Jewish Groups Sue California School District, Alleging Anti-Semitism In Curriculum

OAN’s James Meyers
5:10 PM – Thursday, September 14, 2023

Several Jewish groups are suing a southern California school district for alleged “anti-Semitism.”

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The coalition of groups representing the Jewish community filed a lawsuit against the Santa Ana Unified School District claiming the school board adopted an anti-Semitic curriculum and did not allow any input to protect Jews who were against the curriculum from harassment and intimidation. 

The 86-page suit, which was announced on Monday included the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

The lawsuit claimed the school district violated the Brown Act, California’s open meetings law, and demands the court block the controversial curriculum. 

Additionally, the claims state that the school district has on their curriculum Ethnic Studies courses to include teachings that make Israel look like it supports “settler colonialism,” and call Zionism “a nationalist, colonial ideology” that calls for the expansion of the Jewish state in “historic Palestine by any means necessary.”

“It’s clear that the Santa Ana Unified School District violated the law in their rush to approve anti-Semitic content with their ethnic studies curriculum,” said James Pasch, a senior director of national litigation for the ADL. “Closed-door discussions prevented input from marginalized communities in direct contrast to the goal of the ethnic studies program, which is to support marginalized communities.”

The district, commented on the suit stating the school district developed its curriculum with input from Jewish, Palestinian and Muslim communities.

“The goal is to provide balanced, multiple perspectives from all groups involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the district’s statement says.

“The District itself has no political position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just like the District would not take a political position or other global conflicts,” the statement read. “However, we do understand that members in our community, including our students and families, share strong opinions on issues such as these. We will always encourage open and respectful dialogue in our schools as part of our effort to provide a well-rounded education.” 

Currently, the Santa Ana Unified School District educates almost 45,000 K-12 students.

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