December 18, 2019

On Wednesday, December 11th 2019, Donald Trump issued an executive order that would conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, thereby redirecting genuine concerns for Jewish safety by weaponizing anti-Semitism against pro-Palestine student organizations in order to stifle their organizing on campus. We, the undersigned coalition of student and community organizations across the country, explicitly condemn this executive order.

This most recent executive order adopted by the Trump administration attempts to redefine anti-Semitism via the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition, which conflates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. Through this definition, universities are able to unjustly interrogate, isolate, and nullify the rights of pro-Palestine groups on campus in the name of combating anti-Semitism. Additionally, this framework permits the revocation of federal funding to public universities if they don’t abide by these regulations. In turn, this incentivizes censorship, and the denial of intellectual freedom of all students. Pro-Israel politicians and lobbying groups alike have relentlessly pushed for this redefinition in an attempt to delegitimize and silence Palestine organizing on campuses.

The issuance of this executive order did not occur in a vacuum, nor was it unprecedented. This declaration is predicated on an egregious history of targeted suppression, censorship, and disenfranchisement of Palestinian and Arab organizers on college campuses. Importantly, the repression of Palestine solidarity activism has long been codified by U.S. policy, which has directly impacted already-marginalized communities. Their communal spaces have fallen prey to government surveillance meant to suffocate the community and expunge any sentiment of dissent. As a collective of organizations dedicated to justice in Palestine, we must understand Trump’s executive order to be nothing short of a direct attack on Palestine activism.

Considering the consistent record of anti-Semitism that we have witnessed at the hands of this administration, we must make it clear that such an authoritarian attack on the free speech of Palestinians and their allies will not protect Jewish students, but will rather, in fact, exacerbate divisions in places where solidarity is more crucial than ever. We will not allow a blatant display of faux concern for the Jewish community to masquerade as anything other than a barrier between our communities as we struggle, hand-in-hand, against white supremacy.

Universities are meant to foster the diffusion of knowledge and the expansion of students’ intellectual and academic capacities, not hinder them. As students and community members dedicated to Justice in Palestine, we unequivocally condemn this executive order, and affirm that the validity of Palestine activism must be upheld at all institutions of higher education. Our commitment to anti-Zionism is a commitment to fighting all forms of marginalization and oppression as they currently exist. We will remain steadfast in our commitment to the liberation and self-determination of Palestinian people.

In Solidarity,

American University Students for Justice in Palestine
Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance
Arizona State University Students for Justice in Palestine
Bard College Students for Justice in Palestine
Boston University Students for Justice in Palestine
Brooklyn College Students for Justice in Palestine
Butler University Students for Justice in Palestine
CUNY Hunter College Palestine Solidarity Alliance
California State University, Fullerton Students for Justice in Palestine
California State University, Long Beach Young Democratic Socialists of America
Chapman University Students for Justice in Palestine
Claremont Colleges Jewish Voice for Peace
Claremont Colleges Students for Justice in Palestine
Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine
Direct Action for Palestine
Drexel Students for Justice in Palestine
Duke Students for Justice in Palestine
Earlham College Students for Justice in Palestine
Eastern Michigan University Students for Justice in Palestine
Emory University Students for Justice in Palestine
Florida Atlantic University Students for Justice in Palestine
Florida International University Students for Justice in Palestine
Florida State University Students for Justice in Palestine
Fordham University Students for Justice in Palestine
George Washington Students for Justice in Palestine
Grand Valley State University Peace M.E.ans
Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee
Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis Students for Justice in Palestine
Jewish Voice for Peace - Hudson Valley
Jewish Voice for Peace - NYC
Jewish Voice for Peace - Santa Barbara
John Hopkins Students for Justice in Palestine
John Jay College Students for Justice in Palestine
Kent State Students for Justice in Palestine
Marquette University Students for Justice in Palestine
McGill University Independent Jewish Voices
McGill University Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights
Michigan State University Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights
National Students for Justice in Palestine
National Students for Justice in Palestine
North Carolina State University Students for Justice in Palestine
Northeastern University Students for Justice in Palestine
Oberlin College Students for a Free Palestine
Occidental College Students for Justice in Palestine
Palestine Solidarity Forum at the University of Capetown
Palestine Speaks
Palestine@MIT
Pride Alliance at the University of Georgia
Queens University Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights
Rutgers University - New Brunswick Students for Justice in Palestine
Rutgers University - Newark Students for Justice in Palestine
Smith College Students for Justice in Palestine
St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee
Stanford University Students for Justice in Palestine
Students for Justice in Palestine - Drew University
Swarthmore Jewish Voice for Peace
Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine
Temple University Students for Justice in Palestine
Texas A&M University Palestine Solidarity Committee
The New School University Students for Justice in Palestine
Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine
University of California - Riverside Students for Justice in Palestine
University of California - Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine
University of California - Davis Students for Justice in Palestine
University of California - Irvine Central Americans for Empowerment
University of California - Irvine Jakara Movement Chapter
University of California - Irvine Pakistani Student Association
University of California - Irvine Students for Justice in Palestine
University of California - Irvine United Students Against Sweatshops
University of California - Irvine Young Democratic Socialists of America
University of California - Santa Barbara Intersectional Feminists
University of California - Santa Barbara Students for Justice in Palestine
University of California - Santa Barbara United Student Labor Action Coalition
University of Florida Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Houston Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Illinois at Chicago Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Kentucky Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Massachusetts - Amherst Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Massachusetts - Boston Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Students Allied for Freedom and Equality
University of Michigan - Dearborn Students for Justice in Palestine
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Students for Justice in Palestine
University of North Florida Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Pittsburgh Introspect Left
University of Pittsburgh Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Redlands Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Southern California Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Texas - Austin Palestine Solidarity Committee
University of Toledo Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Utah Pakistani Student Association
University of Utah Students for Justice in Palestine
University of Washington Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights
University of Waterloo Students for Palestinian Rights
University of Western Ontario Students for Palestinian Human Rights
Vassar Students for Justice in Palestine
Western Washington University Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights
Yale University Students for Justice in Palestine
York University Students Against Israeli Apartheid
​Columbia University & Barnard College Jewish Voice for Peace
​Kennesaw Students for Justice in Palestine
​St. Louis Jewish Voice for Peace
​University of California - Berkeley Bears for Justice in Palestine​