Editor’s note: This story was updated on Nov. 3 to reflect the content of the resolutions that were passed. The previous version, published on Oct. 28, quoted draft resolutions that did not pass.
The Palo Alto Unified School District school board will implement two resolutions condemning antisemitism and Islamophobia that it passed unanimously at a special meeting Friday morning.
The two resolutions call for the PAUSD community to “promote unity” following the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.
Board member Todd Collins was absent from the vote.
The first resolution states, “Palo Alto Unified School District unequivocally condemns antisemitism, along with all other forms of discrimination, and emphasizes the need for all of us to stand together to show that all forms of discrimination have no place within our school district.”
The second resolution states, “Muslim and MENA, and especially our Palestinian PAUSD students and families, whose cultural self-expression and very identity are routinely conflated with terrorism, are feeling targeted, and report experiencing hatred, silencing, intimidation and exclusionary behaviors in our elementary, middle and high schools” and urges the district to “prioritize implementing educational initiatives that challenge hate and promote the safety and full participation of all students.”
Both resolutions were amended to include, “Palo Alto Unified School District deeply mourns the deaths of thousands of innocent Israeli and Palestinian children and people.”
Board member Shounak Dharap said that both resolutions were necessary.
“It was a lot of pain and … I think we had to pass it [the resolutions],” he said. “Words matter, but words without actions are hollow. So really, what’s going to matter most is what we do with those resolutions and the actions we take to implement those resolutions into concrete actions.”
PAUSD parent and teaching assistant Soumaya Arfi said she hopes the resolutions will improve student safety.
“I think people felt they needed to hear something from the school board to bring safety to their families or to feel safe,” Arfi said. “I hope that … what’s to come is things the district can do to bring healing and to bring in communication and conversation for students so that they can learn how to navigate these types of situations.” Words matter, but words without actions are hollow. So really, what’s going to matter most is what we do with those resolutions and the actions we take to implement those resolutions into concrete actions. — Shounak Dharap, school board member
According to some community members, the board took too long to pass the resolutions, which came almost three weeks after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.
“I’m glad they [the resolutions] were finally passed,” said Henry M. Gunn High School senior Ella Katzir. “I just think it took way too long. A way to try and say the right things and do the right thing and please everybody, rather than saying what we needed to hear.”
PAUSD parent Jason Henry echoed Katzir’s statement.
“The only reason these resolutions came up is because of the lack of proper response from [Superintendent] Dr. Don Austin and the board members for replying to our concerns for safety on Oct. 13, which was a call for jihad,” he said. “We asked them to give us an understanding of how they’re promoting safety for kids in schools. And their response was very blasé.”
Some community members said they felt that passing two resolutions diluted the pain their communities feel.
“It wasn’t appropriate to pass them [the resolutions] both together,” PAUSD parent Sarah Benson said. “Because it shows there is some kind of seek[ing] for false moral equivalency. I think that the Jewish community is allowed to mourn and to be recognized for their pain without … having the need … to acknowledge somebody else’s thing together with their pain at that moment. I mourn the loss of all innocent lives, doesn’t matter who they are, if it’s a Jew or a Muslim … because not only Jews died in this attack.”
PAUSD students who attended the meeting held up signs depicting recent antisemitic imagery in the Bay Area and phrases including “We are afraid” and “We are not OK.” Other board meeting attendees held signs with pictures of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.
Many students said they felt unsafe at school and in the community.
“There’s a lot of protests around the Bay Area and a lot of peaceful protests started [getting] into antisemitic, anti-Zionism, just Jew hatred all around and saying we deserve everything that was coming to us,” Katzir said. “So I think a lot of people hear it but they need to see it to believe it.”
It’s been an intense couple of weeks. I don’t like the division that this has caused to our community. But I’m hopeful. I think now the conversations can start between different groups and we can come together for the betterment of all.
— Soumaya Arfi, PAUSD parent
The tense and emotional atmosphere erupted at times, such as when a speaker questioned the need for two resolutions and was booed and interrupted by a portion of the audience. In addition, audience members interrupted remarks by Board President Jennifer DiBrienza to decry the lack of a previous official statement addressing the Hamas attack.
However, optimism was still present. Meeting attendee Ahmed Datoo expressed hope that the resolution could increase unity.
“I’m really excited that the school board has come out and condemned antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-MENA hate,” he said. “I know there are a lot of communities that are hurting and I was proud that our pain is not more important than anyone else’s pain, and that we can now move forward to healing and growing as a community.”
Arfi agrees.
“It’s been an intense couple of weeks,” she said. “I don’t like the division that this has caused to our community. But I’m hopeful. I think now the conversations can start between different groups and we can come together for the betterment of all.”
