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Take a stand against anti-boycott bills aimed at punishing advocacy for Palestinian rights.

Back to School? Top 3 Ways Trump & Universities are Bulldozing Your Right to Protest.

Since taking office, Trump has put into action a right-wing playbook to dismantle the Palestine movement. Universities have been a key target – and most of have complied with Trump’s demands by intensifying their punishments of student speech and protests.

Students are being surveilled, investigated, suspended, arrested, and threatened with deportation all for support of Palestinian freedom or criticism of Israel. In many places, universities have become unrecognizable fortresses with extreme police and security presence to crack down on protests.

All of this is being done to crush any resistance to the US-Israel genocide in Gaza, a crime in which many university leaders are now fully complicit.

“While today these attacks are focused on the Palestine movement, by giving in to the demands of the Trump administration and enacting ever more restrictive speech policies, universities are rapidly destroying everyone’s right to protest on campus,” said Palestine Legal senior staff attorney Tori Porell.

As students return to school this fall, here are the top three ways we are seeing universities intensify their crackdowns on campus activism, and ways they’re being challenged.

Legal Resources for Activists Advocating for Palestine Across the U.S.

Palestine Legal has been receiving an unprecedented surge in requests for legal support as the Trump administration escalates its repression of the movement for justice in Palestine — with many of the same tools that it inherited from the Biden administration and its unwavering support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Activists and community members have been doxxed, investigated, censored, questioned, fired, jailed, and even assaulted simply because of their views, while government officials appear to be mobilizing law enforcement resources against them for their speech activities.

While we work to respond to these requests, these guides and contacts from Palestine Legal and partner organizations will help you assess risks, protect yourself and others, and reduce harm from repression.