TELL THE COMMISSION: California's Statewide Jewish Antisemitism Resource Shouldn't Oppose IHRA

Why This Matters

In April 2024, a California Civil Rights Department staffer sent a single cold email — and Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, a political advocacy group that actively opposes the IHRA definition of antisemitism, became California’s only statewide Jewish antisemitism resource on the state’s official hate-reporting page.

[READ THE FULL REPORT]

No application. No vetting criteria. No community consultation. No other Jewish organizations were considered.

California has since adopted IHRA into law through AB 715. A federal court upheld it. Yet the state’s own antisemitism resource page still points to an organization campaigning to dismantle that very framework.

The Commission on the State of Hate has the authority to recommend formal guidelines for how state agencies select community-based organization partners. We call on the Commission to establish transparent, accountable standards — including framework alignment, a public application process, community input, and periodic review — so that organizations entrusted to serve vulnerable communities are credible, vetted, and aligned with state law.

Tell the Commission: fix this process before it fails another community.

... messages sent to the Commission on the State of Hate

Enter your information below.

Name(Required)

This field is hidden when viewing the form

Subject Line

Email(Required)

Address

Sample Letter (sent on your behalf)

Dear Members of the Commission on the State of Hate,

I am writing as a concerned Californian to urge the Commission to take action on a serious gap in how our state selects community-based organization partners for hate-incident response programs.

Recently, it came to light that the California Civil Rights Department designated a political advocacy organization — one that actively opposes the IHRA-based antisemitism framework California adopted through AB 715 — as the state's only statewide Jewish antisemitism resource. This designation was made through an informal cold email, with no application process, no published criteria, and no consultation with the broader Jewish community.

This is not just a problem for one program. It raises a fundamental question about how California ensures that the organizations entrusted to serve communities targeted by hate are credible, aligned with state policy, and chosen through a transparent process. When advocacy organizations with political agendas are placed in roles meant for service providers, it undermines public trust and the communities these programs are supposed to protect.

The Commission is uniquely positioned to address this. I respectfully ask that you develop and recommend formal guidelines for how state agencies select community-based organization partners for hate-reporting and response programs. At a minimum, these guidelines should include a transparent application or review process, alignment with frameworks the state has adopted into law, meaningful input from the communities being served, and periodic reassessment of existing partnerships.

These are basic standards of accountability that would strengthen every community served by California's hate-response infrastructure — not just one. I urge the Commission to act.

Thank you for your time and your commitment to protecting all Californians.

Sincerely,

— Additional Tools —

Who Are My Legislators? Log a Relationship Log a Meeting

Who Are My Legislators? — Look up your elected officials at the federal, state, and local level based on your address.

Log a Relationship — Track your connections with legislators and their staff to help coordinate community outreach.

Log a Meeting — Record details from meetings with officials to share insights with the coalition.

These tools link to ICAN’s official Action Center and may open in a separate experience.

Why This Matters

Enter your information below.

Share This Action

— Additional Tools —