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The latest media stunt from the Los Angeles chapter of the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) came in response to the Beverly Hills Unified School District’s vote to fly the Israeli flag on its campuses. In comments to Spectrum1 LA, CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush denounced the flag as a symbol of “genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced starvation in Gaza.” In reality, these are the very crimes Hamas commits and openly boasts about — holding hostages, starving them, and calling for the extermination of Jews.

CAIR also claimed the flag could make schools a target, but notably refused to identify who might be doing the targeting. That omission betrays the purpose of the claim: to generate fear rather than inform.

Under pressure, the BHUSD board quickly reversed its decision, citing “risks associated with showing the Israeli flag.”

The outcome was predictable. CAIR secures another round of favorable airtime, the school board caves, and Hamas’s propaganda line is repeated uncritically in American media.

“Beverly Hills USD Superintendent halts plan to display Israeli flag at schools,” Spectrum News 1, August 28, 2025

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Citing safety concerns, the superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District Thursday froze a plan to fly the Israeli flag at school campuses for one month every year.

The district’s Board of Education voted 3-2 on Tuesday to display the Israeli flag during the month of May each year to mark Jewish Heritage Month. The measure was part of a resolution aimed at combating antisemitism with a mix of Holocaust education, lessons on Jewish history and remembrance of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

The move was met with opposition from some who worried that it appeared to favor one religion, and one nation currently engaged in a war in Gaza in which many Palestinian civilians have been killed.

In a statement Thursday, BHUSD Superintendent Alex Cherniss said that “in light of heightened safety concerns around the displaying of flags on our campuses,” he was issuing a directive that “until further notice, no flags will be displayed on our campuses other than the flag of the United States of America and the flag of the state of California.”…

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, praised Cherniss’ decision, but said he should have made it clear that “public schools should not be used to make political statements in support of foreign governments committing a genocide.”

“BHUSD must act in the interests of all students, not just those who support Israel,” Ayloush said. “By refusing to acknowledge the immense harm in displaying the flag of a foreign state currently engaged in a campaign of genocide, the district has shown that it clearly values the safety of some students over others.”…