It’s not just Washington, DC that has sold out to the Israel lobby. In October of this year, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 715 into law, amending California’s education code, despite significant public opposition. The ostensible purpose of the AB 715 amendments is to address the crisis of rising antisemitism by fortifying anti-discrimination law in public schools. A closer look says otherwise.

The bill was rushed through the state legislative process: at the legislative hearing, even its proponents acknowledged that it had been drafted rather hastily and would require “clean-up” legislation down the road to ensure compliance with constitutional requirements.

Most glaringly, AB 715 fails to define antisemitism. This is an astounding omission. How can one prohibit something without defining it? The Supreme Court has been very clear that laws must define key terms to pass constitutional muster. If people do not know what a law forbids, then they cannot conform their conduct to the law in question, and that constitutes a due process violation.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is suing California Governor Newsom, Attorney General Bonta, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Thurmond, challenging the constitutionality of AB 715 because it is a direct attack on the free speech and due process rights of California public school teachers and students.

But not only does AB 715 entirely neglect to define antisemitism. It creates additional confusion by instructing school districts to follow a 2023 Biden White Paper on combatting antisemitism to identify, prevent, respond to, and counter antisemitism. The White Paper refers to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which conflates anti-Zionist and anti-Israel sentiment with antisemitism. AB 715 advances that conflation by referring to the discomfort students and educators feel on campuses for supporting Israel, and mentions as foundational to its philosophy the recognition of the connection Jewish people have to the land of Israel. Palestinians do not factor into the equation; they are not mentioned even once. Their erasure is not accidental.