On Tuesday, Aug. 6, CAIR California (CAIR-CA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, will participate in a State Capitol Advocacy Day in Sacramento as part of the California Palestine Solidarity Coalition.
The coalition will meet with elected officials to discuss their concerns about legislation that threatens to undermine fair and unbiased education on Palestine and restrict pro-Palestine advocacy in California’s public schools and universities. The coalition specifically opposes SB 1277 (until amended), SB 1287, AB 2918, and AB 2925, as they falsely equate criticism of Zionism and Israel with antisemitism and seek to shift control of educational content away from experienced educators to biased groups.
WHAT: California Palestine Solidarity Coalition State Capitol Advocacy Day
WHEN:
- Tuesday, Aug. 6
- 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
WHERE: California State Capitol, 1315 10th St., Sacramento
WHO: CAIR-CA, Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) Action, CA Coalition for Liberated Ethnic Studies, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) California, and community advocates
BILL SUMMARY
- SB 1277 (Opposed Until Amended): Places control of teacher training and genocide education curricula in the hands of the California Teachers Collaborative for Holocaust and Genocide Education, led by pro-Israel organizations that deny Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
- SB 1287 (Opposed): Aims to silence university and college students who express opinions in support of Palestine.
- AB 2918 (Opposed): Proposes additional state oversight that would remove curriculum development from ethnic studies educators, placing it instead with groups that have little to no knowledge of ethnic studies and an anti-Palestinian bias.
- AB 2925 (Opposed): Seeks to control discrimination training on campuses, focusing on specific groups based on law enforcement databases, under a definition of antisemitism aligned with pro-Israel agendas.
