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.
The counselor allegedly repeated the remark several times, subjecting Abdullah to what the complaint described as “overt racism” for a second time.
Abdullah then brought the complaint to an assistant principal, who allegedly minimized the incident by telling him “it’s a phrase, it was not made towards you.”
After Abdullah’s parents escalated the matter to the district, officials launched an investigation into the allegations.
In a March 2025 letter to the family, district Human Resources Director Amie Maya said the investigation found evidence of a derogatory comment that did not comply with the school board’s policy prohibiting abusive language directed at students.
The letter also acknowledged that the assistant principal had recognized the teacher’s comment was inappropriate, although it was qualified as a joke.
Maya said the violation would be addressed through the district’s “confidential personnel process.” Habbas, however, said no meaningful disciplinary action was taken and that no employees lost their jobs over the incident.
“Because the kid was Palestinian, it was not taken the same way as if it had been another protected group,” Habbas said.
“Some people in the United States are Islamophobic … and attach them to events having nothing to do with them. … Anybody that looks like Abdullah, prays like Abdullah, is a ‘terrorist.’ “
Habbas compared Abdullah’s case with an incident in Pennsylvania in January 2025, where a middle school teacher resigned after making virtually the same remark to a student who asked to change seats.
“Here in Orange County, we have the same identical comment and Yousef Abdullah is told by administrators to deal with it,” Habbas said.
The lawsuit also alleges that teachers discussed Abdullah’s special needs status in front of his classmates, exposing his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis to other students.
“As a result of these disclosures, plaintiff’s peers became aware of his disability status and subjected him to ridicule, including calling him ‘SpEd,’” the suit said. “These events caused plaintiff embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, stress, and social withdrawal, and contributed to a hostile educational environment.”
Abdullah has begun avoiding anything that might identify him as Arab or Muslim, including growing facial hair or appearing in public with his parents, the complaint alleges. Now 16, he has transferred to another high school in Orange County, Habbas said.
The lawsuit seeks to hold the district accountable for its handling of the incident and its alleged failure to protect the student from discrimination.
“Our goal is to hold the district for their failure to protect this kid,” Habbas said. “No kid should be called (a terrorist) by their school.”
The Independent has contacted the Anaheim Union High School District for comment.
