Palestine Legal protects the civil and constitutional rights of people in the U.S. who speak out for Palestinian freedom.
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Concerned that your rights have been violated? Report the incident or receive free legal advice.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
Are you an advocate for Palestinian freedom? Learn more about how to defend yourself.
DEFEND YOUR RIGHT TO BOYCOTT
Take a stand against anti-boycott bills aimed at punishing advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Dima Khalidi in The Nation: Mahmoud Khalil’s Abduction Is a Red Alert for Universities
In an op-ed in The Nation titled Mahmoud Khalil’s Abduction Is a Red Alert for Universities, Palestine Legal Director Dima Khalidi argues that universities’ complete surrender to Trump’s threats and ever-harsher crackdowns on the student movement “will not release them from the administration’s crosshairs. (Columbia has learned that lesson 400 million times over).”
Instead, their compliance has helped turn students into prime targets for government repression. We saw a key instance of this with the illegal abduction and detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was on Trump’s radar and whom Columbia had already made an example of, putting him through ever-more draconian disciplinary processes long before he was abducted.
Columbia knew Khalil was under threat; just a day before his abduction, Khalil himself had told the university that he feared that “ICE or a dangerous individual might come to my home.”
In her op-ed, Dima lays out four fundamental shifts that universities must make to fight for the rights and freedoms of the students and faculty who make their campuses vibrant, diverse places to imagine and build a just and viable future.
Legal Resources: Protesting the Gaza Genocide
Since October 2023, Palestine Legal has received an unprecedented surge in requests for legal support from from people targeted for Palestine advocacy in all arenas—but it’s not stopping the upsurge in solidarity.
While we work to respond to these requests, here are legal resources to prepare for and resist backlash against your activism.
