DANIELA COLOMBI, [email protected], [email protected]
Colombi is with Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Maryland. The group has just announced a “historic victory. … The university has now agreed to a $100K settlement, the largest ever for pro-Palestine student speech known in the U.S. But this isn’t just about the money. It’s about forcing institutions to recognize that Palestinian voices cannot and will not be silenced.
“From Gaza to the DMV, the occupation and its allies try to erase Palestine, but we resist. As the occupation starves millions in Gaza with U.S. backing, UMD remains complicit in repression. While the university remains complicit in genocide, we’ve forced them to pay. Now we turn their tainted dollars into defiance.”
See statement from Palestine Legal and the Council on American-Islamic Relations which. represented the student group in the legal battle: “Civil Rights Groups Announce Historic $100K Settlement from University of Maryland for Unlawfully Suppressing Pro-Palestinian Student Speech.”
“This settlement comes as the Trump administration abuses its power to exert enormous pressure on universities — through investigations, threats to cut billions in funding, and requesting private student records — to intensify their punishment of morally-driven student protests and speech in support of Palestinian rights.
“During a federal court hearing on the case, University administrators emphasized that they had a positive relationship with SJP and the settlement agreement stipulates that the University must publicly recognize UMD SJP as being in good standing as a student organization. …
“CAIR and Palestine Legal sued the University of Maryland on September 17, 2024 for revoking approval for UMD SJP’s interfaith vigil on October 7th to mourn lives lost in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, and ultimately banning all student-organized events from taking place on campus that day.
“The University responded to CAIR and Palestine Legal’s lawsuit by claiming that it was forced to cancel all events due to racist threats from pro-Israel individuals, who had threatened to organize a KKK rally and come to campus armed if SJP’s vigil was allowed to proceed. At the hearing, University of Maryland Police Chief David Mitchell testified that pro-Israel individuals even threatened UMD President Darryll Pines’ family and used the N-word.”
“UMD SJP’s settlement with the University of Maryland demonstrates that violating pro-Palestinian students’ First Amendment rights has tangible consequences, and that universities cannot continue to do so with impunity,” said Tori Porell, senior staff attorney at Palestine Legal. “This win is not just for Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Maryland, but for all students speaking out for Palestinian freedom across the country.”