CAIR-SFBA welcomes UC Berkeley civil rights investigation into alleged harassment of Muslim law student

The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed the University of California, Berkeley’s (UC Berkeley) decision to launch a Title IX civil rights investigation on allegations of harassment and discrimination against a Muslim student by a law professor.

SEE: UC Berkeley launches civil rights investigation into backyard confrontation between law professor and student

The investigation follows an incident that occurred on April 9, 2024, during a dinner at the residence of Professor Catherine Fisk and her husband Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley Law School. Law student Malak Afaneh reported facing harassment and discrimination when she attempted to give a pro-Palestinian speech at dinner.

Video footage captured by students attending the dinner showed Fisk attempting to snatch a microphone from Afaneh’s hands, in what appeared to be an act of Islamophobia and silencing based on her pro-Palestinian beliefs.

In a statement, CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Zahra Billoo said,

“We commend UC Berkeley for initiating this investigation and taking action to address potential civil rights violations. It is vital that all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs, are safe and respected at university-sanctioned events.”

Billoo Continuation, “CAIR-SFBA applauds Malak and the tens of thousands of other pro-Palestinian students who are rising up across the country to protest Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and to call for their campuses to divest from companies that profit from Israeli apartheid. Our law enforcement and university leaders must resign. When we respond to protests with violence, we will not intimidate or silence the inspiring advocates who bravely stand on the front lines of today’s anti-war movement.”