See more of our coverage in your search results.
A Muslim teenager is taking his Southern California school district to court after his teacher allegedly branded him a terrorist and school administrators brushed off the remark as a joke.
In Feb. 2005, 14-year-old Yousef Abdullah approached his teacher at Cypress High School after being rejected from the Advanced Placement English program.
“I don’t negotiate with terrorists, that is people under the age of 18,” his English teacher allegedly told the Palestinian-American freshman in response.
A school counselor allegedly repeated the terrorist remark several times, while an assistant principal dismissed it as merely a phrase.
Now 16, Abdullah is suing the Anaheim Union High School District, accusing officials of discrimination and failing to protect him.
“Clearly, the school’s not taking it seriously,” attorney Samer Habbas, who represents the teen, told The Orange County Register.
The district’s own investigation found evidence of a derogatory comment that violated its policy against abusive language toward students, according to a March 2025 letter from Human Resources Director Amie Maya.
The district said the matter would be handled through its confidential personnel process.
Habbas said no meaningful discipline followed.
The lawsuit also alleges school employees disclosed Abdullah’s ADHD diagnosis to classmates, who subsequently mocked him as “SpEd.”
The alleged treatment left the teenager so ashamed of his Palestinian and Muslim identity that he tried to avoid growing facial hair and being seen in public with his parents, according to the complaint.
He has since transferred to another Orange County high school.
“When you’re calling a Palestinian child of Muslim descent a terrorist … it is completely inappropriate, it dehumanizes a kid,” Habbas said.
The case is before Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly A. Knill, who rejected the district’s attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed.
