A Montgomery County Public Schools employee alleges that school officials discriminated against her by placing her on administrative leave for writing, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” in her school email signature.
Hajur El-Haggan said in a complaint filed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission this week that other employees at Argyle Middle School in Silver Spring similarly have expressed support for political and social causes through their email signatures but that she was the only employee known to face disciplinary action.
The phrase, “From the river to the sea,” is a decades-old rallying cry for Palestinian nationalist aspirations, but it is also interpreted by some as a call to eradicate Israel. The phrase refers to a territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which includes the state of Israel — as well as the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza. Pro-Israel and other allied groups argue the phrase is antisemitic, suggesting the abolition of a Jewish state during a time of rising antisemitism.
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El-Haggan has taught in Montgomery County schools since 2015, according to the complaint. She teaches sixth and seventh grade math at Argyle. She described herself as a “homegrown” educator who is dedicated to making her students “feel seen, to feel loved, heard and appreciated” at a news conference outside the school board’s headquarters Friday.
She added the controversial phrase to her email signature in October. Other Argyle colleagues at the time had “Black Lives Matter” or a link to an article titled, “Should you put Pronouns in Email Signatures and Social Media Bios?” in their email signatures, according to screenshots she provided in her complaint purporting to show her co-workers’ messages. She didn’t hear about any reprimands for them, she said.
But on Nov. 20, after parent-teacher conferences, El-Haggan was told by her school’s principal that she would be placed on administrative leave because of her email signature, according to the complaint. She was informed that school system policy bars quotes in email signatures, especially those with political references, she recalled. Her school’s principal told her that he would be sending a letter of support and attempt to advocate on her behalf.
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She later offered to remove the phrase from her email signature, but a school system administrator said her that her administrative leave would remain in effect.
She started advocating more vocally for Palestinians when the Israel-Gaza war began in October. She wore attire that represented the Palestinian flag’s colors and homemade buttons in support of Palestinians to school. In November, an unknown person cut off a large Palestinian flag with the text “Free Palestine” from her car’s windshield.
El-Haggan said her advocacy is “intrinsically tied” to her identity as a Muslim, Arab American woman of Egyptian and Sudanese descent. She described her efforts as an attempt to support Palestinians’ “peace and for their freedom.”
El-Haggan said the school system should not have escalated to punitive measures, particularly because it uses restorative justice practices — which invite those in conflict to talk through any harm and find ways to move forward. Rather than giving her a chance to grow and understand her mistakes, she said the school system singled her out.
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“I feel as though if I looked different, dressed differently, had a different name or was of a different background, this would not be happening to me,” she said. Her goal with filing a complaint is “to ensure Montgomery County treats all of its employees fairly.”
In a letter to Argyle families on Friday, Principal James Allrich named El-Haggan and said she was “alleged to have an email signature that may be in violation of Montgomery County Public Schools Policy.” The school hired a substitute to work with its math content specialist to cover El-Haggan’s classes while she is on leave.
“We remain committed to fostering a safe and inclusive learning environment at Argyle Middle School,” he wrote. He added that because it is a personnel matter, privacy laws limited what he could share. Montgomery schools spokesman Chris Cram declined to comment on the issue further, citing its status as a personnel matter under investigation.
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In recent weeks, at least two Montgomery teachers were placed on leave for commentary on their personal social media accounts related to the Israel-Gaza war.
Cram confirmed Friday that a Takoma Park Middle School teacher, Angela Wolf, was on administrative leave. Screenshots of Facebook posts Wolf reshared aren’t publicly viewable but were sent to The Washington Post. In one example, she reposted a Facebook user who said, “A shout out to bus operators at Dulles who refused to transport Zionists to the pro Israel rally. Their solidarity with the victims of Israeli genocide should be commended.”
Reached by a reporter, Wolf declined to answer questions about the incident or her status.
Another teacher from Tilden Middle School was placed on administrative leave in November for social media posts that purported to show her falsely claiming the Oct. 7 music festival massacre that killed 260 was a hoax.
A petition is circulating online asking for both teachers’ reinstatement.
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