SUNNYVALE, CA –  Following a lengthy appeal, the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) has made a final decision to uphold its determination that a Gaza video introduced as part of a high school history class on the Holocaust was discriminatory towards Jewish students. The video, produced by a Turkish state-run media outlet registered as a foreign agent and known for its political propaganda, contained egregious comparisons between Israel and Nazis, Hamas militants and Holocaust concentration camp victims, and other manipulative imagery. It featured a prominent anti-Israel activist stating, “As a Jew, I am ashamed sometimes to acknowledge that I belong to the tribe [of Jews],” thereby ascribing the presumed actions of Israel to individual Jewish persons everywhere.

The Board determined that the content of the video was “sufficiently severe that it was likely to have affected Jewish students’ ability to participate in or benefit from an educational program or activity; created an intimidating or offensive educational environment for Jewish students; or otherwise adversely affected Jewish students’ educational opportunities.” It said that the video could be understood to assign blame to individual Jews for the actions of the state of Israel. The board concluded that “[t]he video did not create a welcoming, safe and supportive school environment that allowed all students equal access to and opportunities in the district's academic program.”

The Bay Area Jewish Coalition (BAJC) - brought in by concerned District parents to help them advocate before the Board - is relieved that the leadership of SCUSD recognized the danger of educational materials that are highly biased and seek to promote an inflammatory narrative, in this case, Holocaust inversion. To many Jewish parents, the Holocaust is deeply personal, and they were shocked to discover that this painful chapter in their history was being weaponized against their own children. It is unfortunate that from the time the District was first aware of these concerns, it took officials a year and a half to reach a final decision.

After the District’s initial investigation, where it determined that presenting the video violated Board policy on controversial issues, the teacher appealed the findings and defended the video as appropriate material for a Holocaust lesson. Her appeal was spearheaded by well-funded national organizations, including the antizionist Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), both of which promote anti-Israel political agendas. Along with several other groups, they orchestrated a hostile online campaign against Jewish parents and hurled baseless accusations at community members during public comments (such as being anti-Muslim). The local teachers’ union, in conjunction with the California Teacher Association, also supported the appeal, favoring the teacher’s political agenda at the cost of the pain, exclusion, and basic safety of Jewish students in the District. Shockingly, the union sent a letter to the only Jewish trustee on the board, demanding she recuse herself from voting, implying that her Jewish identity meant she would be biased. 

In this final determination, the SCUSD Board acknowledged the need to develop “clear standards and provide trainings for teachers on these matters, to ensure that teachers are informed of the Districts policies and regulations prohibiting discrimination and know how to take a consistent and balanced approach to instruction, including instruction related to controversial issues.” One District parent responded, “We are relieved that this matter is finally closed, and we hope that the District will ensure that teachers’ personal views stay out of our children’s classrooms from now on.”