"Pro-Palestinian students are threatening to sue George Mason University in Virginia after the school cited a contentious definition of antisemitism it recently adopted to demand the removal of a social media post in which they described Israel as a genocidal Zionist state and the US as the belly of the beast. In a letter sent to the public university's administrators on Wednesday, and shared exclusively with the Guardian, the university's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter"
"argued that the video amounted to political expression on a matter of public concern, and thus the very speech the first amendment is meant to protect. As a public university, the law is crystal clear that GMU may not censor its students or student organizations on the basis of viewpoint, the letter added, demanding the university allow SJP to repost the video by Friday. GMU cannot utilize the veneer of anti-discrimination in order to censor student speech that may be disfavored by the administration."
Students for Justice in Palestine at George Mason University demand the reinstatement of a removed social media video and threaten to sue the public university. The video described Israel as a genocidal Zionist state and the US as the belly of the beast. SJP argues the video is political expression on a matter of public concern and is protected by the First Amendment, asserting GMU may not censor based on viewpoint. GMU said the video raised fears and was taken down at the university's insistence. The dispute centers on the IHRA definition of antisemitism and its critics who say it conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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