Statement on NY Appellate Court's Decision in Awad v. Fordham

The Center for Constitutional Rights and Palestine Legal put out the following statement in response to the NY appellate division's decision today in Awad v. Fordham:

“In a hasty decision short on analysis, a New York appellate division court reversed a thorough, well-reasoned ruling by the trial court that Fordham University violated its own policies when it refused to recognize a Students for Justice in Palestine club.

This is a shameful decision giving Fordham cover to censor students who are calling for Palestinian rights.

We plan to seek review by the highest court in New York so that Fordham students can keep organizing for Palestinian rights on campus as SJP, as they have been for the last year and a half.

At a time when Fordham purports to be 'reckoning' with its institutional racism, and claiming that 'anti-racism, diversity, and inclusion are institutional and mission priorities,' it would do well to start by reversing its decision to ban SJP.

Fordham’s ban of SJP relied on false anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic allegations against student groups advocating that human rights should extend to Palestinians, too.”

For more information, visit the Center for Constitutional Rights’ case page.

Palestine Legal is an independent organization dedicated to protecting the civil and constitutional rights of people in the US who speak out for Palestinian freedom. Our mission is to bolster the Palestine solidarity movement by challenging efforts to threaten, harass and legally bully activists into silence and inaction. Visit www.palestinelegal.org and follow @pal_legal on Twitter and Instagram.

The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org. Follow the Center for Constitutional Rights on social media: Center for Constitutional Rights on Facebook, @theCCR on Twitter, and ccrjustice on Instagram.