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Anti-Israel organizations in San Francisco are claiming they successfully lobbied the San Francisco Unified School District to cancel an antisemitism training for teachers led by the American Jewish Committee because of the organization’s support for Israel.

According to an internal email from SFUSD administrators Karling Aguilera-Fort and Davina Goldwasser, the workshop on “Jewish identity and anti-semitism,” organized by AJC at the district’s request, had been scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

The two shared an update with teachers in the morning.

“We are reaching out to share an update about the Jewish Identity and Anti-Semitism workshop scheduled for this afternoon,” according to the email, which was obtained by J. “Please note that this training will not take place today as we had originally planned, and we are looking for another date to hold this important workshop.”

The Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Bay Area trumpeted the district’s decision in an email on Wednesday, claiming that they had successfully lobbied to “cancel” the training and considered this a major win against what they called a partnership with a “pro-Israel lobbying group” that is “Islamophobic” and “pro-war.” Jewish Voice for Peace, the anti-Zionist organization founded in Berkeley, was also involved in the effort, the groups said.

The announcement comes at a trying time for the San Francisco public school district. Like Oakland and other districts across the Bay Area, SFUSD is under a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Education into its handling of antisemitic incidents. Some Jewish SFUSD families reportedly even left the district.

AROC, a staunchly anti-Zionist group based in San Francisco that orchestrates boycotts of Israel, is a well-known actor in Bay Area politics. It came under scrutiny for helping to facilitate widespread walkouts at Bay Area high schools shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre. During the walkouts, students called on Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza and shouted anti-Israel slogans. AROC director Lara Kiswani later faced criticism from the Jewish community for remarks she made at a Detroit conference in May at which speakers shared support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. At the conference, Kiswani said her organization aimed to “overcome Zionism” and was having success working with school districts.

AROC did not immediately respond to J.’s request for comment.

Seth Brysk, regional director of the AJC, told J. on Wednesday that the situation with SFUSD remains “in flux” and that, as far as he could tell, the antisemitism training with teachers would be rescheduled, despite the claims by AROC and CAIR that it had been canceled. 

“There’s been in the world, and across the country — not to mention in our communities around the Bay Area and in San Francisco — a sharp rise in antisemitism that dates back to the last few years. It increased further still after Oct. 7 last year. We’ve seen that manifest at schools,” Brysk said.

“The SFUSD had asked AJC to provide anti-bias training on antisemitism to better equip the schools to be able to respond and to support the students, teachers and parents who were experiencing antisemitism,” he added.

The American Jewish Committee is a century-old nonprofit once referred to as the “dean” of American Jewish organizations by the New York Times. Founded with close ties to the Reform movement, the group has supported egalitarian causes over its history, including by providing research cited by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education and on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement. 

At the time of Israel’s founding, AJC did not take a strong stance on behalf of Zionism. But over time, the group has become an outspoken supporter of Israel. AJC focuses on diplomacy between world Jewry and the outside world, and despite its name has offices in many different countries. In 2016, AJC formed a Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council with the Islamic Society of North America to address bigotry against Muslims and Jews.

An SFUSD parent who spoke to J. on the condition of anonymity because they feared being targeted by anti-Israel activists said that the training was to be led by Laura Shaw Frank, an AJC director who oversees educational initiatives and has a Ph.D. in Jewish history from the University of Maryland, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“Everything was lined up,” the parent said. Then “AROC put out a press release slandering the organization coming in.”

According to a calendar listing obtained by J. that was visible to SFUSD teachers but not to the public, the full title of the training is “Who Are the Jews: Jewish Identity and Antisemitism in 2024.” A description explained that the session was in response to Jewish students experiencing antisemitism at school and stated that some families had left the district as a result.

“Last year SFUSD saw a major uptick in reports from Jewish students of antisemitism and this unfortunately led to some Jewish students leaving our district and many students and families feeling a lack of belonging at school,” the description said. “This workshop is not focused on the current Israel Hamas war and will not take any position on that. This is centered on supporting our students from all cultural backgrounds and building bridges.”

Julia David, an English teacher at George Washington High School who is Jewish, said she was looking forward to attending Wednesday’s session. The training feels vitally important amid an uptick in antisemitic incidents over the past year, David said, and she was deeply disappointed when she heard it had been canceled.

“A training like this creates valuable learning opportunities about Jewish identity and culture, and the challenges faced by Jewish people,” she said. “Just as we do for any culture or ethnicity or group of people that we are not a part of.”

SFUSD responded to a list of questions from J. on Wednesday afternoon with a short statement acknowledging the Wednesday session had been called off without providing an explanation.

“We let the three schools know that the training will not take place today as we had originally planned, and we are looking for another date to hold this important workshop,” said the statement from Laura Dudnick, executive director of communications for the district. “We want to ensure each and every student and staff member feels and experiences safety and a sense of belonging in our schools.”