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<a id="reader-domain" class="domain"
href="http://palestinelegal.org/news/rabab-abdulhadi-moves-to-dismiss-frivolous-lawfare-suit">http://palestinelegal.org/news/rabab-abdulhadi-moves-to-dismiss-frivolous-lawfare-suit</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Professor Rabab Abdulhadi Moves To Dismiss
Frivolous “Lawfare” Suit That Targets Campus Advocacy for
Palestinian Rights<br>
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<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">August 21, 2017</div>
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<p class="text-align-center"><strong>JOINT PRESS
RELEASE</strong></p>
Law Offices of Ben Gharagozli<br>
Attorney for Professor Rabab Abdulhadi<br>
Law Office of Mark Allen Kleiman<br>
Attorney for Professor Rabab Abdulhadi
<p>August 21, 2017, San Francisco, CA – Today,
San Francisco State University (SFSU)
Professor, Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, asked the
court to dismiss a frivolous lawsuit that
targets her academic freedom and threatens
campus advocacy for Palestinian rights more
broadly. The suit, brought by the <em>Lawfare
Project</em> along with mega-firm Winston
& Strawn LLP, aims to suppress and punish
campus debate about Palestinian rights. <strong>(Read
the <a target="_blank"
href="http://palestinelegal.org/s/motion-to-dismiss-conformed.pdf">Motion
to Dismiss</a> and the <a target="_blank"
href="http://palestinelegal.org/s/SFSU-motion-to-strike.pdf">Motion to
Strike</a> filed today.) </strong></p>
<p>Dr. Abdulhadi explained, “Israel’s apologists
have long targeted my research and teaching on
Palestine, to no avail. This <em>Lawfare </em>suit
is the latest desperate attempt to abuse the
law to shut down the Arab and Muslim
Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies program at
SFSU, which I founded and direct. This fits
with SFSU’s history and legacy as a social
justice campus. This too will fail, because,
as an educator, I have the right to seek truth
and justice, and to study Palestine.”</p>
<p>The suit was filed against SFSU in June 2017,
naming as defendants the California State
University Board of Trustees, multiple
administrators and a single professor: Dr.
Abdulhadi. The complaint alleges that the
university tolerated a hostile climate of
antisemitism, in violation of Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act, because students, faculty
and staff have long expressed vigorous support
for Palestinian rights on campus. The suit
rests on the nefarious blanket equation of
criticism of Israeli policy with anti-Jewish
animus, attempting to impose a <a
target="_blank"
href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/548748b1e4b083fc03ebf70e/t/56e6ff0cf85082699ae245b1/1457979151629/FAQ+onDefinition+of+Anti-Semitism-3-9-15+newlogo.pdf">erroneous</a> definition
of antisemitism that has been <a
target="_blank"
href="http://forward.com/news/356220/expert-on-hate-opposes-campus-anti-semitism-bill-based-on-definition-he-cre/">rejected</a> by
even its own author as unconstitutional if
used to limit speech on college campuses.</p>
<p>Mark Kleiman, attorney for Dr. Abdulhadi,
said, “This is a frivolous lawsuit, fomented
by a politically motivated group that <a
target="_blank"
href="http://thelawfareproject.org/lawfare/what-is-lawfare-1/">announced
its intention</a> to inflict <a
target="_blank"
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-lawfare-group-plans-massive-punishments-activists">‘massive
punishments’</a> on students and professors
who would criticize Israeli policies. The law
should not be misused for bullying and
intimidation. We’re confident it will be
thrown out of court because it has no basis in
fact, no basis in law, and only ensnares Dr.
Abdulhadi to intimidate her, drain her
resources and distract her from her scholarly
endeavors.”</p>
<p>In its own words, the <em>Lawfare Project </em><a
target="_blank"
href="http://thelawfareproject.org/lawfare/what-is-lawfare-1/">defines
“lawfare”</a> as “the use of the law as a
weapon of war…[and] filing frivolous lawsuits
and misusing legal processes to intimidate and
frustrate opponents."</p>
<p>Behnam (Ben) Gharagozli, another attorney for
Dr. Abdulhadi said, “The law is clear: The
First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
protects scholarship and advocacy, regardless
of how some pro-Israel groups feel about
advocacy for Palestinian freedom. The Lawfare
Project’s own definition of ‘lawfare’ is
revealingly incriminating.”</p>
<p>Advocates say the <em>Lawfare </em>suit is
part of a broader pattern of suppression
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> from 2014
to 2016.</p>
<p>Palestine Legal director Dima Khalidi said,
“The Lawfare Project’s attempt to define Dr.
Abdulhadi’s and SFSU students’ advocacy for
Palestinian rights as antisemitic is a central
tactic of dozens of Israel advocacy groups
attempting to shut down the growing U.S.
movement for freedom, justice and equality for
Palestinians. It must be rejected for its
clear intent to curb critical inquiry on one
of the most enduring human rights issues of
our time in order to maintain the status quo
in favor of Israel’s decades-long subjugation
of Palestinians.”</p>
<p>_______________________________________________</p>
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<div id="reader-header" class="header"
style="display: block;"> <font size="-2"><a
id="reader-domain" class="domain"
href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-State-seeks-dismissal-of-suit-accusing-it-of-11948247.php">http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-State-seeks-dismissal-of-suit-accusing-it-of-11948247.php</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">SF State asks court to
dismiss suit accusing it of allowing
anti-Semitism</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">By
Bob Egelko - August 21, 2017 </div>
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<p>Saying they have no power to censor
campus speech, officials at San
Francisco State University asked a
federal judge Monday to dismiss a
suit by current and former Jewish
students accusing the school of
fostering anti-Semitism.</p>
<p>Lawyers for the school and the
California State University Board of
Trustees denied that the incidents
described in the suit — disruption
of a talk by the mayor of Jerusalem,
exclusion of the Jewish group Hillel
from a campus fair, and several past
provocations including the 1994
defacement of a mural showing stars
of David — had been fostered or
tolerated by SFSU officials or had
interfered with anyone’s freedom of
religion.</p>
<p>But even if religious liberties had
been burdened, the lawyers said,
“the source of that burden would be
the actions of other students and
groups at the university, who were
also exercising core First Amendment
rights that the university could not
curtail.”</p>
<p>They noted that another judge threw
out a similar suit against UC
Berkeley in 2011.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge William Orrick
III will decide whether to let the
suit proceed.</p>
<p>Filed in June by present and past
students and several local
residents, the suit alleged that
“SFSU has fostered and sanctioned
anti-Semitism from the highest
levels and affirmed the actions of
hostile, aggressive and disruptive
students to regularly violate the
rights of Jewish students.”</p>
<p>The suit focused on an April 2016
appearance by Jerusalem Mayor Nir
Barkat. Six minutes into his
remarks, about 20 students stood and
started shouting, “Free Palestine,”
“Israel is an apartheid state” and
other chants, according to a report
commissioned by the university.</p>
<p>The protesters soon began using a
microphone and prevented listeners
from hearing most of Barkat’s
speech, said the report, by an
outside law firm. It concluded the
protest had been disruptive and
violated school policies but posed
no physical threat to Barkat or
others.</p>
<p>But the lawsuit said the protesters
had threatened violence, that Jewish
students felt frightened, and that
school officials had contributed to
the hateful atmosphere by
instructing campus police to “stand
down,” and later by letting the
demonstrators off with a warning.
The suit also accused officials of
bias for moving Barkat’s speech to
an off-campus location.</p>
<p>In Monday’s filing, however, the
university said it had relocated
Barkat’s speech because of concerns
about student safety, not religion.
And university lawyers said the
protesters “were engaged in
political speech and expressive
conduct — core First
Amendment-protected rights.”</p>
<p>The lawyers also said Hillel had
been excluded from a campus “Know
Your Rights” fair in February
because the group had missed a
registration deadline. The Jewish
students’ lawsuit contended the
deadline was fabricated.</p>
<p>“We stand by our claims, which
outline a discriminatory environment
unlawfully targeting Jewish
students,” attorney Brooke Goldstein
of the Lawfare Project, a pro-Israel
nonprofit representing the
plaintiffs, said Monday.</p>
<p>SFSU officials also cited a 2011
ruling by another federal judge
dismissing a lawsuit by two Jewish
students that accused UC Berkeley of
turning a blind eye to alleged
intimidation by Arab students and
encouraging campus anti-Semitism.</p>
<p>Even if the claims in that lawsuit
were proved, U.S. District Judge
Richard Seeborg said, the conduct
mainly involved “pure political
speech” that was constitutionally
protected.</p>
<p>Seeborg, however, allowed the
Berkeley students to refile their
suit with narrower and more specific
claims. Their lawyer, Joel Siegal,
said Monday that the case was
ultimately settled with bans on some
types of intimidating conduct by
protesters.</p>
<em>
<p>Bob Egelko is a San Francisco
Chronicle staff writer. Email: <a
href="mailto:begelko@sfchronicle.com" title="begelko@sfchronicle.com">begelko@sfchronicle.com</a>
Twitter: <a
href="http://twitter.com/egelko"
title="@egelko">@egelko</a> </p>
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