Palestinian students wishing to honor and celebrate their heritage were censored, threatened, or otherwise targeted by their administrations at both high school and college graduation ceremonies.
Read MoreWidespread media reports of a rise in antisemitism as protests for Palestinian rights peaked in May relied on often false, misleading, decontextualized, and distorted information. The narratives were largely based on data from the ADL and other Israel advocacy groups, whose methodology has been called out as politically biased.
Read MoreRecent developments demonstrate that the pro-Israel narrative is losing support in many sectors in society. Around the world, #BlockTheBoat protests have stood in solidarity with Palestinian workers. Labor unions, tech workers, and celebrities have also taken action in support of Palestinian freedom.
Read MoreOn June 30, after months of student organizing, City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law issued a statement in support of rising 3L Nerdeen Kiswani, who has faced a barrage of anti-Palestinian hate over the past 9 months in response to her years-long activism supporting Palestinian freedom. It is believed to be the first statement from a U.S.-based university condemning censorship campaigns against students supporting Palestinian rights and anti-Palestinian hate.
Read MoreSt. John's University in New York censored a Palestinian doctoral student, preventing her from celebrating her Palestinian identity and scholarship during the school's virtual commencement ceremony last month. Dr. Laila Shikaki was not the only Palestinian targeted during spring graduation ceremonies this year. Palestine Legal responded to other commencement incidents in recent weeks.
Read MoreJuneteenth was just declared a national holiday, but African Americans have been celebrating this day for a century and a half, and it was always bigger than Texas, bigger than the United States, even bigger than the dark night of slavery.
Today, 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.”
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