Media Roundup: Palestine Legal supports CUNY Law commencement speaker Fatima Mohammed

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Media Roundup: Palestine Legal supports CUNY Law commencement speaker Fatima Mohammed

On June 13th, Palestine Legal wrote a civil rights letter signed by 13 legal groups to the City University of New York (CUNY) to raise serious concerns that the university's statement condemning as “hate speech” the principled remarks by CUNY Law graduate Fatima Mohammed violated state and federal laws.

Below is a media roundup on our support for Fatima Mohammed mentioned in outlets including Jewish Currents, The Daily Beast, Electronic Intifada, Mondoweiss, and The Forward.

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

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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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Dept. of Education Opens Investigation into Anti-Palestinian Discrimination at Florida State University

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Dept. of Education Opens Investigation into Anti-Palestinian Discrimination at Florida State University

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened a formal investigation into a complaint alleging Florida State University discriminated against Palestinian student Ahmad Daraldik. After Ahmad was elected FSU student senate president in June 2020 and spoke openly about his experiences as a Palestinian, he was made an open target of a state-wide harassment campaign that included Florida state legislators calling for his removal and threatening to withhold funds to FSU.

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Civil Rights Groups Urge CUNY to Retract Anti-Palestinian Statement and Apologize

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Civil Rights Groups Urge CUNY to Retract Anti-Palestinian Statement and Apologize

Palestine Legal and 13 civil rights groups, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, and Law for Black Lives, wrote the City University of New York (CUNY) today to raise serious concerns that the university’s May 30th Statement condemning as “hate speech” the principled remarks by graduating CUNY Law 3L Fatima Mohammed violated state and federal laws. Published two weeks after Mohammed gave her speech in which she criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, the statement from CUNY’s Board of Trustees and Chancellor contributed to the bullying campaign led by anti-Palestinian groups, politicians, and rightwing media outlets in the wake of Mohammed’s speech, and incited additional online harassment and threats against Mohammed.

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Palestinian UIUC Law Alum Testimony Against the Dangers of IHRA

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Palestinian UIUC Law Alum Testimony Against the Dangers of IHRA

Palestine Legal is publishing the following testimony by Rifqa Falaneh, a Palestinian law graduate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, against the dangers of the distorted definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). 

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Cornell’s Failure to Condemn Campus Break-In Remains of Concern

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Cornell’s Failure to Condemn Campus Break-In Remains of Concern

Cornell University administration’s silence in the wake of a 2022 break-in at the office of professor Samia Henni has prompted questions and concerns about Cornell’s commitment to the safety and academic freedom of faculty who have spoken out in support of Palestinian rights. 

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Victory in the Courts for Palestinian Rights: USCPR defeats JNF's Lawfare Attack

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Victory in the Courts for Palestinian Rights: USCPR defeats JNF's Lawfare Attack

On Tuesday May 3rd, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a baseless lawsuit filed by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) claiming that our partners at the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) had provided “material support for terrorism” by engaging in advocacy. USCPR is represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), in addition to cooperating counsel Judith Chomsky and Beth Stephens.  

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