The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) this week sent a letter to the LA City Council and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto opposing the Council’s proposed “Bubble Zone” motion restricting and criminalizing peaceful anti-genocide protesters’ constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly. In the letter, CAIR-LA urged the City Attorney to preserve protections for protesters’ First Amendment Rights.
SEE: CAIR-LA Letter to LA City Attorney Feldstein Soto Re: Proposed “Bubble Zone” Motion
On Thursday, Aug. 8, Councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky and Bob Blumenfield introduced a motion to establish 100-foot protest “bubble” zones around certain “sensitive sites” in LA. This move follows the councilmembers’ previous efforts to suppress solidarity with Palestine following protests against the illegal sale of Palestinian land at an event hosted by an Israel-based real estate agency at the Adas Torah synagogue.
The motion would make it a misdemeanor crime for a person to:
- Knowingly obstruct, detain, hinder, impede, or block another person’s entry to or exit from a religious institution, healthcare facility, educational facility, or public facility.
- Knowingly approach another person within eight feet, without consent, for the purpose of distributing literature, displaying a sign, or engaging in oral protest within a 100-foot radius of such sites.
Although the proposed motion purportedly aims to protect public spaces, it directly threatens the free speech and assembly rights of demonstrators calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza and imposes impractical and vague barriers on how community members can engage in peaceful protest.
In a statement, CAIR-LA Policy Manager Basha Jamil said:
“It is deeply concerning that, after nearly a year of witnessing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the LA City Council not only remains silent, but also continues to introduce measures designed to stifle the voices of those speaking up for Palestinian human rights and criminalize their constitutional right to free speech and assembly. By penalizing peaceful protests simply based on their proximity to geographic landmarks, this motion threatens to push protesters out of sight, effectively chilling their speech, further disenfranchising already vulnerable groups.
“This troubling move by Councilmembers Yaroslavsky and Blumenfield comes after their previous unsuccessful efforts to suppress solidarity with Palestine following protests at a real estate event promoting the sale of illegally occupied Palestinian land. Earlier this summer, the councilmembers introduced a motion aimed at providing $1 million in city funding to Zionist groups with a history of violence against pro-Palestine protestors. Rather than keep the community safe, these measures are rooted in attempts to criminalize protests.
“Moreover, at a time when LA is facing significant budget deficits and cuts to essential community services, it is irresponsible to divert valuable resources toward policing and prosecuting individuals who are simply exercising their First Amendment rights.
“We call on City Attorney Feldstein Soto to consider the harmful implications of this motion and protect the fundamental rights that underpin our democracy. Peaceful protest is not only a cornerstone of American values but also a right that should never be compromised to serve a political agenda.”
Pro-Palestine protesters in LA have faced extreme violence and aggression from counter-protesters and law enforcement. In June, protests against the illegal sale of Palestinian land were met with violence from pro-Israel counter-protesters. In late April and early May, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) students participating in the school’s anti-genocide student encampment faced brutal attacks from pro-Israel extremists followed by UCLA’s militarized police response leading to the arrest of around 200 student protesters.
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Digital Communications Manager Enjy El-Kadi, (714) 851-4851, eelkadi@cair.com; CAIR-LA Communications Coordinator Madi Morse-Hameed, mmorse-hameed@cair.com