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Activists in the US are censored and punished for speaking up for Palestinian freedom. We challenge the censorship so voices for justice can be heard.
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Jan 23 6 tweets 2 min read
ALERT: We’ve received several reports of the FBI visiting activists in response to their social media posts criticizing Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. We want you to #KnowYourRights if approached by federal law enforcement (🧵 thread) The FBI’s discriminatory targeting of people who speak up for Palestinian rights on social media is an attempt to silence popular criticism of Israel. You have a right to speak up against genocide. You have a right to refuse to speak to FBI agents without an attorney present.
Jan 20 6 tweets 2 min read
🚨 A Palestinian American student writes "free Palestine" messages across the UIC campus and is stalked by a @thisisUIC employee, who called police to handcuff and arrest in her classroom. Watch the explosive story here: cbsnews.com/chicago/news/u… She was held in a cell for hours while the university tried to charge her with a felony, which the Cook County attorney rejected before ultimately dismissing criminal charges.
Jan 8 12 tweets 3 min read
🧵THREAD: The federal government has launched a long-overdue investigation into anti-Palestinian racism at @thisisUIC. As an institution that prides itself on diversity, UIC should be ashamed of its treatment of Palestinians and their allies. For years, @SJPUIC has called on @uicpublichealth to end its partnership with @JUFChicago, an organization with a documented history of funding anti-Muslim hate groups. jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wp-content/upl…
Dec 15, 2023 14 tweets 4 min read
THREAD: As the US-backed Israeli bombardment of Gaza reaches unfathomable proportions, so has the war of repression here: since Oct. 7th we’ve received 1000+ reports from people targeted for Palestine advocacy in all arenas—but it’s not stopping the upsurge in solidarity. 1/14 The lead national story has been Congress hauling in college presidents in a McCarthyist display & passing a resolution equating antisemitism and anti-zionism, which is used to justify censoring any speech critical of Israel’s human rights violations. slate.com/news-and-polit…
Nov 9, 2023 10 tweets 2 min read
THREAD: Are you a Palestinian student or a student who speaks out for Palestinian rights who has faced anti-Palestinian hate or racism? HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 🧵 REPORT IT! We've gotten a tsunami of requests for help from STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY whose schools are discriminating against them and failing to protect students against BIGOTED anti-Palestinian racism, from fellow students and even professors. This includes DEATH THREATS
Oct 24, 2023 14 tweets 4 min read
THREAD: Across the US, people advocating for Palestinian rights are facing a wave of McCarthyite backlash targeting their livelihoods and careers. In the last 2 weeks, Palestine Legal has responded to over 260 such incidents. Here’s what we’re seeing. 🧵 We have spoken to people being fired from their jobs for sharing social media posts or signing statements that support Palestinian human rights, including the revocation of our client Ryna Workman’s job offer from corporate law firm Winston & Strawn, LLP. theintercept.com/2023/10/16/pro…
May 31, 2023 11 tweets 3 min read
Palestine Legal stands with Fatima Mohammed, @CUNYLaw’s peer-elected commencement speaker, in the face of a racist, anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic harassment campaign exacerbated by public officials over her comments in support of Palestinian freedom and justice for all. 🧵 Image Yesterday, CUNY’s Board of Trustees and chancellor issued a statement condemning Mohammed’s speech as “hate speech,” a false accusation that flies in the face of the university’s First Amendment obligations and Mohammed’s principled words: www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2023/…
May 25, 2023 7 tweets 1 min read
After months of Israel advocacy groups calling on the White House to adopt the distorted IHRA definition of antisemitism, today even the staunchly pro-Israel Biden administration declined to do so. Why? Because IHRA is wrong, useless, and clearly unconstitutional. Zionist advocates like Ken Marcus have churned out op-eds as a way to build external pressure demanding how crucial it is for the Biden admin to embrace IHRA and no other definition.
Jan 23, 2023 6 tweets 5 min read
Tell the American Bar Association (@ABAesq): Controversial IHRA definition that targets advocacy for Palestinian rights should have no part in resolution on antisemitism! #RejectIHRA 40+ Civil and Human Rights Groups including @ACLU, @FMEP, @theCCR, @NLGnews, @adc, and @CAIRNational are calling on @ABAesq to remove reference to the controversial IHRA definition in a proposed resolution on antisemitism: aclu.org/letter/letter-…
Jan 12, 2023 9 tweets 3 min read
Today we listened to a federal appeals court as they heard oral arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Israeli quasi-govt org Jewish National Fund alleging our partners at @USCPR_ , one of the oldest & largest Palestine solidarity orgs in the US, supports "terrorism". (🧵 1/9) This lawsuit was rightfully dismissed in March 2021. The U.S. federal judge who dismissed it described JNF's arguments as "to say the least, not persuasive." Why? It’s based on a wild legal theory with no grounding in reality.
Jan 11, 2023 10 tweets 4 min read
What are the accusations in JNF v. US Campaign for Pal Rights based on?

The dangerous claims that support for boycotts is prohibited, and that because @USCPR_ expressed support for the Great March of Return, it’s responsible for “terrorist kites” launched during the March. The facts are: @USCPR_ is a grassroots org working for freedom & justice for Palestinians – collectively, through constitutionally-protected boycotts, public awareness raising campaigns, and other tactics. They are one of the oldest & largest Palestine solidarity orgs in the US.
Jan 11, 2023 7 tweets 3 min read
How do Israel’s proxy orgs in the U.S. use baseless lawsuits to try and *crush* the Palestinian freedom movement?

Tune in to the latest in lawfare: Jewish National Fund (JNF) v. US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, oral arguments TOMORROW!

🎥 Link: bit.ly/USCPRArguments… JNF’s lawsuit aims to shut down Palestine advocacy work of @USCPR_ by making “terrorism” claims so flimsy that a federal judge dismissed them, calling them “to say the least, unpersuasive”. But the plaintiffs appealed & @theCCR is arguing in court tomorrow to dismiss it for good.
Jan 4, 2023 11 tweets 3 min read
We are reassured to see @EDcivilrights do the right thing: #RejectIHRA, and focus on rising threats of bigotry & racist attacks by white supremacists. Antisemitism is frightening, esp. with the rise of rightwing nationalism & white supremacy, it must be fought in all forms. (🧵) A new @EDcivilrights fact sheet describes protections covering students who are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, or of another religious group.
Dec 9, 2022 13 tweets 4 min read
The Berkeley Law Palestine solidarity bylaw is in the news again.

An Israeli govt funded group partnered with a Florida-based attorney to file a complaint demanding a federal investigation into @UCBerkeley for allowing this solidarity action.

Here’s what you should know: 🧵 The complaint is wrong on both the law and the facts. It claims to represent the interests of Jewish students, but the lawyers who filed the complaint have no apparent ties to the @UCBerkeley community. So what do they want?
Dec 7, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
Read this statement from our client, George Washington University sophomore and Students for Justice in Palestine president who was forced to testify in last Friday, after he and SJP were falsely charged with damaging a concrete bench outside of Hillel.
palestinelegal.org/news/2022/12/7… Lance and SJP believe this is racist retaliation for a postering campaign critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Attorneys were not allowed to speak at the hearing, but Palestine Legal was able to listen in on Zoom.
Jul 5, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
THREAD: After a year of retaliating against university staff for providing support to Palestinian students grieving Israeli state violence last spring, @GWtweets is effectively shutting down an office that provides services to students experiencing trauma.
palestinelegal.org/news/2022/7/5/… GW severely curtailed the work of the Office of Advocacy and Support after the office announced trauma support services for Palestinian students. For the past year, OAS has been prohibited from posting to social media or communicating with professors on behalf of students.
Jun 24, 2022 13 tweets 3 min read
Today we mourn the extent to which our fundamental rights, our bodily autonomy, and the pluralistic beliefs that characterize this society are being bulldozed by an ideologically driven court. As a movement lawyering organization, we understand the law as a political tool.
Jun 22, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
Boycotts are a powerful tool for seeking justice, as recognized by the Supreme Court. Today’s decision ignores that history and precedent, treating Arkansas’ anti-BDS law as a restriction on purely commercial conduct that carries no political message. palestinelegal.org/news/2022/6/22… Today’s decision is an attack on our right to dissent from the status quo. In upholding Arkansas’ anti-BDS law, the court refused to confront the reality that these laws are part of an effort to shield Israel from accountability.
Mar 28, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
After retweeting an image of a poster spoofing a historic Palestine tourism ad, @BDSAustria was "SLAPPed" by the city of Vienna with a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. protecttheprotest.org/story/bds-aust… BDS continues to advocate for Palestinians because so many BDS groups and others have managed to change policies in their own countries and cities for better. Learn more about the case here: elsc.support/cases/m
Feb 17, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
Congrats to Virginia advocates for defeating this unconstitutional anti-boycott bill!
Although these bills continue to pop up, not a single one of these laws has been upheld on the merits when challenged. palestinelegal.org/news/2022/2/8/…
Feb 4, 2022 4 tweets 3 min read
Palestine Legal staff attorney Zoha Khalili was introduced on stage at @jeopardy earlier this week as a "movement lawyer." Wondering what that means? In the words of @Law4BlackLives, it means "building the power of the people, not the power of the law." It's the philosophy we adhere to here at Palestine Legal. Here are some of our favorite intros to movement lawyering.
From @Law4BlackLives: law4blacklives.org/respond/