Coalition Letter to Dept. of Education: Reject IHRA Definition That Is Causing Severe Anti-Palestinian Racism

Coalition Letter to Dept. of Education: Reject IHRA Definition That Is Causing Severe Anti-Palestinian Racism

On January 16, Palestine Legal, along with 13 other civil rights and legal advocacy organizations, submitted a letter urging the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to reject codifying the distorted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism into agency rules, policies, or decisions. 

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Our Letter to the Dept. of Education: Address Rise of Anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic Racism

Our Letter to the Dept. of Education: Address Rise of Anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic Racism

On October 31st, Palestine Legal, the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the Center for Constitutional Rights have submitted a letter urging the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to take urgent special measures, including providing guidance to universities and schools, to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights of people calling for Palestinian freedom. 

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University of Vermont’s Settlement with Dep’t of Education Refuses to Adopt IHRA Despite Pressure

University of Vermont’s Settlement with Dep’t of Education Refuses to Adopt IHRA Despite Pressure

In April 2023, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) entered into a resolution agreement with the University of Vermont (UVM) over a Title VI complaint brought by two Israel advocacy groups, the Brandeis Center and Jewish on Campus (JOC), on behalf of anonymous Zionist students.

Anti-Palestinian groups are attempting to use this agreement—which does not mention Zionism or the politicized International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism—to chill speech supporting Palestinian rights by claiming OCR has created a new policy incorporating criticism of Israel and anti-Zionism into anti-discrimination laws. This is false.

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Media Roundup: Palestine Legal files federal civil rights complaint against George Washington University

Media Roundup: Palestine Legal files federal civil rights complaint against George Washington University

Here is a media roundup on Palestine Legal’s federal civil rights complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) demanding an immediate investigation into the years-long, hostile environment of anti-Palestinian racism that continues unabated at George Washington University (GW).

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Palestine Legal Welcomes Ed Dept's Decision to Combat Antisemitism Without IHRA Definition In New Factsheet

Palestine Legal Welcomes Ed Dept's Decision to Combat Antisemitism Without IHRA Definition In New Factsheet

The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has released a new fact sheet describing protections that cover students who are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, or of another religious group. The fact sheet comes after years of demands by pro-Israel groups and right-wing politicians for the Biden administration to further entrench the Trump-endorsed IHRA definition of antisemitism. The Israel lobby has demanded that Biden’s Education Department enshrine the distorted definition in federal regulations.

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Palestine Legal Urges Dept. of Education to End Extreme Delay into First-Ever Anti-Palestinian Discrimination Complaint

Palestine Legal Urges Dept. of Education to End Extreme Delay into First-Ever Anti-Palestinian Discrimination Complaint

Yesterday, Palestine Legal sent a letter urging the Department of Education to immediately open an investigation into Palestinian student Ahmad Daraldik’s civil rights complaint against Florida State University, which was filed over 19 months ago, on April 9, 2021.

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Summer 2020: Recap of Efforts to Silence Palestine Advocacy

Summer 2020: Recap of Efforts to Silence Palestine Advocacy

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.

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