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 welcomed the decision by the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) to launch a Title IX civil rights investigation into allegations of harassment and discrimination against a Muslim student by a law professor.
The investigation follows an incident that occurred on April 9, 2024, during a dinner at the residence of Professor Catherine Fisk and her husband Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley’s law school. Graduating law student Malak Afaneh reported experiencing harassment and discrimination when she attempted to deliver a pro-Palestine speech at the dinner.
Video footage captured by students attending the dinner showed Fisk attempting to wrestle a microphone out of Afaneh’s hands in an apparent act of Islamophobia and silencing based on her pro-Palestinian beliefs.
In a statement, CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Zahra Billoo said,
“We commend UC Berkeley for initiating this investigation and taking steps to address potential civil rights violations. It is crucial that all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs, are safe and respected at university-sanctioned events.”
Billoo continued, “CAIR-SFBA applauds Malak and the tens of thousands of other pro-Palestine students rising up across the nation to protest against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and calling for their campuses to divest from corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid. Our law enforcement agencies and university administrators must stand down, responding to protests with violence will not intimidate or silence the inspiring advocates who are courageously standing on the front lines of today’s anti-war movement.”
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, ladam@cair.com, 408.498.5779