The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) Board of Trustees for denying the appeal of Santa Clara Unified high school teacher Kauser Adenwala over a lesson that included a video of a Jewish Holocaust survivor speaking out against the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The Board’s decision affirms a revised determination that finds Ms. Adenwala responsible for “discriminatory bias” based on that lesson. CAIR-SFBA and allied organizations say the ruling is grounded in flawed legal reasoning and the discredited IHRA definition of antisemitism, and will chill classroom discussion of Palestine, genocide and human rights.
The Board’s vote came after more than five hours of public testimony, including a stream of students explaining that finding against Ms. Adenwala would silence their ability to learn about the world and reinforce a climate of racism in the district. Jewish community members read aloud a letter from Jewish studies scholars in support of Ms. Adenwala, while multiple speakers urging the district to sustain the findings denied the genocide in Gaza and labeled Palestinian civilians as “terrorists.” In a Nov. 6 letter to SCUSD, CAIR California, the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, and Jewish Voice for Peace San Francisco Bay Area likewise urged the Board to reject the revised determination and abandon the IHRA definition as a disciplinary or speech standard in the district.
In a statement, CAIR-SFBA Policy Coordinator Musa Tariq said:
“The revised determination eerily mirrors AB 715, a censorship bill that was opposed by every major teachers’ organization in California, as well as hundreds of grassroots and civil rights organizations. We are already seeing its racist intent and chilling effects trickle down into classrooms, creating an environment of fear for teachers, parents and students. No educator should be expected to defend themselves in a room where their humanity and the humanity of their students is being publicly degraded.
“For nearly two years, Ms. Adenwala has faced coordinated attacks for refusing to erase Palestinian history from her classroom. The District had a choice: stand with its educators who encourage critical dialogue in the classroom or punish a teacher for doing so. They chose punishment, and students across the district will pay the price.”
CAIR-SFBA Civil Rights Coordinator Hibah Hammoudeh shared a personal perspective as a Palestinian community member, while raising concerns about the well-being of Palestinian students in the school district.
“As a Palestinian community member, it truly breaks my heart to know that nearly 200,000 of my people have been murdered at the hands of the Israeli government, and there are still people, after two years, wrongfully weaponizing antisemitism to silence dissent regarding the genocide. I truly hope SCUSD makes space for its Palestinian students, who have been grieving an immense loss for the last two years.”
CAIR-SFBA noted that this decision comes amid rising anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bullying and harassment in schools statewide, including patterns documented in CAIR-CA’s 2025 Bullying Report on faith-based bullying of Muslim students.
As demanded in the Nov. 6 letter to SCUSD, CAIR-SFBA is again urging the district to abandon the IHRA definition of antisemitism as a disciplinary or speech standard and to take concrete steps to address anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian racism in its schools.
CAIR-SFBA is an office of CAIR, America’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.
END
CONTACT: CAIR-SFBA Communications Manager Lorrie Adam, 408.498.5779, ladam@cair.com