Muslim Student Suing School District After His Teacher Told Him 'I Don't Negotiate with Terrorists'

A Muslim teenager is suing his Southern California school district after his teacher allegedly told him, “I don’t negotiate with terrorists,” when he objected to her decision not to place him in an advanced English program.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this year by 14-year-old Palestinian-American Yousef Abdullah, also claims that when he complained to administrators about the Cypress High School teacher’s comment they dismissed it as a “joke.”

The Anaheim Union High School District and a half dozen district educators are named as defendants in the case, according to court records; news reports have not disclosed the name of the teacher in the incident.

On Thursday, the Orange County Register described the scenario leading to the civil complaint:

In February 2025, Abdullah was a 14-year-old freshman applying for the Advanced Placement English program for the coming year. His application was denied by his English teacher, who — when approached by Abdullah in the presence of other students — said, “I don’t negotiate with terrorists, that is people under the age of 18.” Abdullah reported the comment to his counselor, who questioned him about his family and attributed the comment to a joke from a movie, according to the lawsuit. Indeed, at least two motion pictures feature the exact refrain, including the 2008 satirical comedy “Tropic Thunder.” The counselor then chanted the comment repeatedly, subjecting Abdullah to what the lawsuit called “overt racism” for the second time.

“Clearly, the school’s not taking it seriously,” attorney Samer Habbas, who is representing the student, told the Register.

The lawyer also said Abdullah was so traumatized by the incident that he now wants to be known as “Joseph” instead of his Arabic name Yousef. It left him so ashamed of his Palestinian identity that Abdullah tried to avoid growing facial hair or being seen in public with his parents, according to a report by the California Post.

“When you’re calling a Palestinian child of Muslim descent a terrorist… it is completely inappropriate, it dehumanizes a kid,” Habbas said.

After the incident, Abdullah complained to an assistant principal who “deflected the severity of the situation by saying ‘it’s a phrase, it was not made towards you,’” the lawsuit states per the Register’s account.

Abdullah’s parents went to the district administration, which launched an investigation.

Concluding the investigation, District Human Resources Director Amie Maya wrote a letter to the parents saying the district “found evidence of a derogatory comment that did not align with board policy prohibiting abusive language against students,” the Post reported.

The assistant principal acknowledged the comment was inappropriate, but qualified it as a joke, the letter reportedly stated.

The district also reportedly took the position that the matter would be handled through its confidential personnel process, according to news outlets.

Habbas, however, told news outlets that no meaningful discipline followed.

The alleged disrespect wasn’t limited to school officials, the lawsuit claims. It alleges that school employees “disclosed Abdullah’s ADHD diagnosis to classmates, who subsequently mocked him as ‘SpEd’ [special education],” the Post reported.

The school district tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Knill rejected that motion.

Abdullah, who is now 16, attends another high school in Orange County, according to Habbas.

“Our goal is to hold the district for their failure to protect this kid,” he said. “No kid should be called (a terrorist) by their school.”

Breitbart contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.