Gaza First Amendment Alert
Joint Resolutions of Disapproval for arms sales are introduced in Congress, a bill attacking charities fails, and charges from campus protests collapse.
As a tidal wave of repression hits pro-Palestine activism and advocacy, the Gaza First Amendment Alert keeps you up to date, with posts every other Wednesday.
Congress could vote soon to block US arms sales to Israel
Senator Sanders (I-VT) has introduced six Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block US arms sales to Israel. If passed, the resolutions will stop the sale of over $20 billion of US offensive weapons to Israel. DRAD has joined with dozens of civil society groups to mobilize support for Sanders’s resolutions.
“Sending more weapons is not only immoral, it is also illegal. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act lay out clear requirements for the use of American weaponry – Israel has egregiously violated those rules,” Sanders explained. “American weapons have been used indiscriminately, and several of the systems included in these sales are responsible for a large number of civilian casualties. There is a mountain of documentary evidence demonstrating that these weapons are being used in violation of U.S. and international law. It is also clear that Israel has blocked U.S. humanitarian aid, making it ineligible for U.S. security assistance under Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act.”
Congress attacks charities; charities fight back
In a major victory for civil society, on November 12th, the house defeated HR 9495. The legislation would have granted the next president unchecked power to effectively shut down any tax-exempt organization based on a unilateral accusation of wrongdoing. Over 100 nonprofits went on record opposing the bill, warning that it would give the executive branch new broad and easily abused powers that Trump could use to suppress the views of his perceived political enemies. The bill was transparently aimed at pro-Palestine charitable and advocacy groups, but would apply broadly to a range of non-profit entities. The bill was expected to pass, but a massive mobilization of groups and their supporters defeated the bill.
Rep. Smith recruits state Attorneys General to investigate humanitarian and advocacy groups
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) is going after the tax-exempt status of multiple groups that provide humanitarian relief and/or advocate for peace and Palestinian human rights. In September 2024, he sent letters to the IRS demanding that the IRS revoke the tax-exempt status of Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, Alliance for Global Justice, Islamic Relief USA, Jewish Voice for Peace, The People’s Forum, Tides Foundation, United Hands Relief, and Westchester Peace Action Committee. On October 29, 2024, he sent letters urging the Attorneys General of the states where these organizations are registered to investigate them for potential violations. His letters are filled with spurious charges of antisemitism, supporting terrorism, and engaging in other illegal activity. As evidence of wrongdoing, he cites rumors and accusations from rightwing and pro-Israel news outlets.
Senator Schumer vows to pass Antisemitism Awareness Act during lame duck session
The Antisemitism Awareness Act is a cynical attempt to use concern about antisemitism to silence student activism. It calls on the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. This definition conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Adoption by the Department of Education could potentially turn human rights advocacy into a civil rights violation. The author of the definition, Kenneth Stern, has explicitly called on Congress not to pass this law, stating that such an adoption of the definition he helped draft in this setting would be toxic to educational institutions and unconstitutional. We have successfully fought attempts to pass this bill for almost ten years, but it passed the House earlier this year, and now Schumer is pledging to get it through the Senate. He made the promise shortly before election day after the pro-Israel group Florence Avenue Initiative poured a reported $5 million into an ad campaign aimed at making Schumer’s inaction on the bill into an election issue.
House report is 325 pages of hyperbole, innuendo, and bias
On October 31, 2024, the Republican staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce released a 325 page report exposing what it describes as “a stunning lack of accountability by university leaders for students engaging in antisemitic harassment, assault, trespass and destruction of school property.” The report takes as fact that protests supporting human rights for Palestinians and calling for a ceasefire are necessarily antisemitic. The year-long investigation that led to the report was directed only at high-profile, elite institutions — the same ones that have been subpoenaed and called to testify before the committee.
Among the reports “Findings” were the facts that “Harvard president Claudine Gay disparaged Rep. Elise Stefanik’s character to the university’s Board of Overseers,” and “Penn’s leaders … sought to orchestrate negative media coverage of Members of Congress who scrutinized the University.” But the report levels serious charges, asserting that the environment on many campuses was “hostile to Jewish students likely in violation of Title VI,” and calls on the Education Department to reassess federal funding for schools where students have protested.
First Amendment lawsuit allowed to proceed against University of Texas officials
A judge ruled that a First Amendment lawsuit will be allowed to proceed against University of Texas, Austin officials. In April of this year, the Palestinian Solidarity Committee, a student organization, was suspended after the group defied the university’s attempt to cancel a protest. The lawsuit alleges that UT Austin, which is a public university and therefore subject to the First Amendment, engaged in impermissible viewpoint discrimination. The judge in the case declined to enjoin university policy or the governor’s anti-protest executive order, but granted standing to the Palestinian Solidarity Committee and allowed First Amendment aspects of the case to proceed.
DOJ investigates civil rights violations of Muslim protesters
The US Department of Justice opened an investigation into whether Arizona State Police violated the rights of four Muslim women protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The women allege that ASU police removed their hijabs during their arrests and refused to allow them to wear hijab while detained.
Charges dropped against pro-Palestine protesters
During last spring’s encampment protests, some universities implemented a maximal response: arresting students, barraging students with less-lethal weapons, and calling in external police departments - including the NYPD and Texas State Troopers - to suppress protest. Now, as the dust settles, prosecutorial decisions reveal the degree of police overreach in protest response.
The San Diego City Attorney declined to file charges against 64 pro-Palestine protesters arrested at a protest encampment at the University of California, San Diego in May. The City Attorney’s office attributed the decision in part to review of body-cam footage; at no point were allegations leveled that students engaged in violence or harassment. But the students aren’t fully out of the woods yet; the pending charges will be filed should the student protesters engage in “criminal activity” - potentially restraining students’ future rights to protest.
At Yale, criminal charges were dismissed against 27 arrested protesters in exchange for payment of a $90 fine. Thirteen other students opted to fight the misdemeanor trespassing charges in court, with some protesters asserting that police gave only minutes to vacate Beinecke Plaza following the announcement of the dispersal order.
At Dartmouth, two students charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass brought their case to trial. During arguments, questions were raised about Dartmouth’s decision to request assistance from the Hanover Police Department, an escalatory step against student protesters on campus. The judge in the case has yet to issue a decision.
Preemptive restrictions on protest implemented at University of Portland
Seeking to avert a repeat of spring protests, the University of Portland revised the school demonstration policy to require notification to the Director of Campus Safety two business days before a protest. Previously, student protesters were required only to notify the Dean of Students; notification of campus safety raises the possibility of an escalatory or preemptive police response.
The policy further prohibits “grossly offensive” demonstrations, granting broad leeway to the university to suppress disfavored speech. The new restrictions also prohibit students from erecting tents on campus.
US military personnel seek conscientious objector status
As the US grows ever more entangled with Israel’s war - with arms deals, military aid, deployment of troops, and cyber support - some US military personnel are seeking conscientious objector status that would remove them from service. The Center on Conscience and War, which aids military personnel seeking conscientious objector status, noted an uptick in interest since the war in Gaza began. (The Air Force denied any increase in applications.)
The military provides few avenues for personnel to dissent. As just one example, Servicemember Larry Herbert, moved to cut ties by American support for Israel’s war in Gaza, applied for conscientious objector status. When the protracted process stretched to an unbearable duration, Herbert applied for voluntary separation. When that was denied, he resorted to disobeying orders so that he would be discharged on administrative grounds.