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 UC Berkeley’s March 19 settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Louis D. Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education, warning the agreement could restrict protected speech and student organizing related to Palestine.
Under the settlement, UC Berkeley agreed to adopt new measures addressing antisemitism, including use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition in evaluating harassment complaints.
According to the agreement, the university will:
- Prohibit student organizations from excluding individuals based on support for Israel or Zionism.
- Use the IHRA definition of antisemitism in assessing discrimination complaints.
- Update its Office for Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination website to clarify that a ban on Zionists may constitute unlawful discrimination.
- Maintain its position against academic boycotts and divestment from Israel.
CAIR-SFBA said the adoption of the IHRA definition is particularly concerning, citing criticism from civil liberties advocates who argue it can conflate criticism of Israeli government policies with antisemitism and discourage political debate.
In a statement, CAIR-SFBA Civil Rights Attorney Bismah Jaffer said:
“This settlement creates a chilling effect that reaches far beyond the prevention of harassment. It empowers the university to circumvent student’s constitutional rights. Berkeley’s settlement stabilizes a path to someday outright ban dissent while amplifying only what is deemed ‘the correct political beliefs.’ Forcing student organizations to abandon bylaws based on their core political beliefs is a direct assault on the right to expressive association. This framework risks transforming protected speech into actionable ‘pretext,’ establishing a vague and overbroad standard that will inevitably silence students for engaging in essential political discourse.”
The organization also expressed concern that the settlement could impact student advocacy efforts, including support for boycott and divestment campaigns.
In a statement, a Bears for Palestine representative said:
“UC Berkeley’s capitulation to the Brandeis Center is a profound betrayal of the legacy it claims to uphold. The University prides and markets itself as a beacon of Free Speech to incoming students, yet the administration has consistently stood against these very liberatory movements. These administrative capitulations can, and will, be used as tools to silence the lived experiences of Palestinians and to criminalize student organizing. We are already seeing the effects of this crackdown: the forceful closure and sanitization of the Multicultural Community Center (MCC), the removal of Indigenous and Palestinian artwork, and the erasure of the wall highlighting the history of the TWLF, the very movement that created the MCC. By adopting this framework, Chancellor Rich Lyons and the administration are showing where they stand by actively fostering a campus climate of anti-Palestinian racism.”
CAIR-SFBA called on community members to oppose all forms of hate while safeguarding free speech and the right to political expression. The organization encouraged individuals experiencing hate incidents or discrimination to contact its Civil Rights Department at (408) 986-9874 or visit bit.ly/cairsfba-report-hate.
CAIR-SFBA is an office 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-SFBA Communications Manager Lorrie Adam, (408) 498-5779, ladam@cair.com