Updated Nov. 7
Four Bay Area high schools are facing backlash after canceling or postponing appearances by Yemeni-born, pro-Israel advocate and writer Luai Ahmed.
Ahmed, who now lives in Sweden, is a gay Muslim man known for his advocacy around LGBTQ rights, Jewish-Muslim coexistence, opposition to Islamic extremism and defense of Zionism. With 314,000 followers on Instagram and 208,000 on X, he frequently posts about antisemitism, radicalization and the need for dialogue across religious and ideological divides. Ahmed also defended Israel in a widely viewed address to the United Nations Human Rights Council in February.
Ahmed’s scheduled appearances at the schools in late October and early November prompted pushback from anti-Zionist activist organizations in the region, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The groups accused Ahmed of participating in “pinkwashing,” or using Israel’s liberal policies toward LGBTQ people to promote pro-Israel narratives.
Ahmed is currently on a nationwide speaking tour. He was invited to address Jewish student clubs at Alameda High School, Lowell High School in San Francisco, Fremont High School in Sunnyvale and Homestead High School in Cupertino.
Each event was canceled or postponed just days before Ahmed was scheduled to speak, prompting allegations by Jewish parents and community groups of a double standard in how schools handle speakers on issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
At Lowell High School, leaders of the Jewish student group, in conversation with the Middle East and North Africa student affinity group, decided against inviting him to speak, according to a Nov. 5 letter signed by the club presidents, who are not named. The letter was provided to J. by the San Francisco Unified School District.
Ahmed’s Oct. 30 talk at Alameda High School, titled “Beyond Labels: A Journey from Extremism to Empathy,” was postponed after groups including the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, CAIR and Alameda Families and Friends for Collective Liberation mounted an online campaign calling him a “self-proclaimed Zionist” and “racist.”
The three groups celebrated the school district’s decision to postpone the talk in a social media post.
“Postponed!!” an Oct. 30 Instagram post stated in all caps. “People power kept Zionist propaganda out of Alameda schools.”
While Ahmed is an outspoken supporter of Israel and an opponent of radical Islamic factions including Hamas, he said that his lecture is not about Israel or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but about his lived experience.
“I’m telling a human story. I’m not telling a political story,” he told J. “I’m telling my story of growing up in Yemen as a gay man and being told to hate the Jews, and that ideological shift I had…. It’s not Islamophobic. It’s not homophobic. It’s not any phobic. It’s my story of deradicalization.”
Alameda Unified School District spokesperson Susan Davis said the Alameda High event was delayed under the district’s policy on controversial issues.
“We want to make sure principals are aware and that alternative viewpoints are available,” she said. The district had not rescheduled the event as of Friday.
Ahmed was set to meet with members of the “Jew Crew” student group at Lowell on Tuesday. But according to emails obtained by the San Francisco Standard, assistant principal Isaac Alcantar denied the request, citing insufficient notice and the need to review presentation materials.
“If a speaker is not vetted, we could land in a situation where what they say may impact members of our community in a way that the group or staff had not intended,” Alcantar wrote.
Alcantar did not immediately respond to J.’s request for comment.
According to the Standard’s report, a student organizer said she had submitted the request on Oct. 28, a week before the planned talk. She wrote to Alcantar that blocking Ahmed’s appearance would run “counter to what Lowell stands for.”
Days later, the Jewish student leaders decided to scrap the talk.
“Ultimately, the Jew Crew board leadership decided against inviting Luai Ahmed to speak at the school due to his controversial online presence,” the letter, addressed to the Lowell community and signed by “Lowell Jew Crew Presidents and Lowell MENA Presidents,” said. “Lowell Jew Crew and MENA have had multiple joint meetings and discussions and have developed a mutual understanding with one another.”
Ahmed told J. that his lecture is prewritten and does not include any slides or other presentation materials, adding that he planned to share the lecture with administrators for review in hopes of rescheduling his talk.
In the South Bay, Jewish student clubs at Fremont and Homestead high schools invited Ahmed to speak to members during their lunch period. Fremont Union High School District initially approved the event at both schools but reversed its decision on Monday, citing safety concerns and insufficient time to vet the speaker.
FUHSD Superintendent Graham Clark said in an email to families that the district supports critical thinking and respectful discourse but must maintain “a safe and supportive environment free of discrimination and bias.” He noted that the district received over 2,000 emails both in support of and objecting to the event and that the decision was made to prevent potential disruption.
“The public participation in whether we should allow this guest speaker at a student club from all sides has overwhelmed our District, disrupted our email communications and disrupted our educational mission,” the email said.
Some members of the Jewish community pointed to a double-standard from the Fremont High School administration when it comes to approving outside speakers.
In April 2024, Samir Laymoun was allowed to speak at Fremont High School despite opposition from the Jewish community. According to the Bay Area Jewish Coalition and EndJewHatred, Laymoun’s talk included comments denying acts of Hamas violence on Oct. 7, 2023, and dismissing video evidence, sparking outrage among Jewish students who said their voices were silenced.
One Jewish mother of former students in the district who continues to advocate on behalf of Jewish concerns shared with J. an audio clip from a video she said shows a Jewish student being shut down during the presentation after attempting to respond to his statements.
The mother also cited other examples of what she called the district’s inconsistency:
“They allowed Heal Palestine and CAIR to come on campus … under ‘free speech.’ But now, a Muslim peace activist invited by Jewish students is canceled for being ‘controversial.’ It’s a complete double standard.”
Fremont Union High School District administrators did not respond to requests for comment emailed on Monday.
The cancellations of the four school appearances come amid growing controversy over how California schools navigate free speech and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Earlier this year, SFUSD replaced its proposed ethnic studies curriculum after criticism that it was overly ideological and excluded Jewish identity. Meanwhile, California Department of Education reports have found that Oakland Unified School District “contributed to a discriminatory environment for Jewish students and staff” on multiple occasions since Oct. 7, 2023.
Ahmed has spoken at other events across the Bay Area, including at a university and a high school that he declined to name publicly. He is set to give additional local lectures and remains hopeful that his postponed events will be rescheduled.
“It’s funny, I’m in the educated Western world, and it’s reminding me of the Islamic dictatorships that I grew up in,” said Ahmed. “Because in Yemen, you also have one box of a certain type of people who are allowed in schools to speak, and you’re not allowed to have people with different opinions.”
This story was updated to include information from a letter signed by the presidents of Lowell’s Jewish student group, the Jew Crew.