The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), along with more than 110 mosques, Islamic centers, and Muslim community organizations, today published a joint open letter to Governor Gavin Newsom on behalf of California’s more than one million Muslims. The letter urges him to veto Assembly Bill (AB) 715—a dangerous classroom censorship bill that will silence Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, Jewish, and other marginalized voices in California public schools by criminalizing honest discussions on Palestine and other global human rights issues.
In the letter, signatories outlined their concerns about AB 715’s vague and sweeping mandates on “factual accuracy,” its disproportionate focus on one form of hate outside a broader civil rights framework, and its reference to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s definition of antisemitism. The IHRA definition was first incorporated in President Biden’s 2023 U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism and has been widely criticized—including by its own author—for conflating antisemitism with legitimate criticism of the state of Israel and being used to silence free speech on school campuses.
The letter also emphasized that, while challenging antisemitism in schools is essential, AB 715’s narrow framework erases, and even punishes, the identities and lived experiences of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students.
In a statement, CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush said:
“AB 715 is a dangerous bill that trades facts-based education and honest conversations on critical global justice issues for censorship and erasure. Our students deserve classrooms where they can speak freely, ask difficult questions, and see their histories accurately represented. Instead, this bill threatens to chill free speech and criminalize discussion of Palestinian history and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
“Governor Newsom has a responsibility to protect students’ right to learn, and we strongly urge him to uphold this responsibility by vetoing AB 715. We cannot allow censorship to masquerade as safety.”
Organizations that signed onto the letter include American Muslims for Palestine, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, the Council of Sacramento Valley Islamic Organizations, the Islamic Center of Southern California, the Muslim Community Association of San Francisco Bay Area, the Muslim Leadership Council of San Diego, and the Shia Muslim Council of Southern California.
CAIR-CA is calling on all Californians to stand up for academic freedom and urge the Governor to veto AB 715.
SEE: CAIR-CA Urges Governor Newsom to Veto Classroom Censorship Bill AB 715
CAIR-CA is a chapter of CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR Greater Los Angeles Area Communications Manager Enjy El-Kadi, (714) 851-4851 or eelkadi@cair.com; CAIR Sacramento Valley/Central California Communications Director Zaid Hisham, (916) 441-6269 or zhisham@cair.com; CAIR San Diego Executive Director Tazheen Nizam, (760) 201-7626, tnizam@cair.com; CAIR San Francisco Bay Area Communications Manager Lorrie Adam, (408) 498-5779 or ladam@cair.com