[News] U.S. Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Filed by Jewish National Fund Against Palestinian Rights Nonprofit

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/us-federal-judge-dismisses-lawsuit-filed-jewish-national-fund
U.S.
Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Filed by Jewish National Fund Against
Palestinian Rights NonprofitLawsuit “Not Persuasive,” Judge Rules


*March 30, 2021, Washington, D.C. –* A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit
filed by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and others against a U.S.-based
Palestinian rights organization. The JNF had accused the US Campaign for
Palestinian Rights (USCPR) of engaging in “material support for terrorism,”
citing their speech and expressive activity, including their support for
the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The JNF—a
quasi-state institution in Israel that acquires and administers land for
the sole benefit of the Jewish people—also sought to hold the USCPR liable
for their participation in the “Stop the JNF” campaign, an advocacy
campaign that sought to highlight the JNF’s own unlawful and discriminatory
practices.

In an opinion handed down yesterday afternoon, the court characterized the
plaintiffs’ arguments as, “to say the least, not persuasive.”

“We have been looking forward to this day and welcome the court's
decision,” said Ahmad Abuznaid, USCPR Executive Director. “This should
reinforce to all advocates of freedom for the Palestinian people that we
will not be silenced, siloed, or stopped. Justice for all is the only way
forward.”

Attorneys say the lawsuit was replete with outlandish allegations of guilt
by association, seeking to hold USCPR liable for acts it has no connection
to, including “incendiary terror balloons and kites” sent from Gaza during
the Great Return March, in which Palestinians protested to demand their
internationally protected right to return to the villages from which they
were expelled in 1948. By contrast, specific acts alleged against USCPR
consisted of wholly lawful activity to achieve lawful ends: expressing
support for the Great Return March; serving as a fiscal sponsor for BNC
(Boycott National Committee); and participating in a campaign to end
support for the JNF. Detailing social media posts of non-defendants with
which USCPR is allegedly affiliated—posts that themselves did not advocate
unlawful activity—JNF and the other plaintiffs argued that USCPR’s
expression constituted “material support” for terrorism, and trespass,
public nuisance, and tortious interference with JNF’s business
relationship—a conclusion the court roundly rejected today by dismissing
the case.

“The smearing of human rights advocates as terrorists is a troublingly
common and dangerous tactic. The JNF’s complaint perversely cites our
clients’ human rights advocacy in an attempt to support their ultimately
fruitless effort to hijack U.S. courts,” said Diala Shamas
<https://ccrjustice.org/home/who-we-are/staff/shamas-diala>, a staff
attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “We are glad the court
did not let these meritless claims stand, and we hope this marks a turning
point that discourages private actors seeking to weaponize terrorism laws
to silence their critics.”

Lawyers say the lawsuit was part of a broad and growing pattern of
suppressing activism in support of Palestinian rights, a phenomenon that
the Center for Constitutional Rights and the organization Palestine Legal
have documented and called the “Palestine Exception
<https://ccrjustice.org/the-palestine-exception>” to free speech. The
organizations report the widespread use of administrative disciplinary
actions, harassment, firings, legislative attacks, false accusations of
terrorism and antisemitism, and baseless legal complaints. Palestine Legal
has responded to 1,707 incidents of suppression targeting speech supportive
of Palestinian rights between 2014 and 2020. See their2020 Year in Review
<https://palestinelegal.org/2020-report>.

Today is the third anniversary of the start of the Great Return March, and
Land Day, which commemorates the 1976 general strike and marches by
Palestinians protesting further Israeli annexation of their land.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is counsel in *JNF v. US Campaign for
Palestinian Rights* with cooperating counsel Judith Chomsky, Beth Stephens,
and Michael Deutsch.

For more information, visit the Center for Constitutional Rights’ case page
<https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/jewish-national-fund-v-us-campaign-palestinian-rights>
.

*USCPR is a national network of activists and organizations who are
committed to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and
who work to end U.S. complicity in their oppression. USCPR is a political
home for all who believe that freedom for the Palestinian people is an
integral part of achieving our collective liberation. We provide resources
and strategic support to the U.S.-based Palestine solidarity movement,
channeling grassroots power into positive change in U.S. policy and public
opinion. We work with local organizers and activists, policymakers,
movement leaders, media, and advocacy organizations to advance a
rights-based, and accountability and justice-oriented framework from the
U.S. to Palestine. Follow the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights on social
media: USCPR on **Facebook* <https://www.facebook.com/uscpalrights>*,
@USCPR_ on **Twitter* <https://twitter.com/USCPR_>*, and @uscpr on *
*Instagram* <https://www.instagram.com/uscpr/>*.*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20210330/8b850249/attachment.htm>