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Caucus Has Engaged in Productive Discussions with State Education Leaders in Advance of July 31st Release of New Draft Curriculum; Received Repeated Assurances Curriculum Will Not Include Any Antisemitic or Anti-Israel Content
Sacramento, CA — Senator Ben Allen (D - Santa Monica) and Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D - Encino), Chair and Vice Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, released the following statement regarding the upcoming release of a new draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum:
Press Release
Jewish Caucus Statement on Efforts for Racial Justice
Sacramento, CA - The California Legislative Jewish Caucus released the following statement amidst the ongoing protests for racial justice:
"The California Legislative Jewish Caucus stands in solidarity with the Black community.
We are horrified by the brutal murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and so many others, and by the centuries of racism, oppression, and systemic injustice that have brought us to this moment.
Sacramento, CA —Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Jewish Caucus Priority Assembly Bill (AB) 1548 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-San Fernando Valley), which establishes the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to provide security funding to nonprofit organizations at risk of hate-motivated violence. Every member of the Jewish Caucus co-authored on this legislation, which builds upon the caucus securing California’s historic $15 million allocation in security funding in this year’s state budget.
Sacramento, CA – The California Legislative Jewish Caucus released the following statement in response to the Israeli Government barring Representatives Omar and Tlaib from visiting Israel:
Sacramento, CA -- On Monday, August 12, 2019, the first day in Sacramento following Summer Recess, Jewish Caucus members affixed mezuzahs to their office doors in the California State Capitol. Photos are available on the Jewish Caucus website and social media accounts.
In a show of unity, 11 California lawmakers representing the Jewish and Latino legislative caucuses toured Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego on Aug. 9 after increasing scrutiny about conditions at the facility.
The legislators conducted interviews and met with detainees at the center, which is overseen by private prison company CoreCivic and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Visiting the Otay Mesa detention facility was powerful and profoundly sad,” said Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto), a member of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. “We all have a responsibility to highlight what is going on at the border. But I do think Jews have a unique history and experience that allows us to empathize with today’s migrants that much more.”
San Diego, CA - Today, 11 Legislators from the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and the California Latino Legislative Caucus visited the Otay Mesa Detention Center and a Migrant Family Shelter operated by Jewish Family Services (JFS). The delegation toured both facilities, conducted interviews with detainees at Otay Mesa, and met with migrant families at the JFS facility. Photos can be found on the Jewish Caucus website.
Sacramento, CA – Last week, the California Legislative Jewish Caucus submitted a letter of concern (found HERE) regarding the initial draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC), which is open for public comment until August 15, 2019. Once revised and approved, the ESMC will help guide instruction in schools across the state.
Elected officials in the state are trying to address the threat, with encouragement from Jewish lawmakers. On April 29, two days after the Poway shooting, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a revision to the state budget that will pour $15 million into the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. The program, which helps bulk up security at nonprofits that are “targets of hate-motivated violence,” had paid out only $4.5 million since 2015.
State Sen. Ben Allen (D-Los Angeles County) said the California Legislative Jewish Caucus lobbied Newsom for an increase even before Poway.
“We met with the governor over a nice breakfast with bagels” earlier this year, he said. “We laid out a series of asks. It was a wonderful meeting. Our message really got through.”
In a statement announcing the revision, delivered on the heels of a Holocaust memorial ceremony at the statehouse, Newsom cited the “troubling trend of hate-fueled attacks across the country.”
“An attack against any community is an attack against our entire state,” the governor said.
Allen said he hopes the money will be available as soon as this summer. Grant recipients will be chosen by the state’s Office of Emergency Services.
BY ALEX CRAMER - The Hollywood Reporter
FC Bayern Munich is one of the most famous and successful soccer clubs in the world, but few people are aware of their history of Nazi resistance during World War II. The Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust is now honoring the Jewish members of that club through their new exhibit, "Venerated – Persecuted – Forgotten: Victims of Nazism at FC Bayern Munich."
American and German dignitaries, including California State Senator Henry Stern, Germany’s Consul General to Los Angeles Stefan Schneider, Bayern’s CEO and Executive Board Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and Stephen Smith, the director of the USC Shoah Foundation, gathered in the Museum’s Children’s Memorial on Tuesday afternoon, to speak to the importance of remembering the Holocaust and those who were victims of the Nazis...
Senator Stern worked with the California Jewish Caucus to bring the exhibit to the museum and he spoke to the importance of keeping Holocaust history alive. "It's an obligation for the Jewish Caucus and for all of us here who are Jews and non-Jews to not let these stories die. You are storytellers, you are winners and champions so to give your platform to this cause, I think that Mr. Landauer is smiling down today."