By Louis Chan, AsAmNews National Correspondent
The Ridgefield School District in New Jersey says it’s suspended a teacher accused of telling a Muslim and Arab American student “We don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
Several students who spoke exclusively with WABC report being stunned when they heard the teacher say that.
Mohammed Zubi, 17, says it started when he asked the teacher a question in class.
“He responded saying, ‘we don’t negotiate with terrorists,’ so I look around in shock, there’s people laughing, and there’s other people in shock, and I turn around and ask my friend, ‘did he really just say that?’ and she said yes,” said Zubi.
In a pop-up message on Ridgefield Memorial High School’s website, a statement read:
“The Ridgefield School District has absolutely no tolerance for any sort of discrimination against any student or staff member. The District strives to create an inclusive environment where students’ and staff members’ race, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation are embraced. While the District cannot legally comment on personnel or student matters, the public should be aware that the District immediately suspended the staff member while it is conducting a full investigation. Additionally, the District has notified law enforcement for its assistance. The District fully intends to pursue any and all legal remedies against the staff member as any discriminatory conduct has absolutely no place in our District.”
The New Jersey Chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations said it welcomed the police investigation and urged the district to take corrective action. CAIR made its statement prior to the District’s announcement the teacher had been suspended.
“This type of insensitive language by an authority figure is unacceptable because it perpetuates stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims,” CAIR said in a statement sent to AsAmNews.
This incident follows an earlier one this month also in New Jersey when a parent accused a teacher of ripping a hijab off a second-grader.
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