Fight real antisemitism. Protect Palestinian human rights. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Trump is using a definition of antisemitism that dangerously conflates antisemitism with criticism of Israel — to silence pro-Palestinian speech, subpoena universities, cut university funding, and detain people for exercising their First Amendment rights.
California’s AB 715, a 2025 antisemitism law, indirectly uses that same definition: the IHRA definition. If left unchanged, AB 715 could be weaponized in similar ways to how Trump is using it nationally.
AB 2159 helps to fix. It would:
- Remove the indirect reference to the IHRA definition so criticism of Israeli policy isn’t treated as antisemitism
- Require the Antisemitism Coordinator to be a qualified, merit-based hire — not a political appointee
- Eliminate vague language that lets politically motivated groups file complaints against teachers who discuss Palestinian culture and rights
But AB 2159 first needs to move out of the Rules Committee, then make its way through committee to the Assembly floor. We need people making calls at every step of the way.
Real antisemitism — rooted in white nationalist ideology — is a serious threat. The same movement driving antisemitism is attacking LGBTQ+ people, erasing histories of communities of color, dismantling DEIA, promoting Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism, and supporting the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. We have to fight all of it. We cannot do that with a law that equates advocacy for Palestinian human rights with antisemitism.
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