Last week the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an Arkansas anti-boycott law violates the First Amendment, reversing the trial court's dismissal of an Arkansas newspaper's challenge to the law. The Arkansas Times was represented by the ACLU in this challenge. The decision is the first time a federal appeals court has decided on the constitutionality of anti-boycott laws.
Read MorePalestine Legal staff are participating in a number of events this winter on topics from anti-protest legislation to the impact of redefining antisemitism to silence Palestine advocacy. Stay tuned to this page for updates throughout the winter.
Read MoreDavid 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.
Read MorePalestine Legal is co-sponsoring a campaign against Facebook labeling Palestine advocacy as hate speech. The tech giant is considering a policy that would treat some posts critical of “Zionists” as equivalent to attacks against Jewish people, and therefore subject to removal under their hate speech policies. This policy would add to the already troubling censorship that advocates for Palestinian rights experience on Facebook and other social media platforms.
Read MoreLast month, the New York Times published an article “What Zoom Does to Campus Conflicts Over Israel and Free Speech” that featured Palestinian CUNY Law student Nerdeen Kiswani, who has also been a Palestine Legal client. Palestine Legal Michael Ratner Justice Fellow Amira Mattar issued her own thoughts on the missing context from the piece.
Read MoreToday, civil rights groups asked the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York State, to hear an appeal of a ruling that allows Fordham University to censor student speech. The petition comes in a lawsuit brought by Fordham students prohibited by the university from forming a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) school club because of the group’s “political goals” and because of claims it would be “polarizing.”
Read MoreIn 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. 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.
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