Lawfare to get "Anti-Palestinian Racism" recognized in California Schools
A Halloween trick from CAIR and co.
On October 31st, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) San Francisco- Bay Area Chapter, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the National Lawyers Guild- San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (NLG) have filed a Title VI complaint against Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD). They filed a federal civil rights complaint to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights asking for an investigation into “severe and pervasive anti-Palestinian racism” in the school district.
The definition of Anti-Palestinian Racism (APR) relied on in the complaint is the definition from the Arab-Canadian Lawyers Association.
“Anti-Palestinian racism is a form of anti-Arab racism that silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives. Anti-Palestinian racism takes various forms including: denying the Nakba and justifying violence against Palestinians; failing to acknowledge Palestinians as an Indigenous people with a collective identity, belonging and rights in relation to occupied and historic Palestine; erasing the human rights and equal dignity and worth of Palestinians; excluding or pressuring others to exclude Palestinian perspectives, Palestinians and their allies; defaming Palestinians and their allies with slander such as being inherently antisemitic, a terrorist threat/sympathizer or opposed to democratic values.”
“NAKBA DENIAL includes: claims that there are no such people called Palestinians or no state of Palestine exists; that Palestinians do not originate from a land called Palestine; denial that Palestinians were ethnically cleansed (along with accompanying crimes) to create the state of Israel; rejecting the inalienable rights of Palestinian refugees including the right of return; appropriation of Palestinian history and culture without recognizing their origins; erasure of Palestinians’ connections to the land (i.e. emotional, historical, ancestral, cultural, economic).”
JUSTIFICATION OF VIOLENCE includes: equating the oppressed with the oppressors or blaming the oppressed for the actions of the oppressor or rationalizing the use of violence against Palestinians. The violence can be against Palestinians in Palestine or Israel or in the diaspora and can be committed against Palestinian lands (i.e. seizing lands, damaging natural resources), property (i.e. vandalizing or demolishing homes, businesses, religious centres), and persons (i.e. physical and psychological harms).
FAILING TO ACKNOWLEDGE PALESTINIANS AS AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLE includes: denying the existence of Palestine and Palestinians as a people; denying the settler colonialization of Palestine; appropriating the culture, architecture, language, traditions, clothing, cuisine, music, arts etc. of Palestinians without acknowledgement of its origins; erasing Palestinian ancestral and present-day ties to their land and communities and denying their right to return; benefiting from, or complicity with, the removal of Palestinians from their lands; blocking redress of Palestinians in pursuit of their rights
For more on APR and why it’s problematic for freedom of speech and quality of education see here:
https://quillette.com/blog/2024/10/11/a-new-kind-of-racism-anti-palestinian/?fbclid=IwY2xjawF2I_pleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWLua_UMo4hd-cD1KiF30cTN53dxCp-C7wikXMZwaSX9li0cXRIagUQO3A_aem_-m0c7KzKkmcGh-Z66mOBuQ
And this piece which predicted the spread of APR throughout schools in California:
https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/372753/anti-palestinian-racism-is-coming-soon-to-a-school-near-you/
First, we’ll look at the actors involved in filing the complaint. Then the complaint/complainants and then the end goal of this complaint.
Zahra Billoo is the executive director of CAIR-SFBA. In 2021, Billoo took a “sabbatical” from CAIR after she gave a heavily criticized speech.
"When we talk about islamophobia, we often think of the vehement fascists... but I also want us to pay attention to the polite Zionists, the ones that say 'let's just break bread together,'
"We need to pay attention to the Anti-Defamation League, we need to pay attention to the Jewish Federation, we need to pay attention to the Zionist synagogues, we need to pay attention to the Hillel chapters on our campuses."
"Oppose the vehement fascists, but oppose the polite Zionists, too. They are not your friends... When we talk about Islamaphobia and Zionism let's be clear about the connections."
Billoo advised the AMP convention to "know your enemies," which were "the Zionist organizations" and "the foreign policy organizations who say they're not zionists but want a two-state solution."
Billoo reposts Hatem Bazian (founder of Students for Justice in Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine) on her Instagram, critiquing Muslim Zionists:
Billoo is offended that Time magazine put mass murdering terrorist Yahya Sinwar on its cover:
AROC is funded by the far left Tides Center, along with groups like CodePink, Jewish Voice for Peace and the Palestinian Youth Movement. On October 18 2023, AROC organized a nation-wide “walkout” for High School Students to “stop the genocide in Gaza.”
AROC’s mission:
“We organize to fight for racial and economic justice and the dignity and liberation of our Arab, and Muslim communities…We see our struggles here as a domestic manifestation of global militarism and racial capitalism, and as the root causes of the political, social and economic instability of our homelands. In that spirit, we see the liberation of our people as inextricably tied to the liberation of all oppressed people.
We are also committed to and actively developing interventions to heal the generational trauma grown from patriarchy and white supremacy so as to not reproduce systems of harm that prevent our community from taking effective action towards the transformation and liberation of our people.”
The ADC says that it “supports the human and civil rights of all people and opposes racism and bigotry in any form.” Odd then that they’d partner with groups like CAIR, AROC and NLG.
Then again, here is ADC hosting Jill Stein.
The NLG is a far left activist group.
So these are the groups behind the Title VI complaint…Now to the complaint -
These groups allege “ severe and pervasive anti-Palestinian racism” at SCUSD. Here are some examples from the complaint:
In October 2023, the Muslim Students Association (MSA) invited a local Palestinian elder and leading community advocate, Samir Laymoun, to speak at Wilcox. Even though the students were merely trying to learn accurate information about Palestine as relevant to their lives and studies, the topic of Palestinian identity was labeled “controversial.” The MSA went to great lengths to familiarize themselves and comply with SCUSD’s Controversial Issues Policy in preparation for this session. As they planned the talk, the school advised that it would be best to avoid covering current events like October 7 and the genocide in Gaza to abide by the Policy. Therefore, as part of the vetting process, the students were encouraged and decided to limit Mr. Laymoun’s speech to his personal journey and to not have him discuss the atrocities unfolding in Gaza. At the suggestion of Principal Kristen Gonzalez, the students also notified the Jewish Student Union (JSU) and received their consent to the speaker. The event was initially scheduled for November 15, 2023.
On December 7, the MSA speaker had 20 minutes to present to students during a lunch period. While he spoke, he shared brief factual background information about the region of Israel-Palestine as it pertained to his own story of migration and in response to student questions—including that Israel maintains control over the West Bank, the increased number of Palestinian refugees between 1948-1967, the number of checkpoints present in Palestine, Israeli control of water resources on the ground, the presence of Jews in Palestine pre-1948, and massacres of Palestinians that occurred in 1948. That same day, Ms. Meltzer summarized the talk by stating that it would upset district officials and that an Israeli speaker would have to be brought in to speak with students. Later, Ms. Muirhead would report that these factual statements “upset” many Jews in the room, herself included.
…On February 21, administrators ultimately canceled Bar-Yoshafat’s appearance after receiving word that non-Wilcox students may show up in protest. Ms. Meltzer noted in emails to parents that “people outside the Wilcox community” were planning to “disrupt school activities.” Ms. Meltzer and other administrators decided that these “unknown entities” would pose a “risk” to students.
This response inflicted further harm on the Muslim and Palestinian community because it failed to acknowledge the speaker’s racist and Islamophobic statements.
An MSA member shared that while relieved Bar-Yoshafat would not be coming to the school, the way the cancellation was framed felt rooted in stereotypes about white fear of Brown Americans’ anger. He recalls that this felt like the most disappointing and discriminatory thing that the administration could have emphasized in its response. This language is routinely used to describe Arab and Muslim communities protesting the genocide— and has historically been used to delegitimize the organizing efforts of Black people in the struggle for civil rights.
In April 2024, the JSU brought in speaker Sophia Khalifa for a lunch period talk. Unlike the MSA speaker, Ms. Khalifa was allowed to speak about Gaza, Hamas, and October 7 during her presentation. Students felt shaken by the vehemently negative and false stereotypes perpetuated about Muslims shared in her speech. Again, MSA students reached out to the school principal to set up a meeting to discuss their concerns about the disparate treatment. When students asked the principal why Ms. Khalifa had been allowed to discuss Hamas, Ms. Gonzalez responded by saying “[s]o you don’t think Hamas is a problem?” This combative response was incredibly alarming and intimidating to students.
The APR here is rooted not in fact but in the feelings and perceptions of the students. The fact that the school cancelled an Israeli speaker because protestors from outside the school were encouraged to come to the school is also an instance of anti-Palestinian racism.
“Teachers seeking to provide factual educational materials about Palestine are silenced while anti-Palestinian perspectives proliferate in the classroom”
Teacher A is a history teacher at Wilcox who has faced multiple investigations and complaints due to sharing factual information as part of relevant coursework. She is also one of the only visibly Muslim teachers there— she wears the hijab at school. After October 7, 2023, her students asked her to teach about Palestine, and she responded to their requests by sharing accurate information, for which she has faced repression and scrutiny. In December 2023, while teaching a unit on imperialism, Teacher A discussed the human rights abuses occurring in Palestine. After presenting this information, she gave students an opportunity to share feedback with her about the presentation. No one reached out.
Teacher A has also spoken to students about the genocide in Gaza as part of the unit on the Holocaust. During that unit, she shared a video of a Holocaust survivor who decried the war on Gaza and compared it to her own experiences.
Teacher A continues to be singled out for discipline based on providing information to students about Palestine and for her status as one of the only visibly Muslim teachers on staff at Wilcox. While she’s no longer teaching world history this year— she has been mysteriously reassigned to teach four US history classes and one European history class— she hopes to remain a source of support for young Palestinian and Muslim students who continue to go without support from the SCUSD
This complaint of APR is rooted in the fact that the teacher is visibly Muslim…not that she brought up “genocide” in Gaza during a unit on the Holocaust or brought Palestine into the classroom when inappropriate. The “facts” the teacher gave the students are also not shared in the complaint.
End Goal of Complaint:
• Establish a speaker vetting process to ensure they do not hold violent, hateful views, especially against already marginalized communities on campus. The process should be applied equally without extra scrutiny for some based on ethnicity or national origin. Establishing transparency protocols so that the broader school community knows which speakers are being evaluated.
“Establish a task force dedicated to educating teachers and staff members on anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia awareness and prevention strategies. In collaboration with local community organizations, experts, and leaders, SCUSD must develop comprehensive training programs and resources tailored to the specific needs of its district. The training can be included as a section to the professional development training staff attends a few times a year. The training should also include coverage of tactics commonly used against pro-Palestine movements.
Issue a public apology to the Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian community, acknowledging that it was inappropriate and contrary to its own standards to approve Ran Bar-Yoshafat as a school speaker.
Issue a public statement making it clear to the community that Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students and educators are welcome and equal members of the SCUSD community, and welcome to express their ethnicity and national origin equal to students and educators of any national origin.
Hire therapists who reflect school demographics— particularly of Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab students—and are culturally trained to deal with the unique issues faced by those populations.
Adopt educational materials on Palestine by reputable groups such as Teach for Palestine and remove anti-Palestine resources from school websites and curricula. Ensure that history teachers are prepared to teach on this topic.”
By bringing forward claims of “Anti-Palestinian Racism”, activists like Billoo hope to institutionalize the definition of APR given above and make it near impossible to teach the Israel-Palestinian conflict from any point of view other than the Palestinian narrative. It remains to be seen how successful this complaint will be and its impact.