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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/2019/8/6/fordham-university-students-win-landmark-fight-to-establish-palestine-club">https://palestinelegal.org/news/2019/8/6/fordham-university-students-win-landmark-fight-to-establish-palestine-club</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Fordham University Students Win
Landmark Fight to Establish Palestine Club</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">August 06, 2019</div>
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<h2>Judge Orders University to Recognize Students for
Justice in Palestine Club <br>
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<p><em>August 6, 2019, New York –</em> Five Fordham
University students have won a landmark legal victory
against Fordham University, which sought to prohibit
them from forming a Students for Justice in Palestine
(SJP) club at their university. The students,
represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights,
Palestine Legal, and cooperating counsel Alan Levine,
argued that Fordham University violated its own rules
when, in 2016, it vetoed the United Student
Government’s approval of SJP, preventing the students
from forming the SJP club. </p>
<p>The Court annulled Fordham’s decision to deny SJP
club status, finding it arbitrary and capricious, as
nothing in Fordham’s rules permitted it to “reject an
application of a student club because it criticized
the policies of only one nation.” In her ruling,
Justice Nancy Bannon stated that “it must be concluded
that [Fordham University’s] disapproval of SJP was
made in large part because the subject of SJP’s
criticism is the State of Israel, rather than some
other nation, in spite of the fact that SJP advocates
only legal, nonviolent tactics aimed at changing
Israel’s policies.” </p>
<p>Justice Bannon noted that “the consideration and
discussion of differing views is actually part of
Fordham's mission, regardless of whether that
consideration and discussion might discomfit some and
polarize others.” </p>
<p><em>Awad, et al. v. Fordham University</em> is the
first lawsuit in the country challenging institutional
censorship of students advocating for justice in
Palestine, and this win marks the first major legal
victory for free speech for advocates of Palestine on
college campuses.</p>
<p> “The administration unfairly hindered my and my
fellow classmates’ abilities to advocate for the human
rights of Palestinians,” said Ahmad Awad, who
graduated from Fordham University in 2017. “Although
over 1,000 days have passed since we initiated the
process for club status, I did not give up on my fight
for human rights and free speech. I continued to
advocate for justice in Palestine, and now because of
Justice Bannon’s order, no Fordham student will be
restricted or prohibited from advocating for justice
in Palestine.”</p>
<p>Said Veer Shetty, whose attorneys argued on his
behalf in February to add him to the complaint since
the last remaining original petitioner graduated in
May, “I am beyond happy that Justice Bannon chose to
uphold the supposed values of our university and
academic freedom. A huge thank you goes to everyone
who worked on our behalf. Fordham’s Students for
Justice in Palestine would not exist today without all
of their tireless efforts. We, as a new club, will be
equally tireless in our efforts to fight for the
rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.”</p>
<p>Said Sapphira Lurie, who graduated from Fordham
University in 2017, “When universities promise they
are ‘committed to research and education that assist
in the alleviation of poverty, the promotion of
justice, the protection of human rights and respect
for the environment,’ as Fordham defines its
university’s characteristics, they must allow students
to pursue this education. Rather than allow Fordham’s
administration to impose its backwards and imperialist
politics on us, we were victorious in the fight for
students’ rights to organize for justice for
Palestine. This victory shows that when we fight back,
we can win. Free Palestine!”</p>
<p>The lawsuit, filed in April 2017, argued that
Fordham’s veto of the student government’s approval of
SJP was arbitrary and capricious, violating its own
policies. In November 2017, the students filed a
motion for a preliminary injunction asking the court
to direct the university to recognize SJP urgently, as
some of the students had graduated and others would
soon graduate. Last night, Justice Bannon granted the
students’ petition and unambiguously ordered Fordham
University to “recognize Students for Justice in
Palestine at Fordham University as a
university-sanctioned club…”</p>
<p>“We are thrilled that students at Fordham will
finally be able to form a Students for Justice in
Palestine club,” said<strong> </strong>Center for
Constitutional Rights Deputy Legal Director <a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/who-we-are/staff/lahood-maria">Maria
LaHood</a>. “The students’ support for Palestinian
rights and their demand to freely express that support
truly exemplify Fordham’s stated values, unlike the
Administration’s shameful actions here.”</p>
<p>Said Levine, “Fordham’s decision to deny recognition
to Students for Justice in Palestine was so utterly
arbitrary and irrational that it can only be
understood in the context of the nationwide effort to
silence those voices seeking justice for Palestinians.
In succumbing to those forces, Fordham abandoned its
obligation to foster critical points of view on
matters of public concern. Justice Bannon’s principled
decision reasserts the judiciary’s role to ensure that
voices of marginalized communities will be heard.
Nothing could be more important at this moment.”</p>
<p>Said Radhika Sainath, senior staff attorney at
Palestine Legal, “The judge rightly recognized that
students trying to start an SJP were being singled out
for censorship because they cared about Palestinian
freedom. But yesterday’s decision makes clear, there
can be no Palestine exception to speech at Fordham.”</p>
<p>Palestine Legal and the Center for Constitutional
Rights <a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/the-palestine-exception">have
documented</a> “the Palestine Exception” to free
speech, the broad and growing pattern of suppression
of activism for Palestinian rights across the United
States, particularly on college campuses. Tactics used
to suppress Palestine advocacy include administrative
disciplinary actions, harassment, firings, baseless
legal complaints, legislative attacks, and false
accusations of terrorism and antisemitism. Palestine
Legal has documented 1,247 incidents of suppression
targeting speech supportive of Palestinian rights
between 2014 and 2018. </p>
<p>For more information, visit the Center for
Constitutional Rights’ <a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/awad-et-al-v-fordham-university">case
page</a>.</p>
<p><em>Palestine Legal 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. Visit </em><a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/"><em>www.palestinelegal.org</em></a><em> and
follow </em><a href="https://twitter.com/pal_legal"><em>@pal_legal</em></a><em>.</em></p>
<p><em>The Center for Constitutional Rights works with
communities under threat to fight for justice and
liberation through litigation, advocacy, and
strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for
Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive
systems of power, including structural racism,
gender oppression, economic inequity, and
governmental overreach. Learn more at </em><a
href="https://ccrjustice.org/node/1727"><em>ccrjustice.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>
<p><em>Follow the Center for Constitutional Rights on
social media: </em><a
href="https://www.facebook.com/CenterforConstitutionalRights"><em>Center
for Constitutional Rights</em></a><em> on
Facebook, </em><a href="https://twitter.com/theCCR"><em>@theCCR</em></a><em>
on Twitter, and </em><a
href="https://www.instagram.com/ccrjustice/"><em>ccrjustice</em></a><em>
on Instagram.</em></p>
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