A federal judge will allow students at the University of Maryland College Park to hold an anti-Israel event on October 7, the anniversary of Hamas’s attack on Israel, after university administrators canceled the event due to safety concerns.
The University of Maryland’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace planned to host an event on McKeldin Mall on October 7. When the university announced that it would only allow school-sponsored events on that day, the chapter filed a lawsuit, claiming that the university’s decision violated students’ First Amendment rights.
U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte in the Greenbelt Federal Court granted SJP a preliminary injunction after oral arguments were heard on Monday, saying that the activist group “has demonstrated a substantial likelihood that it will prevail on the merits of its freedom of speech claim.” The university is responsible for enhanced security and for enforcing “crowd-control measures” such as ensuring that activists identify themselves.
“On October 7, 2023, Israeli occupation forces began one of the most brutal bombing campaigns in human history, targeting Palestinians in Gaza with the aim of exacting collective punishment for their brave resistance and steadfastness against Zionist occupation and settler colonialism,” the SJP chapter said on Instagram after the ruling. “The Zionist entity began this genocidal campaign that very same day, dropping bombs in the heart of Gaza City, flattening Palestine Tower, and killing hundreds of people. This relentless bombing campaign has not ceased since.”
“Today, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Maryland has achieved a historic victory for the student movement for justice and liberation by compelling Maryland’s flagship university to cease violations of our First Amendment rights and respect students’ freedom of speech,” the group continued.
The students said that on October 7, they hope to “spotlight one year of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and constant carpet bombing being executed by the settler colonial entity. . . . We will not rest until we see a liberated Palestine.”
Students were supported by attorneys from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a famously anti-Israel organization.
“We’re thrilled with the court’s decision. If the First Amendment didn’t protect students who seek to mourn a genocide and educate the public about it, then it’s meaningless,” Gadeir Abbas, CAIR’s deputy litigation director, said. “Universities that have harassed and punished advocates for Palestine across the country should take note.”
Activist groups have planned for the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s attack events featuring pro-Hamas speakers and protesters. Wake Forest University’s Humanities Department, for example, invited pro-Hamas professor Rabab Abdulhadi to address students. Abdulhadi said on October 7 that “it‘s worth remembering how vicious colonists act when the colonized dare #breaktheirChains from @Palestine . . . No innocent bystanders here.” Wake Forest administrators canceled the event last week following pressure from concerned students and parents.
Also on Monday, Iran launched a barrage of missiles into Israel, reportedly killing at least one Palestinian man who was fatally hit by shrapnel in the West Bank.