Yahya Cadji is a World History teacher at Fremont High School in OUSD, an organizer with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), and has been organizing around issues affecting Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities for over a decade.
As an Arab teacher in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), I am appalled by the district’s consistent anti-Arab bias and Islamophobic position toward students, as well as their censorship of Palestine in schools. On one hand, they are silent when Arab students are attacked. On the other, when supporters of Israel are upset about the teaching of Palestine, they launch into action. This is a longstanding problem that has only been exacerbated since October 7.
Censorship and Taking Down of Palestinian Flag
Palestine occupies a special place in the hearts of the roughly 1,500 Arab and Muslim OUSD students–in particular Yemeni students, who feel the pain of the genocide in Gaza because of their own history resisting colonial occupation. Yemeni people have shown their support for Palestine by turning away international ships headed toward Israel. This is the type of solidarity that motivated some Yemeni students at Fremont High School to raise the Palestinian flag during a student-led walkout on October 18, which flew high above the school for close to a month.
But once pictures were posted on Instagram, the school and its student population immediately received blowback: hateful calls, threats directed at school staff, and racist diatribes online. District officials responded by taking the flag down, but they never reached out to offer support to students who came under attack for their peaceful actions, nor did they send a message to the school community condemning the online attacks. This is what it is like to be a Palestinian, Arab or Muslim student in OUSD: If you speak out in support of Palestine, your freedom of expression is censored or silenced. But if you are attacked, the district suddenly looks the other way.
A 12th grader at MetWest High stated in a survey: “I have felt extremely unmotivated to attend school due to feeling unsafe and being labeled as a terrorist. It is not easy to forget these experiences, especially when a teacher tries to blame the conflict on Arab and Muslim people, knowing that I am part of this community. It is very difficult to focus on learning when there is a possibility of being attacked. The decision to remove the Palestine poster [in school] made me feel that my voice and experiences are not valued. OUSD has NOT made me feel SAFE and has made me feel different from my peers.”
Pro-Israel, Biased Curriculum
The district’s bias was clearly exposed when OUSD Chief Academic Officer Dr. Sondra Aguilera sent out district-sanctioned teaching resources about the genocide on October 31. There were three sources of lesson plans; two were from pro-Israeli perspectives – the Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS) and Facing History and Ourselves. As Jessica Buxbaum exposed in an excellent article, the ICS is a pro-Israel lobbying group that works to promote Israel and erase Palestine from U.S. textbooks. And Facing History and Ourselves, according to Liz Rose’s reporting, promotes a view of Israel as a beacon of democracy and ignores Palestinians entirely. Whether knowingly or not, OUSD is offering skewed resources that support the dehumanization and erasure of Palestinians under the guise of neutrality.
In addition, when the Oakland Education Association (OEA) teachers union planned a more accurate teach-in about Palestine, Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell and then-Board President Mike Hutchinson went on the offensive, with Hutchinson going so far as to threaten the employment of teachers who use materials not included in Aguilera’s resources. This is especially concerning because in 2020, the Board affirmed its commitment to the inclusion of Palestine in Ethnic Studies curriculum. And now they’re regressing.
Battle Over Ceasefire Resolution
The most evident example of anti-Arab bias, however, is the battle over a ceasefire resolution. It’s hard to overstate how important the ceasefire resolution is to Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim youth and their families, many of whom are suffering from post-traumatic stress as they watch genocide enacted in Gaza every day.
With Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan, Oakland City Council, San Fransisco Board of Supervisors, and other institutions across the country passing ceasefire resolutions themselves, OUSD seemed primed to be yet another group standing against genocide.
However, on November 8, 2023, Hutchinson shut down the Board meeting and microphones were turned off to avoid public comment about the resolution from students, staff, families and the larger community. OUSD later announced that the cancellation of its December 13, 2023, Board meeting was due to “ongoing public safety concerns, a thinly-veiled, yet clearly anti-Arab, racist, and Islamophobic reference to the community that has shown up peacefully to support the ceasefire resolution. The Board’s tactic is clear–shut down or cancel meetings to avoid voting, then pin the blame on a grieving community.
In the meantime, Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian students are facing increasing levels of harassment in OUSD schools. One OUSD student wrote in a survey that “As a girl whose religion is made obvious by the fact that I wear a hijab, witnessing/listening to all the hate-crimes [against Arabs and Muslims] has made me terrified for myself and family. To share my opinion on Palestine genocide has become nothing less than putting a target on my back and on those who I love.” Passing a ceasefire resolution would be a tremendous step to showing our Arab students that OUSD cares about them too.
Cuts to Arab Staff Positions in OUSD
The recent cuts in December to two Arab Recruitment and Retention Specialists, as well as another Arab staff member in the Office of Equity, sends a distressing message to OUSD Arab staff and students: You do not matter to us. This contributes to exclusion, alienation and lack of adequate representation felt by the Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian community at large.
What’s the solution?
- Vote on and Pass the ceasefire resolution at the Wednesday, January 24 Board Meeting
- Increase Arab staff positions
- Encourage teachers to bring Palestine and Arab American curriculum into their classrooms
OUSD says it’s proud to be a Sanctuary district where every student thrives. It’s time for them to live up to their promises!
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