Standing up for neighbors facing discrimination is a value we share. Here's what the Davis MAPA report really recommends.
Voices from the Davis community expressing their gratitude for the MAPA report at the April 2nd HRC meeting.
The council may vote on six recommendations that the Human Relations Commission approved.
The 89-page MAPA report provides some context for why these recommendations were made, but the City Council is not being asked to approve the report itself.
Context: These are standard anti-discrimination recommendations that could apply to protecting any minority community from harassment and discrimination.
Note
At recent HRC and City Council meetings, there have been concerns from community members who identify as Zionist about City Council approving these recommendations, citing concerns of antisemitic sentiment.
We have created the option for you to see how they read if you were to replace MAPA with different minority groups, so you can judge for yourself:
The report was commissioned to understand:
The report identified 6 main themes (see below, or page 9 of the report).
In brief summary, the report documents concerns and fears from the local MAPA community it surveyed. Some are part of the larger national story that includes deportations for non-citizens who speak up for Palestinians, and many are specific to incidents here in Davis. 6 major themes were identified (see page 9):
The report makes a few specific suggestions and contains supplementary material for the national context.
The report surveyed a diverse group including:
The qualitative approach was chosen specifically because of fear in MAPA communities to report experiences and the relatively small population size in Davis.
Note
At recent HRC and City Council meetings, some people suggested the MAPA report painted Zionist Jews as harassers, making them feel like as a group they were being targeted by the report. Others took this further, suggesting the report was anti-semitic, or implying it meant Zionist Jews should not express their core beliefs.
Summary: The report serves as documentation of community experiences rather than making judgments about any group. The vast majority of responses focus on institutional climate and personal experiences rather than political terminology.
The report identified 6 main themes:
The findings show community members feeling that institutions have not done enough to protect MAPA communities from harassment and discrimination.
The report follows established research methodology for documenting community experiences, and is biased only to the extent it reflects the diversity of opinion within the surveyed community. The survey was of the MAPA community, and not for example the larger Asian, Jewish, or LGBTQ communities, all of whom may reasonably have different responses to the same questions.
The report's goal was to document experiences, not to make political statements or target any group.
The MAPA subcommittee was tasked specifically with surveying only the Muslim, Arab, Palestinian and Allied communities in Davis.
MAPA stands for Muslims, Arabs, Palestinians and their Allies. This report documents the climate and experiences of these community members in Davis, California.
This report was produced by the City of Davis Human Relations Commission, Subcommittee on MAPA. This FAQ was produced by a group of Davis citizens who wish to avoid continued misinformation being spread about the report, and is not the work of the HRC.
The report used qualitative research methods including climate surveys, hundreds of conversations, and review of social media content over 3 months.
Personally identifiable information in the report was redacted to protect the privacy of individuals who shared their experiences, as well as those who may have been referenced.
Read the complete MAPA Report for comprehensive details about the study methodology, findings, and recommendations.
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