Activists Join UCLA's Fight Against Doxing Palestinian Rights Advocates

Contact: Kristian Bailey, Palestine Legal, (312) 547-0766, kbailey@palestinelegal.org
Lande Watson, Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus, (415) 212-8588

Los Angeles—A right-wing lawyer is suing UCLA to turn over a list of activists who presented at a student conference. In a trend that the “cancel culture” debate has largely overlooked, student organizers have faced death threats and attempts to destroy their careers from a well-resourced industry of doxing and smearing young advocates for Palestinian rights.

David Abrams, an attorney with ties to the Israeli government who files frivolous suits against Palestine advocates, is attempting to force UCLA to reveal the list of speakers at the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) conference that took place at UCLA in 2018. 

UCLA has refused to disclose the names in order to protect people from doxing by right-wing pro-Israel groups—and potentially the government of Israel itself.

Eight of the conference speakers intervened anonymously in the case in September 2020 to urge the court to protect their privacy. Civil rights attorneys from Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus, Palestine Legal, and the Law Office of Matthew Strugar are representing the speakers. 

“Our clients have worked hard to build a better future not only for Palestinians but for our society as a whole,” said Palestine Legal staff attorney Zoha Khalili. "UCLA should never have fallen for the racist narrative used to attack this conference with false claims of links to terrorism. We are glad UCLA has come to recognize the unfair backlash these activists face, and we hope the judge will, too.”

The legal team filed their opposition to Abrams’ petition in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday, February 5. The court will hear oral arguments on March 11. 

“Student activists for Palestine have the right to host gatherings on their campuses without threats to their privacy and safety,” said Glenn Katon, Litigation Director at Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus. “David Abrams is abusing the courts to threaten students who are exercising their First Amendment rights. These attacks, based on the bigoted premise that Palestinian human rights activists are terrorists, could lead to threats of virtual and physical violence and serious impacts to employment and education.”

“David Abrams and other rightwing actors are trying to strike fear into students who are on the just side of history,” said National Students for Justice in Palestine in a statement. “We’re building people power on campuses from coast to coast, and the movement for Palestinian liberation is a progressive issue that we are proud to be a part of.”

Background

In 2018 young human rights activists from around the country gathered at UCLA for a student conference on Palestine. There has been a history of threats, harassment and smear campaigns attacks against the conference and its participants. To ensure students felt safe and comfortable attending the conference, the organizers planned it as an invite-only event with tight security.

Anti-Palestinian groups pushed UCLA to cancel the conference, making groundless, racially charged claims that students were plotting terrorism or trying to make life uncomfortable for Jewish students. The campaign failed to stop the conference, but prompted UCLA to collect the presenters’ names and run them by the FBI and government terrorism lists. 

David Abrams, a right-wing anti-Palestinian attorney with a history of filing lawsuits to harass organizations such as the Carter Center and Oxfam, demanded that UCLA provide him with the list of names, which would likely result in students who participated being doxed.

When UCLA refused, citing concerns that the list would be used to harass and intimidate the people on the list for attending a private event on campus. Abrams then sued the university, essentially asking a court to force UCLA to facilitate the doxing of young human rights activists from around the country. 

In December 2020, a Los Angeles judge allowed eight people who presented at the conference to intervene anonymously in the lawsuit to defend themselves and dozens of other young activists on the list of presenters. Civil rights lawyers representing the activists filed a brief in the case on Feb. 5. The case will go to trial on March 11. 

Who is David Abrams? 

Abrams is the executive director of The Zionist Advocacy Center, which is a registered foreign agent for the International Legal Forum (ILF), which collaborates with the Israeli government to suppress Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns for Palestinian rights. ILF has reportedly received up to $1 million from the Israeli government.

Abrams is notorious for filing frivolous legal attacks against advocates for Palestinian freedom ranging from failed efforts against Doctors Without Borders, the American Studies Association, and even President Carter’s humanitarian center for providing cookies to members of Palestinian political parties. 

The suit against UCLA regarding speakers at the National Students for Justice in Palestine conference is the latest in a series of baseless attacks. 

Read more, including legal documents and additional resources, at Palestine Legal’s case page.