Summer 2020: Recap of Efforts to Silence Palestine Advocacy
/The new school year is already off to a very busy start – from Zoom’s censorship of a Palestine class at SF State to a Zionist smear campaign against a CUNY Law student.
As we head into the fall, here’s a recap of some of the biggest stories of the summer targeting advocacy for Palestinian rights in the U.S.
Repression of Palestine advocacy
(From top left going clockwise) FSU student senate president Ahmad Daraldik, former Dept. of Ed. official Kenneth Marcus, Missouri governor Mike Parson, and members of Fordham Students for Justice in Palestine with legal counsel.
Florida politicians launch witch-hunt against Palestinian FSU student senate president: Florida politicians tried to force the removal of the first Palestinian student senate president at Florida State University (FSU) over social media posts against the Israeli occupation. The student, 20-year-old Ahmad Daraldik, remains in his position in part thanks to strong support from FSU Students for Justice in Palestine, South Florida Jewish Voice for Peace and other groups. Palestine Legal is providing legal support to Ahmad.
Public campaign against appointment of GWU dean over support for BDS: Dr. Ilana Feldman, a professor of anthropology, was appointed interim dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University despite efforts by Israel advocates to oppose her. Feldman was a crucial advocate of the American Anthropological Association’s 2015 resolution to endorse the academic boycott of Israel.
Israel groups lobby Facebook to censor Palestine advocacy: Over 120 pro-Israel groups sent a letter lobbying Facebook to label criticism of Israel as hate speech by using a widely discredited, overbroad definition of antisemitism. Palestine activists have launched a campaign demanding that Facebook stop censoring Palestine.
JVP Facebook page unpublished: A member of Jewish Voice for Peace Connecticut reached out after the group’s Facebook page of five years was unpublished in late July because the page supposedly "impersonat[ed] a business or person." JVP tried to contest the block, but was told Facebook was not accepting disputes to its decisions due to a shortage of staff. As a result, JVP CT has been unable to connect with supporters on Facebook.
Court Cases
American Studies Association: Palestine Legal urged the D.C. Court of Appeals to dismiss a lawsuit filed to scare professors from supporting the academic boycott of Israel. Palestine Legal and local counsel Benjamin Douglas filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of an appeal brought by academics who were sued over the 2013 American Studies Association (ASA) resolution to boycott Israeli academic associations.
Fordham SJP: Students from Fordham Students for Justice in Palestine asked a New York court to reject Fordham University’s effort by to overturn a 2019 decision ordering the school to recognize their club. The students are represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Palestine Legal, and cooperating counsel Alan Levine. A hearing on the appeal will likely happen later this fall.
Department of Education
Kenneth Marcus resigned from the Department of Education (DOE) in July, just weeks after we filed a complaint urging the Inspector General to investigate Marcus for violations of federal law. The complaint described how Marcus deviated from established DOE policies and practices to carry out his career agenda of shutting down campus advocacy for Palestinian rights.
This year we have witnessed an uptick in federal civil rights complaints and investigations against campus Palestine advocacy in response to Trump’s December 2019 executive order adopting a measure that Kenneth Marcus and other Israel actors sought to push: weaponizing a distorted definition of antisemitism to silence campus Palestine advocacy. Palestine Legal published a resource about these efforts, including a status update on pending investigations and complaints. Palestine Legal also hosted a webinar on this topic featuring Professors Rabab Abdulhadi and Jasbir Puar, three CUNY law students, and Palestine Legal staff.
One of the most notable federal cases is an ongoing investigation at Bard College after the university cleared anti-Zionist students of allegations of discrimination following the protest of an anti-Palestinian speaker last fall.
Legislation
Oklahoma and Missouri became the latest states to pass anti-boycott legislative measures aimed at stifling advocacy for Palestinian freedom. Missouri governor Mike Parson signed the anti-boycott bill into law on July 13. There are now 30 states with anti-boycott laws.
Resistance Continues
Divest from Violence; Invest in Justice for All: Responding to Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and Israel’s threats to annex the West Bank, a coalition of progressive organizations called on Congress to divest money from US police and the Israeli military and to invest in community needs, like education, housing, and healthcare for all.
#DropTheADL: A wide range of civil and human rights organizations launched a #DropTheADL campaign to encourage progressive organizations not to partner with the Anti-Defamation League. For decades the ADL has hidden behind a veneer of being a civil rights organization while actively aiding the FBI in its COINTELPRO program against civil rights activists, spying on South African anti-apartheid activists, and targeting advocates for Palestinian freedom. The ADL is also guilty of weaponizing false claims of antisemitism against critics of Israel, including the Movement for Black Lives. Learn more about the campaign here.
Throughout the summer, our team has invested countless hours into a resource we’re excited to share with the world later this fall: a complete overhaul of our Right to Boycott site.
You’ll soon be able to see statistics about anti-boycott efforts, understand their legal implications, and explore ways you can contribute to challenging the legislative assault on Palestine advocacy.
Stay tuned!