California teacher called Muslim student a ‘terrorist’ after denying him a spot in AP class, lawsuit claims

Detailed summary

A school counselor allegedly brushed off the comment as a joke, telling the student that the remark is a line from a movie

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A 16-year-old Palestinian-American student is suing a Southern California school district after a teacher allegedly called him a “terrorist,” and school administrators dismissed the remark as a joke.

Yousef Abdullah, who was 14 at the time, approached his Cypress High School English teacher in February 2025 to discuss his rejection from the Advanced Placement English program. In front of other students, the teacher allegedly told him, “I don’t negotiate with terrorists, that is people under the age of 18.”

His lawsuit against the Anaheim Union High School District alleges the remark subjected him to racial discrimination and humiliation because of his Muslim and Palestinian heritage. The complaint also claims administrators repeatedly downplayed the incident, even though an investigation found the comment violated district policy.

Abdullah’s attorney, Samer Habbas, said the teenager was so traumatized that he now wants to go by “Joseph,” a less Arabic-sounding name.

“When you’re calling a Palestinian child of Muslim descent a terrorist … it is completely inappropriate, it dehumanizes a kid,” Habbas told the Orange County Register Thursday.

The dispute is now before Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Knill, who recently rejected the district’s push to have the lawsuit dismissed on legal grounds. The lawsuit was filed in January.

The Anaheim Union High School District reportedly declined the OC Register’s request to comment on the litigation.

Abdullah reported the teacher’s comment to his school counselor, who questioned him about his family and dismissed the remark as a joke from a movie. The phrase appears in several films, including the 2008 comedy “Tropic Thunder,” the docs state, which famously features Robert Downey Jr. in blackface.

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