Rights group urges US colleges to reject crackdown on pro-Palestine groups

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the largest civil rights groups in the United States, has published an open letter to 650 US universities and colleges, urging them not to engage in investigations or crackdowns on pro-Palestine activism on campuses.

The letter comes after Florida ordered universities in the state to disband chapters of the group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), accusing the group of supporting Hamas, which is a US-designated terrorist group.

It also comes after another open letter penned by the Anti-Defamation League, which called on 200 universities in the US to investigate any SJP chapters at their schools, accusing the group of providing support to Hamas.

“University officials may criticize or condemn the statements contained in the National SJP’s toolkit. Those statements, however, are not material support for terrorism, but political advocacy fully protected by the First Amendment,” the ACLU’s letter said.

You can read the full letter here.