Principal Resigns After Explaining Meaning of Word

New York Department of Education is opening a small public Arabic secondary school that will eventually serve grades 6-12, Khalil Gibran International Academy. About half will have Arab heritage and half will not have any experience in Arabic or have Arab heritage - it will be the latest of several dual-language public schools in New York. The school's been generating some controversy since the beginning, with some claiming the school would promote radical Islam. Being a DOE school, a public school, they will presumably be teaching the same topics as other public schools, only in Arabic. It furthermore is not even an Islamic school (there are several private Islamic high schools in New York), but a regular ol' public secular school in Arabic. How is Arabic alone going to radicalize students? Apparently because Arabic words themselves are way too contentious:

The principal's stepped down because of the controversy over statements she made last week at a press conference. Debbie Almontaser was asked by The Post about the phrase "Intifada NYC," on T-shirts being sold by Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media, group that has no relation to the school. Her response was apparently the wrong one:

"The word basically means 'shaking off'. That is the root word if you look it up in Arabic. 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 kind of that 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."

Oh my god every body freak out! The Post certainly did, calling her the "Intifada Principal" in a headline. Somehow, this quote has morphed into "comments that seemed to support the violent Palestinian Arab uprising known as the intifada" (The Post). More from The Post:

The school hasn't even opened yet. But the hijab-wearing principal of a taxpayer-funded school founded especially for Arab students has issued a fatwa against the kids of New York. She said there is nothing wrong with intifada. And the principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy - scheduled to open next month less than two blocks from that hotbed of radical Muslim thought, Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue - argued about the definition of the word that has sent so many to their graves.

First of all, why was she even asked about some unrelated group's t-shirts? Her only association is that the group with these t-shirts is in the same building as the Saba Association of American Yemenis, of which Ms. Almostaser is part. And second, she didn't argue about the meaning of the word - she gave the actual meaning of the word. She even acknowledged the connotations of the word in the Israeli-Palestinian realm, but offered her thought (because she doesn't know for sure, not being part of the group that produced the t-shirt) that the shirt was probably invoking the meaning of intifada, not the Palestinian intifada. Really, there's no way she could have answered this question "right", short of ripping off her hijab and offering to join the IDF (notice the dig about the hijab and the incorrect information about the school being only for Arab students).

Congratulations! She's resigned.