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href="http://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/4/26/palestine-legal-and-ccr-sue-fordham-over-sjp-ban">http://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/4/26/palestine-legal-and-ccr-sue-fordham-over-sjp-ban</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Palestine Legal and CCR Sue Fordham Over
SJP Ban <br>
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<p><em>April 26, 2017, New York, NY –</em> Today, students
at Fordham University filed a lawsuit against the school
over its refusal to grant club status to Students for
Justice in Palestine (SJP). Represented by the Center
for Constitutional Rights (CCR), cooperating counsel
Alan Levine, and Palestine Legal, the students argued
that the denial is “viewpoint discrimination” in
violation of Fordham’s policies regarding free
expression.</p>
<p>“As a Palestinian on campus, I was denied the
opportunity to advocate for freedom for my people,” said
Ahmad Awad, a graduating Fordham student. “Instead of
encouraging our human rights advocacy, the university
sided with those trying to silence our voices.”</p>
<p>SJP applied for club status in 2015 and intended to
organize educational events on Fordham’s Lincoln Center
campus about Palestinian human rights. While the
application was pending, administrators expressed
concern that SJP’s presence would “stir up controversy,”
consulted Jewish faculty and students on whether SJP
should be approved, and repeatedly delayed a decision on
the application. A year after the application was filed,
the student government approved recognition of SJP as a
student club. Fordham’s Dean of Students, Keith
Eldredge, then took the unprecedented step of overruling
that decision and denying the request because, he
stated, approving SJP would lead to “polarization,” and
that the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions
(BDS) “presents a barrier to open dialogue.”</p>
<p>Numerous civil rights and community groups condemned
the decision, including <a target="_blank"
href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/548748b1e4b083fc03ebf70e/t/58dadcd6197aeaaf64ed3de0/1490738391242/Catholic+Letter+to+Fordham+Final+3-28-17.pdf">Catholic
clergy and professors</a>, and over 100 <a
target="_blank"
href="https://fordhamram.com/2017/02/22/faculty-sign-petition-in-support-of-sjp-student/">Fordham
professors</a>. Last week, faculty voted <a
target="_blank"
href="https://fordhamram.com/2017/04/19/faculty-pass-vote-of-no-confidence-in-mcshane/">no
confidence</a> in the leadership of Fordham President
Rev. Joseph M. McShane by a margin of 431 to 57.</p>
<p>“If Fordham’s guarantee of freedom of inquiry means
anything, it’s that students who want to advocate for
Palestinian rights must be able to start an SJP club and
host events, invite guest speakers, distribute flyers,
and post materials just like any other group,” said
Center for Constitutional Rights Deputy Legal Director <a
target="_blank"
href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/who-we-are/staff/lahood-maria">Maria
LaHood</a>. “Even if the expression of views seeking
justice in Palestine or demanding respect for human
rights through BDS is considered polarizing or offensive
to some, it is protected speech; indeed, it is the ideas
that challenge us and foster debate that need to be
protected most.”</p>
<p>In response to student inquiries, Eldredge informed
students there was no appeal of his decision. Shortly
after, he charged one of the petitioners in the case
filed today, Sapphira Lurie, with violating the school’s
“demonstration policy” for protesting the SJP decision
and insisted on holding a closed-door hearing on the
disciplinary charge, without Lurie having access to
counsel or other advisors, and with Eldredge as the sole
hearing official and decision maker.</p>
<p>Advocates say Fordham’s treatment of SJP is part of a
broader pattern of repression against Palestinian human
rights activism, particularly on campuses, which
includes administrative disciplinary actions,
harassment, firings, baseless legal complaints, and
false accusations of terrorism and antisemitism.
Palestine Legal responded to <a target="_blank"
href="http://palestinelegal.org/2016-report">650 such
incidents of suppression</a> targeting speech
supportive of Palestinian rights from 2014 to 2016.</p>
<p>“Students go to Fordham to exchange ideas and advocate
for the disenfranchised, as Jesuit values would
presumably encourage,” said Palestine Legal staff
attorney <a target="_blank"
href="http://palestinelegal.org/staff#radhika">Radhika
Sainath</a>. “The law is clear: Fordham can’t promise
freedom of expression and then take it away when it
comes to advocacy for Palestinian rights.”</p>
<p id="yui_3_17_2_1_1493222217860_596">Read the petition
filed today <a target="_blank"
href="http://palestinelegal.org/s/Final-Verified-Petition-42617-web.pdf"
id="yui_3_17_2_1_1493222217860_595">here</a>.</p>
<p>For more information, visit <a target="_blank"
href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/awad-et-al-v-fordham-university">CCR’s</a>
and <a target="_blank"
href="http://palestinelegal.org/case-studies/2017/3/9/fordham-bans-students-for-justice-in-palestine">Palestine
Legal’s</a> case pages.</p>
<p><a target="_blank"
href="http://palestinelegal.org/case-studies/2017/3/9/fordham-bans-students-for-justice-in-palestine"><em>Palestine
Legal</em></a><em> is an independent organization
dedicated to protecting the civil and constitutional
rights of people in the US who speak out for
Palestinian freedom. Our mission is to bolster the
Palestine solidarity movement by challenging efforts
to threaten, harass and legally bully activists into
silence and inaction. Founded in 2012, Palestine Legal
is the only legal organization in the United States
exclusively dedicated to supporting the movement for
Palestinian rights. Visit </em><a target="_blank"
href="http://www.palestinelegal.org"><em>www.palestinelegal.org</em></a><em>
and follow <a target="_blank"
href="https://twitter.com/pal_legal">@pal_legal</a>.
</em></p>
<p><em>The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated
to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by
the United States Constitution and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by
attorneys who represented civil rights movements in
the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational
organization committed to the creative use of law as a
positive force for social change. Visit </em><a
target="_blank" href="http://www.ccrjustice.org">www.ccrjustice.org</a><em>
and follow </em><a
href="https://twitter.com/theCCR?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">@theCCR</a><em>.</em></p>
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