Mass Dissent · November 2013 Mass Dissent Page 2 BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRPERSON David Kelston,...

Guild Newspage 3

NLG Student Partypage 4

A Siren Song for Lebanonpage 5

Law Professors OpposeMilitary Intervention in Syria

page 6

Punishing SJP at Northeasternpage 7

The New McCarthyism on U.S.Campuses

page 8

NLG Series on “Lockdown:April 19, 2013 & Beyond”

page 9

Letter from a Prisonerpage 11

Mass DissentNovember 2013 www.nlgmass.org Vol. 36, No. 7

Middle East

November 2013

In This Edition

BOARD MEETING

November 19, 6:00 pm

14 Beacon St., 1st Fl.Boston

Massachusetts Chapter National Lawyers Guild 14 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108

This issue of Mass Dissentfocuses on the Middle East,including problems faced inthis country by student activistssupporting Palestinian rights.Maya Mikdashi, a co-founderof Jadaliyya Ezine, writes asobering article aboutSunni/Shi’i sectarian violencein Lebanon, mirroring the vio-lence in Syria and throughoutmuch of the region, from Egyptto Yemen, Bahrain, and Iraq,where our invasion helped getit started. It is important for usto remember our country’s role,through its own war machineand Israel’s, and Saudi Arabia’sresponsibility as well.

We also present the LawProfessors’ Letter OpposingMilitary Intervention in Syria,addressed in early Septemberof this year to President Obamaand emphasizing that the coreprinciples of international lawprecluded the military actioncontemplated by the adminis-tration in Syria. As the lettermakes clear, military interven-tion, even when it may be moti-vated by humanitarian ideas,usually creates and does notameliorate civilian suffering.Three of the letter’s 56 signersare NLG members.

Next, we present two arti-cles on student activism onPalestine, and the repression itfaces in our colleges and uni-versities. Liz Jackson, NLGmember and Coordinator of thePalestine Solidarity LegalSupport Initiative, describesincidents around the countrywhere students speaking out onPalestine face intimidation,claims of anti-Semitism, andadministrative sanctions.Clearly, while under attack, theright to speak out on and debatePalestinian rights remains aliveat most universities, and we atthe NLG are strongly commit-ted to protecting that right.

Max Geller, a law studentsand activist at NortheasternLaw School, writes aboutStudents for Justice in Palestineat Northeastern, and what wesee as the blatantly discrimina-tory treatment the undergradu-ate SJP has experienced at thehands of an administration thatpurports to respect and encour-age vigorous debate and freespeech throughout the universi-ty. This discriminatory treat-ment is unacceptable and we atthe NLG are committed tostopping it.

- David Kelston -

MassDissent 13-11_Layout 1 10/18/13 4:53 PM Page 1

November 2013 Mass Dissent

BOARD OF DIRECTORSCHAIRPERSON

David Kelston, Adkins Kelston & Zavez

TREASURERSPatricia Cantor

Jeff Petrucelly, Petrucelly, Nadler & Norris

MEMBERSMakis Antzoulatos, CPCS

Beverly Chorbajian, Solo PractitionerHillary Farber, UMass DartmouthJeff Feuer, Goldstein & Feuer

Jonathan Messinger, LoveYourLawyer.comHalim Moris, Moris & O’SheaJosh Raisler Cohn, CPCSElaine Sharp, Solo Practitioner

Carl Williams, CPCSStephanie Young, Glickman Turley LLP

LAW STUDENT REPRESENTATIVESRay Burke, Boston College

Alexandra Conlon, Boston UniversityTasha Kates, Northeastern

Megan MacGillivray, New EnglandK-Sue Park, HarvardAmy Willis, Suffolk

STAFFEXECUTIVE DIRECTORUrszula Masny-Latos

LRS COORDINATOR/ADMIN. ASSIST.Ariel Oshinsky

STREET LAW CLINIC COORDINATORKT Crossman

LITIGATION COMMITTEE INTERNNegar Mortazavi

Mass Dissent (ISSN 0887-8536) is publishedmonthly except January, May, July and Augustby the National Lawyers Guild, Mass. Chapter,14 Beacon St., Suite 407, Boston, MA 02108.Second-class postage paid at Boston, MA.POSTMASTER: Send address changes toMass Dissent, NLG, 14 Beacon St., Suite 407,Boston, MA 02108.

NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDMassachusetts Chapter, Inc.

14 Beacon St., Suite 407Boston, MA 02108

tel.: 617-227-7335 • fax: [email protected] • [email protected]

www.nlgmass.org

Street Law Clinic Project: The Street Law Clinic project providesworkshops for Massachusetts organizations that address legal needs ofvarious communities. Legal education workshops on 4th AmendmentRights (Stop & Search), Landlord/Tenant Disputes, Workers’ Rights,Civil Disobedience Defense, Bankruptcy Law, Foreclosure PreventionLaw, and Immigration Law are held at community organizations, youthcenters, labor unions, shelters, and pre-release centers. If you are a Guildattorney, law student, or legal worker interested in leading a workshop,please contact the project at 617-723-4330 or [email protected].

Lawyer Referral Service Panel (LRS): Members of the panel providelegal services at reasonable rates. Referral Service Committee members:Makis Antzoulatos, Benjamin Dowling, Sebastian Korth, DouglasLovenberg, and Jonathan Messinger. For more information, contact theLRS Coordinator at 617-227-7008 or [email protected].

Foreclosure Prevention Task Force: Created in June 2008, the TaskForce’s goal is threefold: (1) advocate for policies that address issuesthat homeowners and tenants of foreclosed houses face, (2) to providelegal assistance to these homeowners and tenants, and (3) to conductlegal clinics for them. If you are interested in working with the TaskForce, please call the office at 617-227-7335.

Mass Defense Committee: Consists of two sub-committees: (1) “LegalObservers” (students, lawyers, activists) who are trained to serve as legalobservers at political demonstrations and (2) “Mass Defense Team” (crim-inal defense attorneys) who represent activists arrested for politicalactivism. To get involved, please contact the office at 617-227-7335.

Litigation Committee: Established in 2010, the Committee bringscivil lawsuits against large institutions (such as government agencies,law enforcement, banks, financial institutions, and/or large corporations)that engage in repressive or predatory actions that affect large numbersof people and that serve to perpetuate social, racial and/or economicinjustice or inequality. To get involved, please contact the Guild office.

NLG National Immigration Project: Works to defend and extend thehuman and civil rights of all immigrants, both documented and undocu-mented. The Committee works in coalitions with community groups toorganize support for immigrant rights in the face of right-wing politicalattacks. For more information contact the NLG National ImmigrationProject at 617-227-9727.

NLG Military Law Task Force: Provides legal advice and assistanceto those in the military and to others, especially members of the GIRightsHotline, who are counseling military personnel on their rights. It alsoprovides legal support and helps to find local legal referrals when need-ed. For advice and information, GI’s can call 877-447-4487. To getinvolved, please contact Neil Berman ([email protected]) orMarguerite Helen ([email protected]).

Join a Guild Committee



ARTICLES FOR MASS DISSENTThe December issue of Mass Dissent will review NLG Massachusetts Chapter in 2013.

If you are interested in submitting an article, essay, analysis, or art work (cartoons, pictures) related to the topic,please e-mail your work to [email protected].

The deadline for articles is November 15.

GUILD NEWSYou

are invited to the “NLG Presents...” Happy Hour - anevent held quarterly on the 2nd Wednesday ofJanuary, April, September, and November. Seebelow information about the next event and read areport from the last one on page 4. If you have ideas fora presentation or would like to be a speaker, please callthe NLG office at 617-227-7335.

TheNLG chapter at New England School of Law willshow “The House I Live In,” a movie about medicalmarijuana. The showing will be on Tuesday, November5, 4:00-6:00pm, and it wil be followed by a panel discus-sion with Barb Dougan and Josh Raisler Cohn.

InNovember, the NLG will begin a discussion series toanalize and reflect on the last April lockdown of thecity and house searches in Watertown. See pagepage 9 for more details.

AllNLG members are invited to the NLG MassachusettsChapter annual Holiday Party. This year’s party will beon Friday, December 6, from 5:30pm to 9pm. Onceagain, we’ll be hosted by our good friends at SternShapiro Weissberg & Garin (90 Canal St. 5th Floor,Boston). Among the party attractions, we will offer greatfood, a lot of refreshing beverages, and many wonder-ful raffle prizes. Raffle tickets ($10) are for sale now.

Street Law Clinic ReportThe following clinics and trainings were conducted formembers of Boston area community organizations andagencies:

August 13: Legal Observing at an eviction block-ade in Roslindale, organized by City Life, by MakisAnzoulatos, Jeff Feuer, and Lee Goldstein.

September 12: Legal Observing at a protest at theBoston Housing Court, organized by City Lifeagainst foreclosures and evictions, by Jeff Feuer,Stefanie Grindle, and Jonathan Messinger.

September 19: Legal Observing at a protest at theBoston Housing Court, organized by City Lifeagainst foreclosures and evictions, by Jeff Feuerand Lee Goldstein.

September 29: Civil Disobedience and LegalObserver trainings for “Stop Keystone Pipeline”activists in Worcester, by Beverly Chorbajian andJeff Feuer.

October 5: Legal Observing at a protest againstLynn Police department for killing of DenisReynoso, by Northeastern students Hannah Adamsand Mark McMahon.

NLG HAPPY HOUR

CODE OF THE WEST

NLG HOLIDAY PARTY

APRIL CITY LOCKDOWN

NLG Happy Hour

Reporting Back from the NLG NationalConvention in Puerto Rico

an evening with

MASS. CHAPTER DELEGATIONWednesday, November 13, 2013

6:00 - 8:00 pmRed Hat Cafe (9 Bowdoin St., Boston)

Several NLG Massachusetts Chapter memberswill share their stories and impressions from thisyear’s NLG National Convention in San Juan,Puerto Rico.



In September, we held a StudentParty to welcome returning and newNLG students. We gathered atGlobe Cafe in Boston, and, over acocktail and very filling fried potatowaffles, students from Northeastern,Suffolk, and Boston University min-gled, told summer and law schoolstories, and shared a laugh.

NLG Student Party

Welcome new Intern and Fellow

(Top, l.-r.) Anne Sheldon (NortheasternUniversity School of Law), Jaime Margolis(Boston University School of Law), Amy Willis(Suffolk Law School), and Hannah Adams(Northeastern).(Left, l.-r.) Northeastern law students AndrewCohen, Amanda Bradley, and Margaret Laffan.

(Photos by Ariel Oshinsky)

We are privileged to welcome in our office two newcolleagues. In September, Negar Mortazavi startedher fellowship with the NLG Litigation Committeeand kt crossman took over coordination of the NLGStreet Law Clinic project.

kt is a student atNortheastern Univer-sity School of Lawand Tufts University,in the process of aJD/MPH program.They are active inqueer politics, thePalestinian solidaritymovement, restorativejustice, and criticallegal studies. Theyself-identify as a queerfeminist nerd with aserious caffeine addiction and an equally seriouscommitment to community organizing.

Negar graduated from Boston University Schoolof Law in May 2013. She completed her undergrad-uate studies at University of Virginia double majoringin Foreign Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies andminoring in Women and Gender Studies; she aims to

pursue a career inthe areas of domes-tic civil rightsand/or internationalhuman rights.

At some point,you might receive acall or email fromNegar or kt to helpeither with one ofthe cases the NLGLitigation Com-mittee is workingon or to get

involved with the Street Law Clinic project. Hopewe can count on you and your help.

(l.-r.) Negar Mortazavi & kt crossman (Photo by Ariel Oshinsky)


This article was originally pub-lished on Jadaliyya.com

n Thursday, in mid-August,my friend invited us over for

a home cooked meal and a cardgame (tarnib), combining two ofour favorite recreational activities.In preparation, she had gone toone of our favorite dessert storesknown for their almond ice cream.Two hours later, a car laden withover sixty kilograms of TNTexploded on the street that shedrove home on.

This attack was the first largescale bombing that explicitly tar-geted civilians since the civil warof 1975-1980. The logic behindthe attack was that these resi-dents, shopkeepers, andpassersby were not really civil-ians because they were living,working, walking and driving on aroad in a neighborhood that isconsidered Hizballah “territory.”The fact that this is the samelogic the Israeli war machine andU.S. war machine relies on underthe guise of the War on Terror isnot surprising. A similar logic is atplay in Egypt today, as it is inSyria and in Iraq.

Lebanon currently has nolegitimate government, as the cur-rent parliament illegally voted toextend elections until a “bettertime” that has yet to materialize.The president's term is set toexpire and there is no legitimateparliament to either vote in a newpresident or extend this one'sineffectual term. But, the fact thatLebanon has no governmentdoes not mean that there is noLebanese state. State bureaucra-cy seems to miraculously sputteralong, the judiciary continues to

function, and illegally appointedcabinet members and parliamen-tarians continue to meet, argue,and issue statements. The secu-rity apparatus is firmly in place.The Lebanese state was in actionon Thursday night. Fire fighters,civil defense teams, forensicexperts and army units quicklyarrived on the scene. AcrossBeirut the Lebanese armydeployed in “strategic” areaswhere Lebanese Sunnis andLebanese Shi‘iites live shoulder toshoulder, street to street, intersec-tion to intersection.

Car bombs have a logic: tokill indiscriminately. ButThursday's killing had a slightlyaltered logic, to kill those who aresupposedly on Hizballah's “side”in the radiating furnace that istoday's Syria and also perhaps,on Hizballah’s “side” when itcomes to the defense ofLebanese civilians and territoriesfrom seemingly endless Israeliraids, incursions, occupations,kidnapping and killings.

The video that was releasedafter the attack claimed it spokethe language of heathens andheaven. This is a recently circu-lating (publicly, at least) lexicon inLebanon, where Sunni-Shi‘i sec-tarianism has always been lessabout religion and more aboutstructural, socio-economic andpolitical factors. To put it crudely,the Sunni leadership historicallyviewed themselves as entitled tothe Muslim “share” of powerunder Lebanon's system of politi-cal sectarianism. The post civilwar era saw the rise of Shi‘i polit-ical and economic power, andSunni leadership has reacted tothis change in fortune with an airof entitled defensiveness.

Beginning with the invasionand occupation of Iraq and the

Salafi and Takfiri anti-Shi‘i propa-ganda and funding oozing out ofSaudi Arabia and (more recently)Qatar, Sunni sectarianismtowards Shi‘a in Lebanon took onmore prominent religious regis-ters. Start up Salafis and start upTakfiris, funded and protected bySaudi Arabia, became common-place in Lebanon. After Hizballahwholeheartedly, and publiclybegan to fight alongside the Asadregime in Syria—a conflict thathas itself become colored red bySunni-Shiite sectarianism andTakfiri groups—inter-Muslim sec-tarianism took on even more reli-gious overtones in Lebanon.

It has become a cliché to saythat Lebanon is standing at theprecipice of war. Without a gov-ernment or hope of one, with asecurity state that has decided itis the government, with sectarianhatred at its highest since the civilwar, growing inflation and unem-ployment, rampant corruptionand cronyism, economic, andsectarian segregation (orattempts at it) cripple a countrythat is already overrun with gunsand drugs and anxiety, gratingwith xenophobia and sexism andriddled with chronic electricity andwater cuts, groaning infrastruc-ture, a criminal and parasitic polit-ical class, and a seemingly end-less tolerance for stasis.Refugees fleeing violence anddisplacement and death inPalestine, Syria, Iraq, and Sudanhave tried to find peace here, butthere is no peace to be found inLebanon.


A Siren Song For Lebanon

O

by Maya Mikdashi

Maya Mikdashi is a PhD candi-date at Columbia University'sDepartment of Anthropology anda Co-Founder of Jadaliyya Ezine.



September 6, 2013

Dear President Obama, Secretary Kerry andAmbassador Power:

We are a group of immigration and internationallaw professors deeply opposed to military inter-vention in Syria. Our opposition stems from ourconviction that such action would violate interna-tional law, complicate the war in Syria, and fur-ther endanger the Syrian civilians whose plight isat the center of our collective concerns as teach-ers, scholars and citizens of the United States andother countries. As international law professorswe insist that the laws governing the use of forceand the law of armed conflict prohibit the US mil-itary campaign proposed by the President anddebated in Congress. As immigration professorswho represent asylum seekers we sadly anticipatethe catastrophic number of new refugees andinternally displaced persons who will likely jointhe millions of their fellow Syrians already dislo-cated in and outside of Syria.

We ask you to change course: to pull backfrom the proposed military strikes in Syria. Thered line drawn by the President is an importantone. The use of chemical weapons by the Syriangovernment and any other actors in Syria is a warcrime and a crime against humanity, whichdemands a response. That response must bethrough multilateral diplomacy, life-savinghumanitarian assistance, non-military sanctionsand criminal prosecutions, and not through theuse of force.

As you well appreciate, the 1949 GenevaConventions do not justify U.S. missile strikes inSyria in response to chemical weapons attacks onthe civilian population. The humanitarian princi-ple of distinction prohibits the targeting of civil-ians, but does not sanction the decision to launcha military campaign responding to such attacks.International humanitarian law thus governs theconduct of a military campaign but not its initia-

tion. We know as academics and policy makersalike that the rules governing the initiation of waroccur against a backdrop of international lawfavoring the peaceful resolution of conflict andthe provision of life-saving forms of assistance tocivilian victims of war. We ask you to honor theUN Charter and the blueprint it provides for thelawful use of force and the protection of humanrights and fundamental freedoms.

Whether the contemplated US military inter-vention is unilateral or multilateral, short-term orsustained, surgical or full court press, sea, air orland-based, the UN Charter must remain ourframework and our guide. We know that Article2(4), the general prohibition against the use offorce, is subject to two Charter-based exceptions,the first when the Security Council authorizesforce under Chapter VII, and the second when astate or states act in legitimate self-defense underArticle 51. But because the US has not beenattacked and the use of force has not been author-ized by the Security Council, the Charter pro-hibits US strikes or other military campaigns inSyria.

It has been suggested further that the contem-plated US military campaign in Syria is justifiedby the protection of innocents. We reject thisargument as well, on legal, moral and practicalgrounds. It is indeed claimed that there is a cus-tomary exception to the general prohibitionagainst military force, a so-called humanitarianintervention or military campaign calculated tostop widespread attacks on a civilian population,including acts of genocide, other crimes againsthumanity, and war crimes. While not defined inthe UN Charter or codified in treaty form, somescholars maintain that certain interventions aresupported by the Charter's central objective todefend human rights and fundamental freedoms.We simply declare that even military interven-tions motivated to protect civilians requireSecurity Council backing and a realistic assess-

Law Professors’ Letter Opposing Military Interventionin Syria

Continued on page 10


t is false to claim that those whoformulate a criticism of the State

of Israel are anti-Semitic or, ifJewish, self-hating. Such chargesdemonize the person who is articu-lating a critical point of view to dis-qualify the viewpoint in advance.The NLG has long understood thisself-evident tenet, and our recogni-tion has drawn opprobrium ofgroups like the Anti-DefamationLeague. The dishonest charge ofanti-Semitism, which has gainedtraction at Northeastern University,refuses to debate the issue, consid-er the evidence, and derive asound conclusion on the basis oflistening to reason. It is an attackon academic freedom, the life-blood of the American Academy. Itis an attack every NLG memberand everyone affiliated withNortheastern should take seriously.

Outside political forces arebullying Northeastern Universityinto taking an increasingly puni-tive and aggressive stancetowards student organizingaround Palestine. In July 2013,the Zionist Organization ofAmerica (ZOA) wrote a letter toPresident Aoun, with the intent ofhighlighting “problems thatJewish students have been fac-ing on your campus.” Morerecently, the ADL has written asimilar letter echoing the sameoutrageous charges. These let-ters represent a concerted effortby wealthy outsiders to silencespeech critical of Israeli policiesby demonizing the students andprofessors who championPalestinian Human Rights.

What is evident from theseletters is that the ZOA and theADL are intentionally and reck-lessly conflating legitimate pro-Palestinian speech with anti-

Semitism. The letters weaveaccounts of actual anti-Semitism,such as the desecration of aMenorah, with legitimate politicalprotest, such the posting of flyerson a public student bulletin boardthat read “Israel is an ApartheidState.” Comparisons between cur-rent Israeli policy and policiesunder South African Apartheid arelegitimate political discourse, andhave been made by prominentscholars including the SouthAfrican Archbishop Desmond Tutuand President Jimmy Carter.

It’s worth mentioning that ZOAcc-ed on its letter Dr. RobertShillman, a substantial donor toNortheastern—who is depicted inthe life-size bronze statue I passon campus every day—who, coin-cidently, has a fellowship namedafter him at the ZOA. We worryabout what happens when studentspeech collides with the politicalinterests of wealthy donors.

In 2013, NortheasternStudents for Justice in Palestine(SJP) chapter peacefully walkedout of a lecture by Israeli soldiers.The students wore signs on theirt-shirts reflecting the names andages of children killed in Israel'sassault on Gaza in 2012. Theprotest lasted no longer than aminute and the event then wenton as planned without interrup-tion. For engaging in this walk-out, the SJP chapter has beensanctioned with administrativeprobation, and required to write a"civility statement", with threats ofmore severe punishment in thefuture for similar incidents. TheUniversity administration claims,is for “failing to register theprotest 7 days in advance” perschool policy. The fact that noother student group has everbeen sanctioned for violating thedemonstration policy, coupledwith the threats of future sanc-

tions and the stricter scrutiny thegroup has subsequently receivedfrom administrators, amounts to adeeply troubling chilling of Pro-Palestine speech on campus.

In 2009, two NUSL studentsfounded a chapter of SJP toencourage free and open debateand to educate the NUSL com-munity on important social, cultur-al, and political issues inPalestine. In April of 2010, theSJP chapter posted materialsrelated to Israeli Apartheid Week,and the bulletin board became atarget of vandalism. On two suc-cessive nights, it was slashedwith a knife and its postings scat-tered on the floor and in waste-baskets; the group eventually ranout of materials to repost.

Last year, NUSL’s SJP chap-ter made a dozen displays ontheir duly assigned bulletin boardand each time the displays werevandalized. After each incident,law school administrators werenotified. The only actions NUSLtook was to move all of the stu-dent bulletin boards to the darkestcorner of the school. Rather thanconfront members of the commu-nity who sought to silence SJP,the school stripped SJP of its abil-ity to communicate at the school.

To combat these bullyingefforts, and the school’s acquies-cence to them, SJP has retainedthe counsel of the NLG, as wellas Mass ACLU. The suppressingof our speech rights serves as astark reminder as to why theGuild helped launch the PalestineSolidarity Legal Defense Initiativeand why the issue of studentspeech on Palestine needs NLGsupport.


Students for Justice in Palestine at Northeasternby Max Geller

I

Max Geller is a second year stu-dent at Northeastern School ofLaw and a member of the NLG.


alestine solidarity activists oncampus are fighting a steep

rise in attempts to silence theiractivism through legal bullyingand intimidation. The PalestineSolidarity Legal Support(www.PalestineLegalSupport.org) initiative has documented andresponded to over fifty cases ofrepression on campus since thebeginning of 2013.

As the student movement forPalestinian rights gains momen-tum, it faces aggressive andheavily funded campaigns toshield Israel from public scrutiny.The repression campaigns aredriven by organizations like theAnti-Defamation League, theZionist Organization of America,StandWithUs, the AmchaInitiative, Americans for Peaceand Tolerance, and the BrandeisCenter, among others. Theydemand that universities penalizestudents and faculty for express-ing a view supportive ofPalestinian rights or critical ofIsraeli policies.

The central theme of repres-sion mislabels criticism of Israelas anti-Semitic. In reality,Students for Justice for Palestine(SJP) chapters and the individu-als who lead them are deeplycommitted to ending racism in allforms, including Islamophobia,anti-Arab racism and anti-Semitism. SJP chapters are oftenmulti-racial and multi-religiousorganizations, including manyJewish members, and engaged insolidarity campaigns with otherstudent groups who share com-mitments to resisting the legaciesof settlor-colonialism and state

violence against communities ofcolor.

A major repression tactic tosilence Palestinian advocacy hasbeen the filing of complaints withthe Department of Education,Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Thecomplaints allege that universi-ties are violating Title VI of theCivil Rights Act of 1964 by spon-soring speaker panels and toler-ating theatrical demonstrationsfeaturing speech critical of Israel.They argue that pro-Palestinianactivism creates a hostile envi-ronment for Jewish students.

None of these complaintshave been successful and recent-ly three complaints against theUniversity of California atBerkeley, Santa Cruz, and Irvinewere dismissed. OCR wrote thatpro-Palestinian activities on cam-pus “constitute[] expression onmatters of public concern direct-ed to the University community.”OCR went on to explain that, “[i]nthe university environment, expo-sure to robust and discordantexpressions, even when person-ally offensive and hurtful, is a cir-cumstance that a reasonable stu-dent may experience.” Despitethe repeated failure of this legalbullying strategy, Israel-alignedadvocates continue to encouragestudents to file Title VI complaintsbecause they pressure universi-ties to chill speech and intimidatePalestine advocates on campus.Israel-aligned legal organizationsalso continue to threaten univer-sities with Title VI complaints,despite the fact that they have nolegal and often no factual merit.(For example, the ZionistOrganization of America recentlythreatened Northeastern).

Another common tactic is to

target universities with pressurecampaigns when events takeplace that highlight Palestinianrights. For example, at BrooklynCollege in February 2013, univer-sity officials were pressuredheavily to remove the political sci-ence department’s co-sponsor-ship of a student-organized eventdiscussing Boycott, Divestmentand Sanctions. City officialsthreatened the college’s funding,and the speakers were smearedas anti-Semitic. College officialsstood by free speech and aca-demic freedom, allowing theevent to go on. But those whoopposed the event threatenedBrooklyn College with a Title VIaction and the College investigat-ed student organizers in responseto allegations of discrimination.The students were found notresponsible for wrongdoing butthe chilling effect is lasting.

Universities have respondedto the intense external pressureto restrict Palestinian advocacyby punishing SJP protestors withdraconian and discriminatorymeasures. There is the case ofNortheastern who put SJP onprobation and required them towrite a “civility statement” as pun-ishment for an organized walkoutof an Israeli-soldier speakingevent (see companion piece inthis issue of Mass Dissent onpage 7 by Max Geller).

There is a similar case atFlorida Atlantic University wherestudents were charged with vio-lating the student code of conductalso for walking out of an eventfeaturing an Israeli soldier’s dis-cussion of his role in the assaulton Gaza, Operation Cast Lead.As punishment, the students


The New McCarthyism on U.S. Campuses:Repression of Pro-Palestinian Speech Nationwide

by Liz Jackson

P

Continued on page 9



were forced to sign agreementsaccepting indefinite probation,prohibition from leadership posi-tions in student organizations,and a mandatory “diversity train-ing” designed by the ADL – one ofthe primary drivers behind therepression of pro-Palestinianspeech on campus.

Universities are alsoresponding to the pressure byincreasing scrutiny of Palestine-related events. For example, stu-dents are reporting that they aretold their events will not be fund-ed if they use the word“apartheid”, or that they arerequired to pay high security fees,and required to go through exces-sive bureaucratic screeningprocesses to hold events for

Palestinian rights. The universi-ties’ treatment of SJP violates theFirst Amendment in many cases.In every case, such treatment vio-lates principles of free speechand a university’s pedagogicalresponsibility to protect the cam-pus as a marketplace of ideas.

This discriminatory treat-ment threatens to shut downrobust debate on one of the mosturgent foreign policy, moral andpolitical questions of our time.Increased scrutiny of Palestinianhuman rights discussion espe-cially affects Arab and Muslimcampus members who arealready vulnerable in anIslamophobic political climate.Needless to say, students, facultyand university programs thatopenly advocate for Israel do notface the same obstacles.

Palestine Solidarity LegalSupport is seeking attorneysinterested in joining our network.We work as a collaborationbetween NLG, the Center forConstitutional Rights, and otherpartners. Please be in touch atwww.PalestineLegalSupport.org,or by email at [email protected], and follow us ontwitter @Pal_Legal.

Continued from page 8

Liz Jackson is Coordinator of thePalestine Solidarity LegalSupport initiative, CooperatingCounsel with the Center forConstitutional Rights, and mem-ber of NLG's Free PalestineSubcommittee.

The New McCarthyism on U.S. Campuses

The Lockdown: April 2013 and Beyond

A Panel and Discussion Series Organized by the National Lawyers Guild, Massachusetts Chapter

Panelists:

Michael Avery, a Law Professor at Suffolk Law School, former president of the NLG.Susan Church, a criminal defense attorney with Demissie & Church in Cambridge.Benjamin Falkner, a criminal defense attorney at Krasnoo | Klehm LLP in Andover.Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund inWashington, DC; former co-chair of the NLG Mass Defense Committee.

Thursday, November 7, 2013, 12:00-2:00 p.m.Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, 1585 Mass. Ave., Room 3019, Cambridge

Thursday, November 14, 2013, 6:30-9:00 p.m.Watertown Public Library, East Room123 Main St., Watertown



ment of their likely positive impact on the civilianpopulation.

We also recognize that a more contemporaryhumanitarian standard, the Responsibility toProtect (R2P), was championed by UN memberstates at the 2005 World Summit. However, assaid plainly in the Outcome Document of thatsummit (paragraph 39), military interventions inresponse to attacks on civilian populations requireSecurity Council action under Chapter VII. ThusR2P fails to justify military attacks on Syria bythe United States as contemplated by the USadministration.

The UN humanitarian appeal for Syria is fac-ing a daunting shortfall in efforts to meet the cur-rent survival needs of over four million Syrianswho are internally displaced and two millionSyrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraqand Egypt. Of the 5 billion USD targeted, pledgesof support only cover 30% of present need.UNICEF reports that in Zaatari camp in Jordan,120,000 Syrians are subsisting in extremely mar-ginal circumstances, 60,000 of them children, ofwhom only 15,000 are in school. Of those Syriansdisplaced in-country, 95% live in camps, wherehalf of their youth have no access to education.According to the UN Refugee Agency, since Mayon average 6000 Syrians flee violence into aneighboring country per day. US resources can gofar in meeting the unmet humanitarian needs ofthe growing numbers of displaced Syrians ratherthan exacerbating their humanitarian crisisthrough military intervention.

Our fundamental rejection of humanitarianideals and R2P as purported rationales for U.S.military strikes on Syria starts with our apprecia-tion of the pronounced historical tendency formilitary interventions motivated by the protectionof civilians to nevertheless result in further andprotracted suffering by those very civilians. R2Pis a very thin reed on which to base a short-termmilitary campaign by the US in response to thekilling of Syrian civilians by chemical gas attack.

This is so for one important reason. A militarizedhumanitarian intervention must be calculated toprotect the civilian population that is being vic-timized. It can only be justified if it is both moti-vated to stop attacks on the civilian populationand likely in practical terms to have that effect. Amilitary intervention that raises the level of civil-ian risk violates R2P.

International law does not sanction militarystrikes without regard for the UN Charter. It doesnot bless missile strikes as a form of punishmentor a rhetorical device. The law does not sanctionmilitary retaliation against a state for attacking itsown civilians, nor does it justify violence as asymbolic gesture for expressing solidarity withthat oppressed population. If the US launches"limited", "targeted", or "punitive" militarystrikes in Syria and we stop while the civilianpopulation remains at risk, our responsibility toprotect will be unmet. But if a US military cam-paign results in greater suffering by the civilianpopulation we will have engaged in an inhumaneintervention. In fidelity to international law, andout of concern for the welfare of the Syrian peo-ple, we ask that the US recommit itself to non-lethal and life-saving forms of humanitarianassistance for the Syrian people.

Sincerely and respectfully yours, we sign thisletter in our individual capacities,

Signed by 56 American Professors of Law, amongthem the following NLG members:

Susan AkramClinical Professor and Supervising Attorney,International Human Rights Program, BostonUniversity School of Law

Marjorie CohnProfessor of Law, Thomas Jefferson School ofLaw, San Diego

Hope LewisProfessor of Law, Northeastern University Schoolof Law

Continued from page 6

Law Professors’ Letter Opposing Intervention in Syria



NLG Massachusetts Chapter Sustainers YES, INCLUDE MY NAME AMONG NLG MASSACHUSETTS CHAPTER

SUSTAINERS!

I, _____________________________________, ammaking a commitment to support the MassachusettsChapter of the Guild with an annual contribution of:

_____ $500 (not including my membership dues)

$ ________ (other above $500)

As a sustainer I will receive:• special listing in the Dinner Program;• 1/8 page ad in the Dinner Program;• acknowledgement in every issue of Mass Dissent;• two (2) free raffle tickets for a Holiday Party raffle;• invitation to special events.

Three ways to become a sustainer:• contribute $500 or more a year (in addition to dues)• pair up with another person and pay $250 each, or• join the “Guild Circle” and pay $50/month minimum.

Please mail to: NLG, Massachusetts Chapter14 Beacon St., Suite 407, Boston, MA 02108

In the spring of 2003, the Massachusetts Chapter of the NLG initiatedthe Chapter Sustainer Program. Since its inception, the Program hasbeen very successful and has been enthusiastically joined by the fol-lowing Guild members:

2 Anonymous • Michael Avery • Steven Buckley •Howard Cooper • Barb Dougan • Robert Doyle •Melinda Drew & Jeff Feuer • Carolyn Federoff •Roger Geller & Marjorie Suisman • Lee Goldstein &Shelley Kroll • Lisa Gordon • Benjie Hiller •Andrei Joseph • Myong Joun • Martin Kantrovitz• Nancy Kelly & John Willshire-Carrera • DavidKelston • Jonathan Messinger • Petrucelly, Nadler& Norris • Hank Phillippi Ryan & Jonathan Shapiro• Allan Rodgers • Martin Rosenthal • SharrynRoss & Mark Stern • Anne Sills & HowardSilverman • Judy Somberg • Stern, Shapiro,Weissberg & GarinThe Sustainer Program is one of the most important Chapter initiatives tosecure its future existence. Please consider joining the Program.

Letter From a PrisonerDear Ms. Masny Latos,

I just received my Mass Dissent for October2013. After reading “Letter from a Prisoner,” Ifelt it necessary to send you this missive.

While I certainly understand Mr. John Diaz’frustration with the Department of Correction, itslack of services, and its continuing legal viola-tions, I am unable to reconcile his dissatisfactionwith you, your organization, or any of your affil-iates. In fact, I am baffled by it. Why is he madat you?

As I see it, organization’s like the one fromwhich you hail are our last lines of defense.Although Mr. Diaz is probably not privy to it, itis a verifiable fact that certain fundamental pro-tections afforded by the U.S. and MassachusettsConstitution are very rarely infringed upon bythe D.O.C. because of the very possibility - how-ever small – that organizations like the NLG

will, in response, engage themselves in a pro-tracted litigation in the defense thereof the same.

Personally, I thank you for all you do. Yourcompassion and advocacy played a tremendouspart in my life- it was only after reading yourpublication and talking to folks like yourselfthat I decided to study the law myself, advocatefor others similarly situated and find my truepassion. In 2010, I received my certification asa practicing paralegal out of the BlackstoneCareer Institute, and continue to seek furthereducation and, ultimately, employment.

In short, you and yours are the defenders ofthe defenseless and for that, you should beembraced by my peers. For that, I thank youand your people.

Your Fellow Freedom FighterEric Bargoot, W-95098

S.B.C.C. Shirley


Mass DissentUSPS 0760-110 PERIODICAL

The National Lawyers Guild is...

PeriodicalPostage & Fees PAIDUSPS Permit0760-110

Please Join Us!Dues are calculated on a calendar year basis (Jan.1-Dec.31) according to your income*:

Jailhouse Lawyers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .FreeLaw Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25up to $15,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40over $15,000 to $20,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50over $20,000 to $25,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$75over $25,000 to $30,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$100over $30,000 to $40,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$150over $40,000 to $50,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$200over $50,000 to $60,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$250over $60,000 to $70,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$300over $70,000 to $80,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$350over $80,000 to $90,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$400over $100,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$500

* Any new member who joins after September 1 will becarried over to the following year. Dues may be paid infull or in quarterly installments. Dues of $80 cover thebasic membership costs, which include publication andmailing of Mass Dissent (the Chapter's monthly newslet-ter), national and regional dues, and the office and staff.

Fill out and send to:National Lawyers Guild, Massachusetts Chapter14 Beacon St., Suite 407, Boston, MA 02108

NAME: ___________________________________________________

ADDRESS: _______________________________________________

CITY/STATE/ZIP: __________________________________________

PHONE: (w)____________________________ (h)________________

E-MAIL: __________________________________________________

FAX: _____________________________________________________

Circle one:Lawyer Legal Worker Law Student Jailhouse Lawyer

Alumna/Alumnus of ___________________________ Year _________

Dues (from schedule): ________________________________________

I am interested in working on the following projects:_____ Lawyer Referral Service_____ Street Law Clinic_____ Mass Defense Committee_____ Litigation Committee_____ Mass Dissent (monthly publication)_____ National Immigration Project

" ... an association dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of ourpolitical and economic system. We seek to unite the lawyers, law students, legalworkers and jailhouse lawyers of America in an organization which shall functionas an effective political and social force in the service of people, to the end thathuman rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests."

-Preamble to the Constitution of the National Lawyers Guild

Donate to Support the Guild!The Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild’s

Mass Defense Committee provides legal representation and assistance to activists from all progressive political movements.

We need your support.Please help us by donating to the Mass Chapter. Mail this form and your check to

14 Beacon St., Suite 407, Boston, MA 02108) or visiting www.nlgmass.org/donate.

I, ________________________ (name), am donating $ _______ to the NLG Mass Chapter to help support the Mass Defense Committee and its work,

MassDissent 13-11_Layout 1 10/18/13 4:54 PM

Mass Dissent · November 2013 Mass Dissent Page 2 BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRPERSON David Kelston,...

Documents

Transcript of Mass Dissent · November 2013 Mass Dissent Page 2 BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRPERSON David Kelston,...