The school calls her claims “brazenly false” and “frivolous.” And really, how likely is it that in today’s weepy creepy “racism”- and “Islamophobia”-obsessed society that Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey would be a den of greasy Islamophobes who hated Sireen Hashem just because of her peaceful, tragically misunderstood religion? She says it was about her showing a video about Malala Yousafzai, which is extremely implausible, since Malala is a Nobel Prize winner who is celebrated and hailed everywhere. Hashem says she also got in hot water for using “a test question that compared the actions of an abolitionist and Osama bin Laden.” Comparing them how? Was she comparing Osama to John Brown, who committed murder in the cause of abolition? Was she suggesting that both were killing in a good cause? Even that, if that is what she did, is unlikely to get her in any trouble in today’s atmosphere of Leftist solicitude for those who would destroy us. Did the school ask her to stop mentioning Islam? The context needs to come to light: was she proselytizing? Engaging in Islamic apologetics?
In any case, here is yet another case in a long, long line of Muslim victimhood cases. Victim status is currency in today’s loser-oriented society. It’s big business. And Muslim groups are playing the role to the hilt, using victimhood claims to try to deflect attention away from the reality of jihad terror.
“New Jersey School District Rejects Claim of Anti-Muslim Firing,” by Jonah Bromwich, New York Times, December 23, 2015:
A New Jersey school district on Tuesday rejected accusations by a Muslim teacher that she was fired because of her religion as “brazenly false” and “frivolous.”
In a statement, the Hunterdon County district said Sireen Hashem was not fired from Hunterdon Central Regional High School, but simply did not have her contract renewed, for reasons “that were fully and clearly explained to her and her representation.”
“Those reasons were not related to religion, national or any other improper factor,” it added.
A spokeswoman did not respond to a request on Wednesday for further details, but the statement said, “The board and the administration respect and embrace the diversity of the district’s employee and student population, and value the relationships it enjoys amongst persons of all faiths.”
Omar T. Mohammedi, Ms. Hashem’s lawyer, says that the school never explained its reasons for ending her employment. She began working at the school in January 2013, teaching history and social studies, and, according to her complaint, received the first notice that her contract would not be renewed last April.
Ms. Hashem, an American citizen of Palestinian descent, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the district on Dec. 14, accusing the school of barring her from mentioning Islam in class after she showed students a video about the Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and used a test question that compared the actions of an abolitionist and Osama bin Laden.
Ms. Hashem said that the video was used by at least one other teacher and the test question was “commonly used,” but that parents protested their use in her class. The district eventually asked her to avoid mentioning Islam in class, Ms. Hashem said.
The lawsuit, which names as defendants the school district, its officials and Hunterdon County, also accuses a student of creating a post on Facebook that labeled her brother as a terrorist.
Ms. Hashem asserts that, after her employment ended in June, she was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation after she told the school board that it would be sorry for firing her. The F.B.I. declined a request for comment.
After telling her story to CNN’s Don Lemon, Ms. Hashem received support online, much if it posted on Twitter under the hashtag #FightforHashem.
Some commenters voiced skepticism, saying that Ms. Hashem’s accusations had not faced adequate scrutiny….