A radical group's contract with a California school district was challenged by parents after they were accused of “organizing children” to push their anti-Israel agenda.
Indoctrinated college students weren't the only ones expressing pro-Hamas sympathies, as Bay Area public schools had participated in an October walkout against Israel's counteroffensive after the 7/7 terror attacks. October Now, as the San Francisco-based Arab Resource and Organization Center (AROC) has been linked to escalating protests, including efforts to shut down a military operation, concerned parents are calling for action on potential violations of policies on the methods used to promote “the liberation of Palestine”. “
In a letter sent to San Francisco Unified School District officials, parents Siva Raj and Autumen Looijen, founders of the group SF Guardians, expressed their concerns. “Regardless of your position on this international conflict, we hope we can all agree on some basic principles.”
“In particular, political organizations, especially those hired by the school district and with privileged access to our children, should not be in our schools organizing children to do political work and disrupting our children's safe learning environment “, expresses the letter.
As Looijen had said in the San Francisco Chronicle, “No one wants political organizations to use their access to students to organize schools.”
AROC currently has a three-year contract with nine schools in the district through July 2026 to include “leadership development and cultural empowerment.” On October 18, they were said to have helped organize a march by high school students as part of a demand for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Their radical activism hardly ended there, as the group was also involved in efforts to shut down the Port of Oakland and the Port of Tacoma, where military supply ships departed to provide resources to Israel, and the disruption on Nov. 16 at the Bay Bridge, where cars had been parked to block traffic and keys had been thrown over the side into the water.
Oakland community members occupy a military ship bound for Israel. Bay Area Says No Military Aid to Israel! Fire up now! #BlockTheBoat @CNN @MSNBC @AJnglés @mercnews @sfstandard @sfchronicle @kron4news pic.twitter.com/XKNJN1KzE1
— AROC #FreePalestine (@AROCBayArea) November 3, 2023
BREAKING: Bay Area residents have CLOSED the Bay Bridge to demand a ceasefire while @Potus Biden visits San Francisco. #CeasefireNow! No more genocide in Gaza!#BayBridge #CeasefireNow #BidenHarrisCeasefire NOW #APEC pic.twitter.com/xIqkKSc6TB
— AROC #FreePalestine (@AROCBayArea) November 16, 2023
As it happened, AROC even lamented that President Joe Biden was using taxpayer money to support Israel after Hamas had killed more than 1,400 men, women and children.
.@POTUS it could end the genocide #Gaza TODAY. Instead, he's using our tax $$ to pay for it and hosting cocktail parties in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The bay area has been closed #BayBridge demanding #ceasefire NOW. There is no business as usual. pic.twitter.com/Txm3t625rg
— AROC #FreePalestine (@AROCBayArea) November 16, 2023
In response to the letter from the SF Guardian, the same group that had helped successfully organize the removal of three school board members, district spokeswoman Laura Dudnick said Thursday, “It is our priority to ensure that students feel safe and supported in schools. We will provide a response when we have a chance to carefully review the letter.”
The district was said to have warned AROC in October, “Staff are not authorized to lead students to a walkout.”
AROC executive director Lara Kiswani took the victim role in turn, saying in an emailed statement to the Chronicle: “AROC absolutely supported the students who decided to walk out on October 18 to demand a ceasefire and an end to the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza by the Israeli government.”
“We are appalled by the racist attacks they have faced since they spoke out against the genocide,” the statement said. “And we were grateful to engage with the district, parents and teachers about this courageous act of civil disobedience, the very kind of action that is taught in our school history books, rightfully celebrating the bold initiative of who are fighting. for racial justice, for social justice and for peace. We couldn't be more proud of the young people and students in our community, and we look forward to supporting their future leadership and civic engagement.”
Worth noting, AROC is a “fiscal sponsor” of the famous Tide Center who described them as a “grassroots organization working to empower and organize our community toward justice and self-determination for all,” when fact are one of the main proponents of the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.
Their role in the “lock the ship” protest could mean legal ramifications for both of them, including the end of their nonprofit status, as attorney Jason Torchinsky explained in the Washington Free Beacon, “There are lawful ways and places to exercise free speech in a public harbor, such as obtaining a protest permit and holding your event.”
“But [nonprofit] The dollars cannot be used to support criminal activities, which here can include a restricted area in violation of US Coast Guard rules and interference with military operations,” he added.
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