Statement follows CAIR-MA’s condemnation of anti-Muslim campaign targeting Newton Eid celebration
For the second time in as many weeks, the Council on American-Islamic Relations–Massachusetts (CAIR-MA) is calling on elected officials and community leaders to condemn anti-Muslim campaigns targeting Massachusetts children and their families.
Last week, CAIR-MA condemned an organized campaign against a Muslim holiday celebration in Newton. Today, CAIR-MA raises concerns about what it believes may constitute censorship of history instruction on the Middle East conflict in Sharon Public Schools driven by political pressure.
CAIR-MA has reviewed publicly-available school committee records and meeting materials, examined extensive commentary surrounding the matter, and interviewed a community member who was present during the School Committee meetings at issue.
Based on its review, CAIR-MA is deeply concerned that the district’s curriculum is being shaped by outside political pressure rather than by strong academic standards and sound educational judgment.
According to information reviewed by CAIR-MA, a World History teacher presented instructional materials examining the impact of the conflict on Palestinians and Israelis. Rather than supporting thoughtful study, the district’s response reportedly resulted in the teacher being abruptly removed from teaching that portion of the curriculum and replaced by an administrator.
In a statement on the iuse, Jewish Voice for Peace Boston wrote in part:
“JVP Boston learned of disturbing incidents in Sharon Public Schools in Sharon, Massachusetts. A Jewish teacher of a World History course showed two videos that highlighted the human cost of war, one depicting a Palestinian father and daughter navigating checkpoint humiliation and resource scarcity, and the other depicting an IDF soldier suffering from PTSD. At the behest of two parents’ complaints of anti-Semitism regarding the videos, the School Committee called this teacher’s material anti-Semitic, forced the teacher to discontinue the unit, temporarily replaced her with an administrator with no world history expertise who could deliver more ‘balanced’ content, and considered a resolution to ban the discussion of controversial topics. The School Committee eventually voted to direct the superintendent to vet the curriculum for ‘anti-Semitic content’ without further definition of anti-Semitism.”
SEE JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE BOSTON LETTER.
“We call upon Sharon Public Schools to establish standards that protect academic freedom and are based on educational quality and intellectual value, rather than standards that are reactive to bigoted political pressure. We call for the protection and support of Muslim students and community members in the district and for the embrace of fair and honest discussion of history and current events,” said Attorney Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, Executive Director of CAIR-MA.
CAIR-MA believes that suppressing a curriculum in response to political pressure constitutes one of the clearest examples of viewpoint-based censorship by a public school district. Public education should encourage intellectual curiosity and the examination of historical perspectives. It should not limit instruction because a particular viewpoint may be unpopular to some.
Equally alarming is the ensuing online climate of vitriol that developed around this issue. The civil rights organization reviewed public social media posts and found rhetoric portraying Muslims through terrorist tropes, accusing Muslim community members of practicing deception, characterizing Muslim students and educators as engaged in indoctrination, and celebrating or justifying hostility toward Arabs and Palestinians. The teacher, who publicly describes herself as a Jewish woman, was also met with slurs and called “self-hating.”
This comes at a time when nearly 50 percent of Muslim students in Massachusetts report experiencing faith-based bullying in public schools, according to CAIR-MA’s 2025 Bullying Report.
BACKGROUNDER:
CAIR-MA has received complaints about the treatment of Muslims by Sharon Public Schools for years.
In 2024, Sharon Public Schools cancelled a scheduled visit by Autumn Allen, a Muslim who wears hijab, an award-winning Massachusetts author, Harvard-trained educator, and senior editor at Barefoot Books, whose work has been recognized by the Massachusetts Book Award, People magazine, and the American Library Association. That cancellation followed a vicious, organized online campaign opposing Ms. Allen’s appearance because of her publicly expressed views regarding human rights in Palestine.
“A quality education is being withheld from these students,” Allen said regarding the current suppression campaign. “The families in Sharon are learning over and over again that certain perspectives don’t matter. When I was targeted, it took me months to recover from the vicious attacks on my character and the district’s inability to handle the situation. The district must learn to mitigate the harm and protect the rights of all students,” she concluded.
Allen’s experience led her to become an advocate for legislation entitled “An Act Regarding Free Expression,“ which aims to protect authors and their books from identity-based censorship. The legislation is currently pending before the Massachusetts Legislature.
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CONTACT: Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, Esq., CAIR-MA Executive Director, (617) 862-9159, tamatul-wadud@cair.com