Opinion: California Democrats are fighting Trump’s battle for him

I was the only Jewish appointee to resign from the Biden administration over the U.S. government’s continued support for Israel’s war in Gaza. I did it because I believe dissent is a democratic duty, not a liability. But in my home state of California, Democratic leaders are pushing a bill that would make dissent harder, riskier and in some cases punishable.

Assembly Bill 715 is framed as a measure to combat an “antisemitic learning environment.” In reality, it imports one of the most troubling censorship tactics from the Trump era into a deep-blue state. Democrats are the ones leading the charge.

What constitutes antisemitism? A.B. 715 would require California’s K-12 public schools to adopt a definition that largely falls in line with the one developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. On its face, this might seem like a common sense measure to fight prejudice. But the alliance’s definition goes far beyond identifying antisemitic tropes or hate crimes. It includes political speech critical of Israel — such as calling it an apartheid state or advocating Palestinian rights — as potential examples of antisemitism, too.

By writing a version of that definition into law, California would blur the line between hate speech and political speech, empowering institutions to investigate, punish or even ban expression that is supposed to be constitutionally protected. That could silence not only the many who oppose Israel’s government policies but also people like me — in particular Jewish people like me — who see criticism of state power as a moral obligation.

California’s public schools are home to a new generation of engaged, informed young people. In the past year, high school students across the state have organized walkouts, teach-ins and vigils to call for a cease-fire and an end to U.S. support for the assault on Gaza. They are participating in a long tradition of student-led movements for justice, from the fight against apartheid in South Africa to protests for immigrant rights.

A.B. 715 endangers those students’ rights, along with those of their schools’ teachers, administrators and staff. Under its provisions, a history teacher who touches on Palestinian perspectives could be accused of promoting antisemitism. A student who calls Israel an apartheid state — a position shared by many mainstream human rights groups including Amnesty International — could be reported for discriminatory behavior. Even Jewish students who speak out against the war could be targeted by people eager to call any criticism of Israel an act of hate.

This isn’t hypothetical. In 2019, President Trump signed an executive order applying the alliance’s definition to federal agencies, setting the stage for precisely this kind of repression. Across the country, students and educators have been investigated, disciplined and even fired under policies that adopt similar definitions of antisemitism as a standard. Enacting A.B. 715 would put California’s Democratic lawmakers in lock step with Republican governors, including Ron DeSantis in Florida and Greg Abbott in Texas, who have used International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance-based policies to crack down on Gaza protests, tighten control of university campuses and intimidate faculty.

Now California Democrats are poised to join those states in doing Mr. Trump’s work for him.

Supporters of A.B. 715 argue that adopting a broad definition of antisemitism is about protecting Jewish people from hate. As a Jewish American, I can tell you: My safety does not come from punishing political speech. In fact, history tells us that repression of dissent, whether aimed at labor organizers, antiwar activists or racial justice movements, has often been a prelude to wider crackdowns on minority communities, most certainly including Jews.

This bill is not only unnecessary but also actively opposed by many who are committed to fighting antisemitism. The California Teachers Association, one of the state’s most influential unions, has come out strongly against A.B. 715, warning that it would undermine academic freedom and chill honest discussions about the Middle East. Members of the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the country, recently voted to cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League over its conflation of Palestinian rights advocacy and antisemitism, though the vote was overturned by the group’s executive committee. Dozens of left-of-center Jewish organizations, including J Street and members of the Progressive Israel Network, have rejected writing the alliance’s definition into law for precisely those reasons and several members of Congress from both sides of the aisle rejected an attempt to codify the definition into federal law last year.

Antisemitism is real and dangerous. But the majority of antisemitic violence in this country comes from the far right, not from student activists or faculty critics of Israeli policy. Fighting it requires building broad, multiracial coalitions against hate, not turning a tool of censorship into state law.

If Democrats truly want to distinguish themselves from Trumpism, they cannot adopt Trump’s methods when it’s politically convenient. California, and other blue states watching closely, should be leading the way in protecting free expression, especially when it challenges those in power. Instead, A.B. 715 invites a future in which any unpopular political position could be legislated out of bounds.

We’ve seen this movie before. In the post-9/11 era, the Patriot Act was sold to Americans as a necessary tool to keep us safe. It was later used to justify mass surveillance, profiling and crackdowns on dissent. A.B. 715 is a smaller, more targeted version of that same logic — and once it’s in place, it will be extremely hard to roll back.

The irony is that many Democrats pushing this bill — such as Assemblymen Rick Chavez Zbur and Jesse Gabriel and State Senator Scott Weiner — have been vocal opponents of Mr. Trump, Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Abbott because of their attacks on free speech and protest. Yet here they are, advancing legislation that comes straight from the same political playbook. They should know better. California should reject this bill, and Democrats across the country should take note.

Lily Greenberg Call is a former special adviser to the chief of staff at the Department of the Interior. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.