Santa Clara County celebrates 24th Annual Palestinian Cultural Day

San Jose, CA – On May 17, around 150 people gathered in James P. McEntee Plaza in San Jose to celebrate Palestinian Cultural Day. This was the 24th year that Santa Clara County has held the event, which is sponsored by the county supervisors and the Palestinian Heritage Committee. The celebration honors the local Palestinian community and its contributions to the county’s civic life, and the historical and cultural contributions of Palestinians.

The theme for this year was education, and many of the speakers addressed the bills currently making their way through the state legislature which aim to ban teaching about Palestine in K-12 schools.

Samir Laymoun, longtime Palestinian advocate and lead organizer of Palestinian Cultural Day since its inception, began the program, stating, “To some, we don’t exist, and we are somehow an invented people. This happens not just at Columbia University, but also at San Jose State, and at Stanford,” referencing the attacks on university students by both the Trump administration, and in some cases by university administration, that have escalated in recent months.

Laymoun continued, “This happens not just by Trump Republicans, but also by Democrats like Chuck Schumer, and locally, Josh Becker. Senator Becker, who represents Santa Clara County in the State Senate, has co-sponsored legislation to make it illegal to study Palestinian conflict or history in K-12 in California,” referencing Assembly Bill 1468.

“He has even joined the most right-wing Republicans and denied the existence of Palestine. I quote, ‘There was no Palestine before [1948].’ You know how this works – we are erased from history, so that we can be killed, and no one will notice. We are seeing this happening with the genocide in Gaza that is still going on today,” Laymoun stated.

The next speaker was Dina Saba, who spoke about her recent trip to the state capitol to speak out against Assembly Bill 715. Saba explained the measure is, “an education bill recently amended and introduced by assembly members Zbur and Addis, both Democrats, to further silence teachings on Palestine in California K-12 schools under the guise of antisemitism.”

Saba continued, “We must acknowledge that it is the Democrats who have taken the MAGA playbook to stifle dissent and critical thinking in the classroom.” She closed by urging attendees to contact their state assembly members to express their opposition to AB715.

Sean Allen, president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP, spoke about the importance of solidarity between African American and Palestinian communities, stating, “They share commonalities in their experiences of hatred, discrimination and systemic oppression.”

Allen continued, “Amidst adversity, both communities have shown remarkable strength through their activism and resistance, advocating for their rights and against systemic discrimination.”

At the end of the program, several local politicians delivered certificates recognizing Santa Clara County Palestinian Cultural Day. San Jose City Councilmember Peter Ortiz spoke about the recent progress in the campaign for San Jose to divest from genocide, saying, “Just last month, there was a meeting in regard to investments with the city of San Jose. San Jose Against War showed up to talk about [the divestment campaign]. I pushed so that the city council can have that conversation of divesting from those sorts of expenditures. No city or government dollars should go towards the harm of any community.”

After the program, attendees were treated to free catering by local Palestinian-owned restaurant, Dishdash.

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