Findings Show Concerted Efforts to Censor and Retaliate Against Speech in Support of Palestinian Rights in Colleges and Universities
Today, the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International USA released a new report, “Student Speech Under Attack: Suppression of Pro-Palestine Speech and Dissent on Campus,” analyzing how higher education institutions, the federal government, and policymakers censored and suppressed speech in support of Palestinian rights and critical of the Israeli government. The report documents fierce retaliation against pro-Palestinian speech and expression that began in late 2023 and continues today. This repression has infringed on academic freedom and violated students’ and scholars’ free speech, association, and assembly rights across the country.
The report provides an in-depth review of university and college administrations’ punitive responses to campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, which has been declared an ongoing genocide by Amnesty International. The report documents how colleges and universities aggressively enforced campus policies and wielded disciplinary actions against community members based on their viewpoint, such as by suspending students, terminating faculty, and banning student organizations. It also documents how campus police and law enforcement used unlawful and unnecessary force against largely peaceful protesters, often leading to serious psychological harm and physical injuries. This nationwide crackdown has also contributed both to the rise of surveillance on campus to identify those who expressed pro-Palestinian views, and to universities’ failure to protect international students and scholars who spoke out under the Biden and Trump administrations from harassment and immigration enforcement.
The report also details how the Trump administration retaliated against universities and colleges that were sites of pro-Palestinian and anti-genocide activism. Under the guise of applying civil rights laws to combating campus antisemitism, the federal government withheld federal funding and research grants to coerce universities into accepting overly broad agreements that curtailed lawful expression on campus.
“Universities and colleges must take all possible measures to ensure that their campuses are spaces where students may exercise their rights to freedom of speech and expression without fear of unwarranted punishment or retaliation regardless of viewpoint,” said Jennifer Turner, principal human rights researcher in the ACLU’s Human Rights Program. “Schools should resist the pressures placed on them to silence and punish students or faculty who engage in protest or advocacy for Palestinian rights. Instead, they should stand up to the federal government’s intimidation tactics and defend the university’s core mission of fostering free-flowing inquiry and debate.”
The report closely documents the federal government’s targeting of noncitizen students and scholars for arrest, detention, and deportation based on their political views and in direct retaliation for their advocacy for Palestinian rights. Such actions include revoking the visas and green cards of noncitizen students and scholars who engaged in pro-Palestinian advocacy – such as Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Dr. Badar Khan Suri, among others – and arresting, detaining, and attempting to deport them solely because of their political viewpoints and constitutionally protected expression.
“Universities and colleges should prepare students for open discourse in a pluralistic society. Instead, campus leadership has suppressed free speech and peaceful protest while enabling the Trump administration to advance its anti-rights agenda and seek ideological control over higher education,” said Justin Mazzola, deputy director of research at Amnesty International USA. “The Trump administration’s targeting of students and faculty who oppose Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza is dangerously reminiscent of McCarthy-era censorship and a blatant violation of academic freedom. The Trump administration must stop stifling political expression on campus and end its relentless push for ideological conformity in higher education. Students’ rights must be respected, protected, and fulfilled.”
The report is based on a two-year investigation that covered instances at 46 public and 34 private university and college campuses nationwide, located in 28 states and the District of Columbia. It additionally includes detailed case studies of six universities and colleges that were sites of student activism: the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Michigan; Columbia University; City College of New York; Tulane University; and the University of Texas at Austin.
The “Student Speech Under Attack: Suppression of Pro-Palestine Speech and Dissent on Campus” report concludes with recommendations for college and university leadership, as well as any law enforcement to:
- Uphold free speech protections for all students and scholars, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, and race, and ensure that campus policies on political speech and protest are viewpoint neutral.
- Refrain from adopting overly broad and vague policies against discrimination and harassment that punish or chill protected political speech.
- Resist demands from the federal government that undermine academic freedom and students’ and faculty’s civil and human rights.
- Impose strict limits on the deployment of law enforcement and use of less-lethal / crowd-control weapons, especially in the context of protests on college campuses.
The report also includes urgent calls for the Trump administration and Congress to:
- Cease the campaign to deport students and faculty involved in Palestinian rights advocacy and end all pending removal proceedings against students and faculty targeted in retaliation for their lawful advocacy in support of Palestinian rights.
- Cease the misuse of Title VI investigations to compel universities and colleges to impose unconstitutional policies and measures that violate free speech and undermine academic freedom.
- Oppose any legislation that would punish noncitizens for exercising their First Amendment rights.
- Oppose any legislation that threatens free expression and academic freedom to suppress criticism of the Israeli government or support for Palestinian rights.
You can read the full report and findings here: https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/student-speech-under-attack-suppression-of-pro-palestine-speech-and-dissent-on-campus/
Contact: Amnesty International USA Media, [email protected]
Contact: ACLU Media, [email protected]