MUSLIM TEEN ALLEGEDLY CALLED TERRORIST BY TEACHER SUES SCHOOL
A Palestinian-American teenager sued his Southern California school district after an English teacher allegedly called him a terrorist and school officials dismissed the remark as a movie joke.
In February 2025, 14-year-old Yousef Abdullah approached his English teacher at Cypress High School. The freshman wanted to discuss why he had been denied admission to the Advanced Placement English program for the upcoming school year.
In response, the teacher allegedly told him in front of other students, “I don’t negotiate with terrorists, that is people under the age of 18.”
Abdullah reported the classroom incident to a school counselor. According to the lawsuit, the counselor asked about his family, attributed the teacher’s comment to a movie joke, and then allegedly chanted the phrase several times.
An assistant principal also minimized the teenager’s complaint. The administrator allegedly told Abdullah, “It’s a phrase, it was not made towards you,” and characterized it as a joke. The Orange County Register reported that the specific phrase appears in at least two films, including the 2008 comedy “Tropic Thunder.”
Abdullah’s parents brought a formal complaint to the Anaheim Union High School District, which launched an internal investigation. In March 2025, Human Resources Director Amie Maya sent a letter to the family stating that the investigation had found evidence of a derogatory comment.
Maya wrote that the remark violated the district board’s policy prohibiting abusive language toward students. She stated the matter would be addressed through the district’s confidential personnel process.
Lawsuit Alleged Discrimination
In January 2026, Abdullah filed a civil lawsuit against the school district. The complaint alleged discrimination and a failure to protect the teenager.
Samer Habbas, the attorney representing Abdullah, said, according to the New York Post, that no meaningful discipline followed the human resources investigation.
“Clearly, the school’s not taking it seriously,” Habbas told the Register. “When you’re calling a Palestinian child of Muslim descent a terrorist … it is completely inappropriate, it dehumanizes a kid.”
The lawsuit also detailed separate allegations involving the teenager’s medical privacy. The complaint alleged that school employees discussed Abdullah’s special-needs status in front of classmates and disclosed his ADHD diagnosis. Following the disclosure, classmates allegedly mocked the teenager by calling him “SpEd.”
The combined treatment caused embarrassment, humiliation, and anxiety, creating a hostile educational environment for the student. According to the complaint, Abdullah felt so ashamed of his Palestinian and Muslim identity that he actively avoided growing facial hair and did not want to be seen in public with his parents.
“Here in Orange County, we have the same identical comment and Yousef Abdullah is told by administrators to deal with it,” Habbas said. “Our goal is to hold the district for their failure to protect this kid.”
Abdullah eventually transferred from Cypress High School to another high school in Orange County. The school district declined to comment on the litigation.
On November 12, 2026, Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Knill rejected the district’s attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed, allowing the civil case to move forward.
