Dima Khalidi's Letter in the LA Times on Trump's Executive Order

Director Dima Khalidi published a letter to the editor in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times on Trump’s executive order redefining antisemitism to attack criticism of Israel:

“The L.A. Times is right to recognize that Trump’s executive order is an attack on free speech. It is also an attack on Palestinians and our basic human rights.

Trump is a primary purveyor of the anti-Semitism that has horrified all of us. As a Palestinian American lawyer working to protect our constitutional rights to even talk about Israel’s wrongs, I can see clearly that the target of this order is not the vile and violent anti-Semitism of white nationalists but, rather, the advocates on college campuses for Palestinian freedom.

It may make some Jewish students uncomfortable to hear what Israel means for Palestinians. But Palestinians have been “uncomfortable” for more than seven decades while Israel has taken our land, our homes and our fundamental human rights. We must be allowed to speak our truths without fear of investigation and punishment.”

Read Dima’s full letter here. The Times Editorial Board strongly condemned the order for undermining free speech.