cultures Group, Inc. and a Professor at the College of Staten Island’s School of Education in the Post Masters Advanced Certificate Program for Leadership in Education. Since September 2016 Almontaser has been the president of the Muslim Community Network.
According to the Wikipedia Series on Arab Americans, Almontaser “was forced by the Department of Education and the Mayor of the City of New York to resign after a controversy arose over a T-shirt created by “Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media.” This organization ran its youth program from office space at Saba: The Association of Yemeni Americans, of which Almontaser is a board member. The T-shirt had the words “Intifada NYC” on it, which, according to the New York Post, was “apparently a call for a Gaza-style uprising in the Big Apple.”
Almontaser objected to this definition of ‘Intifada,’ averring that the Arabic root word of ‘intifada’ “comes from the root word that means ‘shaking off’. She insisted that to suggest that students were “planning a Gaza-style uprising” lacked credibility. Almontaser said she does not “believe the intention is to have any of that kind of [violence] in New York City.” The NYPost quoted her as saying, “I think it’s pretty much an opportunity for girls to express that they are part of New York City society.” Almontaser denied using the phrase “shaking off oppression,” and a federal appeals court ruled that the Post had quoted her “incorrectly and misleadingly.”
The incident didn’t end there, however. On August 9, 2007, Randi Weingarten, then Head of the United Federation of Teachers (the NYC teachers’ union), as well as education Chancellor Klein and Mayor Bloomberg, “demanded Almontaser’s resignation by 8:00 the next morning threatening to nix the school if she did not resign.” The full account was highlighted in a front-page article in the New York Times, “Critics Cost Muslim Educator Her Dream Job.” In defense of Almontaser, journalism professor Samuel G. Freedman wrote in the New York Times, “For anyone who bothered to look for it, Almontaser left a clear, public record of interfaith activism and outreach across the boundaries of race, ethnicity and religion.”
Almontaser’s book, “Leading While Muslim: The Experiences of American Muslim Principals after 9/11”
As one review of this book states, ” It examines the lived experiences of American Muslim principals who served in public schools post-9/11 to determine whether global events, political discourse, and the media coverage of Islam and Muslims have affected their leadership and spirituality.” Her study is intended to help readers understand the adversities that American Muslim principals have experienced post-9/11 and how to address these adversities, particularly through decisions about educational policy and district leadership. A sampling of reviewers’ comments on the book follows.
9/11 was personally significant to Almontaser: On that afternoon of 9/11, one of the book reviewers received a phone call from Almontaser–the Twin Towers had just fallen, her son in the National Guard was heading to Ground Zero to help with rescue efforts, and she was being called upon to lead. We discussed her courageous work as an educator; for years, she had devoted her practice to building bridges between communities and forging conversations across faiths. “Now, she feared, our country’s political discourse would turn against her and her Muslim colleagues in education.” Her book is “an important treatise on education, diversity, and the undue burdens placed on leaders from marginalized groups in navigating the fraught and complex terrain of leading our nation’s schools.”
‘Arab America’ interviews with Almontaser offer a broad view of her role as a culture broker
An AA interview with Almontaser in January 2021 reported that history had been made as she became the first Muslim woman invited to offer prayer at President Biden’s inauguration. This year the presidential inaugural was slightly different, as she was among the people who offered the prayer at the presidential inaugural. “This has shaped hope and honor among the Arab-Muslim communities, specifically for Yemenis.” As Almontaser noted, “This prayer service is coming right after 4 difficult years that had been inflicting pain to Americans.”
As a key player in New York Yemeni society, Almontaser is a board member of the Yemeni American Merchants Association. She has played the role of leader, speaker, and organizer for the 1000+ Yemini stores closed in opposition to the Muslim ban inflicted by then-President Trump. “It marked the day the Muslim Ban was signed into effect. In protest of the ban, many Yemeni-owned businesses closed their doors. Later that evening, a rally began with a Muslim call to prayer. It sparked a fire to speak truth to power amongst many Arabs in her community who believed that this country needed to provide, once and for all, a true trajectory toward equality and justice.”
In an October 2021 AA interview with Almontaser, she presented an educational plan for Muslim and Arab students: “…we need to educate Muslim and Arab students to advocate for themselves by reporting such incidents to their school administration and parents if the school doesn’t address it. For parents whose children have been raised in such incidents, some organizations can help, such as Muslim Advocates, CAIR, AAI, and ADC. I also think it is incumbent on us to be proactive with the local school districts by attending School board meetings and offering school districts curricula to teach about Islam and Muslims as well as Arab Americans. Several universities have developed curricula such as the ‘Bridge Initiative’ at Georgetown University…”
Recent kudos to Almontaser—”DOE hired ex- ‘Intifada High’ principal’s group for staff workshops on Israel-Hamas war”
A brief closing note concerns a report in the New York Post on June 15, 2024, concerning New York City’s Department of Education (DOE) tapping Almontaser’s consulting firm ‘Bridging Cultures Group’ for professional development training sessions in at least ten city public schools. The program includes a workshop titled “Facilitating Courageous Conversations.” Jewish and Muslim facilitators discussed lesson plans for how to teach and guide students on discussing the ongoing war.” Her company was one of several groups the DOE consulted for its “meeting the moment” plan to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia in the city’s schools.
But—no surprise–there was concern that the ‘Bridging Cultures’ training material was slanted against Israel. There were comparisons over data on the 1,200 Jewish deaths on Oct. 7 compared to over 37,000 Palestinian deaths by June. Nevertheless, a DOE spokesman said the agency has prioritized using workshops and other training opportunities to help staff learn how to handle difficult conversations in the classroom about current events as part of its “meeting the moment” plan.
Almontaser continues to play a courageous and critical role in, according to Arab Americans and Muslims, their rights and respect. She underscores the importance of a balanced representation of viewpoints across the larger community to build understanding and empathy.
Sources:
–“Debbie Almontaser,” Wikipedia Series on Arab Americans, 2024
–“Book Review of Leading While Muslim: The Experiences of American Muslim Principals after 9/11,” Debbie Almontaser, 2018
–“Debbie Almontaser: The First Muslim Woman in History To Offer Prayer at a Presidential Inaugural,” Meral Abu-Jaser, Arab America, 1/27/2021
–“An Interview with Debbie Almontaser, the Fierce Civil Rights Activist and Educator of Yemeni Origin,” Isra Saleh, Arab America, 10/27/2021
–“DOE hired ex-‘Intifada High’ principal’s group for staff workshops on Israel-Hamas war,” New York Post, 6/15/2024
John Mason, Ph.D., focuses on Arab culture, society, and history and is the author of LEFT-HANDED IN AN ISLAMIC WORLD: An Anthropologist’s Journey into the Middle East, New Academia Publishing, 2017. He has taught at the University of Libya, Benghazi, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and the American University in Cairo; John served with the United Nations in Tripoli, Libya, and consulted extensively on socioeconomic and political development for USAID and the World Bank in 65 countries.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Arab America. The reproduction of this article is permissible with proper credit to Arab America and the author.
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