Victory: California Court Rules for Pro-Palestinian Activists in Doxing Case
/Judge rules right-wing lawyer’s lawsuit against UCLA would unleash harassment on speakers at Students for Justice in Palestine conference
Contact:
Kristian Bailey, Palestine Legal, (312) 547-0766, kbailey@palestinelegal.org
Lande Watson, Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus, (415) 212-8588
March 11, 2021, Los Angeles - Rejecting demands for the names of speakers at a private National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) conference, a judge in California ruled today that disclosure would violate the presenters’ rights to freedom of association, speech and privacy.
The decision in the case, Abrams v. The Regents of the University of California, marks the first time that a court in the U.S. has acknowledged the McCarthyite environment faced by those speaking out for Palestinian rights. This decision rejects the notion that students lose their constitutional rights when advocating for the rights of Palestinians at a public university.
“The court ruled today that student activists for Palestine have the right to host gatherings on their campuses without facing threats to their privacy and safety,” said Glenn Katon, Litigation Director at Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus. “Public records laws should not be used as a weapon to threaten students exercising their First Amendment rights. We are pleased that the court rejected Mr. Abrams' argument that he should be entitled to conduct his own investigation into Palestinian activists, which was based on the bigoted premise that those activists have ties to terrorism simply because they advocate for Palestinian human rights."
In his decision, Judge James C. Chalfant found that the privacy interests of the speakers outweigh any public interest in the names and that releasing the names of the speakers “would violate their rights to freedom of association, anonymous speech, and privacy.”
In reaching the decision, the court recognized the “evidence of harassment, job difficulties, and problems entering Israel emanating generally from pro-Palestinian activism” and the public interest in not disclosing the speaker’s names “to protect their privacy and avoid a chilling effect from their speech.”
“People who want to build a just future and work toward equality and freedom for Palestinians have every right to decide whether they want to do that in a private study group or on an international stage. As the court rightly recognized, neither UCLA nor David Abrams have any business exposing student activists to unwanted publicity,” said Zoha Khalili, a staff attorney at Palestine Legal.
David Abrams, an attorney with ties to the Israeli government, sued UCLA after it refused to disclose the speakers at the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) conference at UCLA in 2018. UCLA 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.
“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 before the hearing. “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.”
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.
For more information, visit our case page.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus (ALC) was founded in 1972 as the nation’s first legal and civil rights Asian American organization. Recognizing that social, economic, political and racial inequalities continue to exist in the United States, ALC is committed to the pursuit of equality and justice for all sectors of our society, with a specific focus directed toward addressing the needs of low-income, immigrant and underserved Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. https://www.advancingjustice-alc.org/
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.
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