The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Texas at Dallas, and the Democratic Socialists of America challenging Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-44.

The executive order purports to combat antisemitism but targets students advocating for Palestinians in Gaza as they face a genocide at the hands of Israel. The executive order directs publicuniversities to punish students for using the liberation slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” and for being critical of the state of Israel.

SEE: LINK TO LAWSUIT

The executive order violates the First Amendment, which forbids state actors from restricting the speech of people based on content or viewpoint. The lawsuit is a pre-enforcement challenge that asks a federal court to enjoin both Greg Abbott and the respective Boards of Regents from ever enforcing the order due to its unconstitutionality.

The executive order is just another example of Greg Abbott and the state of Texas’ ongoing mission to unconstitutionally silence critics of Israel and supporters of Palestine. Prior attempts to restrict the speech of Palestine advocates have been struck down by federal courts as unconstitutional.

SEE: Texas Court Strikes Down Anti-BDS Law

“The executive order plainly violates the First Amendment,” said Gadeir Abbas, CAIR’s national deputy litigation director. “Whether by police force or by expulsion, Texas cannot punish students for being on the right side of history.”

“CAIR is committed to ensuring that those who speak on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Gaza will not be silenced,” said Nihad Awad, CAIR national’s executive director.

“DSA is proud to join this lawsuit against Governor Abbott’s extreme executive order, which limits free speech on college campuses and aims to silence the many people calling for an end to genocide in Gaza,” said Ashik Siddique, one of DSA’s national Co-Chairs. “This policy is a throwback to the tactics of McCarthyism and the Red Scare — socialists are familiar with being targets of state actions which are later found unconstitutional, thinking back almost 60 years ago to the Stanford v. Texas case. Our members across Texas are brave in standing up for freedom of thought and speech in their communities, and for never relenting as we all stand up for the liberation of Palestinian people.”

“This executive order shows us how powerful our voices truly are,” said the Executive Board of SJP at UH in a joint statement. “We must use our voices in every space we are in to call for an immediate ceasefire and a liberated Palestine.”

“It’s clear that students stand with Palestine,” said Fatima Qasim, Vice President of SJP at UTD. “We will not let this executive order stop us. We will not stop until our people and homeland are free.”

“CAIR Texas is dedicated to challenging any politicians who threaten our constitutional freedoms,” stated William White, Director of CAIR-Houston. “Our community has a long history of opposing unjust policies that specifically target pro-Palestinian voices and we fully intend to keep that winning history in place with this legal challenge.”

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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Litigation Director Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, gabbas@cair.com; CAIR-Houston Director William White, 713-254-2016, w-white@cair.com, CAIR National Senior Trial Attorney, Justin Sadowsky, 646-785-9154, jsadowsky@cair.com