Our Mission
Our mission is to bolster the Palestine solidarity movement by challenging efforts to threaten, harass and legally bully activists into silence and inaction.
What We Do
We provide legal advice, Know Your Rights trainings, advocacy and litigation support to college students, grassroots activists and affected communities who stand for justice in Palestine. Palestine Legal also monitors incidents of suppression to expose trends in tactics to silence Palestine activism.
Founded in 2012, Palestine Legal is an independent organization dedicated to protecting the civil and constitutional rights of people in the US who speak out for Palestinian freedom. Palestine Legal is the only legal organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to supporting the movement for Palestinian rights. Our attorneys are based in Chicago, New York City and the Bay Area, and our work spans all 50 states and Washington D.C. We work closely with several organizations, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Lawyers Guild and others, to provide legal support to activists around the country.
Palestine Legal is a fiscally sponsored project of the Tides Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The Issue
The movement for Palestinian rights is growing steadily in the United States – from the mushrooming of campus groups like Students for Justice in Palestine, to the rise in boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns, to everyday people moved to change the status quo in the region.
As support for Palestinian rights has grown, so too have attempts by groups that uncritically support Israeli state policies to silence advocates for change. Through a variety of tactics, these groups pressure government actors, universities and other private institutions to investigate, censor and punish individuals and groups who criticize Israel or support Palestinian rights.
Our Work
Advise
Provide legal advice, representation or referrals to individuals and groups.
Advocate
Engage in legal and policy advocacy to protect the movement for Palestinian rights.
Document
Track incidents of suppression experienced by advocates for Palestinian rights.
Educate
Train activists on their rights through workshops and resource materials.
Our Team
Dima Khalidi
Director
Sabiya Ahamed
Staff Attorney
Lina Assi
Advocacy Manager
Angela Rashid-Campion
Senior Manager, Special Projects
Leila Elaqad
Development & Administrative Associate
Rifqa Falaneh
Michael Ratner Justice Fellow
Zoha Khalili
Senior Staff Attorney
Stacey Krueger
Senior Manager, Development
Yara Nagi
Senior Manager, Operations
Dylan Saba
Staff Attorney
Radhika
Sainath
Senior Staff Attorney
Meera Shah
Senior Staff Attorney
Our Values
Our staff, clients, and the movements we serve all seek freedom from oppression and the freedom to live and thrive, from the U.S. to Palestine and beyond. We recognize that challenging and dismantling systems of oppression requires centering those most impacted, grassroots organizing, and collective struggle. As an organization committed to a movement lawyering approach, we strive to put our values into practice.
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Our Partners
Palestine Legal works closely with a number of organizations and individuals to provide legal support to Palestine activists around the country. Our partners include:
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is Palestine Legal’s founding partner. While Palestine Legal is an independent organization, we collaborate closely with CCR, and our attorneys are CCR Cooperating Counsel.
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) partners closely with Palestine Legal. We work with NLG attorneys around the country, with the NLG’s Palestine Subcommittee and the National Executive Committee to provide advocacy support for the Palestine solidarity movement.
Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus (ALC) partners with Palestine Legal in an effort to guarantee that Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian students' civic engagement on campus is not undermined in the post-9/11 environment.