Pro-Palestinian student group sues DC high school over censorship

WASHINGTON (CN) — A pro-Palestinian student group at the Jackson-Reed High School filed a lawsuit against the school administration Wednesday for suppressing and censoring the club’s speech. 

The Arab Student Union, made up of 19 student members, claims the school’s administration, including principal Sah Brown, intentionally barred the club from engaging in expressive activities that other clubs have been allowed to engage in purely because of their stance on the Israel-Hamas war. 

“Their speech has been suppressed because the school does not want their viewpoint — which concerns the ongoing war in Gaza and its effects on the Palestinian people — to be heard,” the group, which is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, says in its lawsuit. 

Throughout the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the group says that over the past four months it's faced a sudden crackdown by the administration, beginning in December 2023 when they were barred from showing a documentary. 

In an emailed statement from the ACLU, a student whose name was withheld from court papers to shield them from retaliation said the school administration was going against everything the students had been taught. 

“The fact that the plight of the Palestinian people is considered controversial means it needs more discussion, not less,” the student said. “Our school is teaching us the wrong lesson: that we should shy away from discussing critical issues when other people may disagree with us.”

The film, “The Occupation of the American Mind” by nonprofit Media Education Foundation, aims to provide context to the history of Israeli-Palestinian relations that led to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks that killed approximately 1,200 Israelis. 

The student group says the message of the film is that the Israeli government has conducted a misleading public relations campaign in the U.S. to frame any Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people as self-defense. Further, the film shows how any critique of Israel’s actions are labeled antisemitic or pro-terrorist, even when such critiques come from Jewish voices, the civil rights group said. 

To promote the screening, club members put up posters that read “Let’s get educated!” 

On Dec. 6, a parent removed one of the posters from the wall and complained about the screening to the administration. In response, Brown canceled the event and had the remaining posters taken down. 

Despite the club’s appeals, Brown would not allow the club to screen the film.

“Principal Brown explained that he was concerned that the views portrayed in the documentary may be polarizing and may cause a divide among the student body,” the students say in their complaint. 

Following a Dec. 12 meeting with the students, Brown told the club that if they wished to show anything not included on a school district-provided list of suggested resources on the conflict, the club would have to submit them to Brown in advance to be vetted. 

But when the club submitted four films for vetting on Jan. 3, Brown took over a month to respond, replying on Feb. 6 that the films were under review and they would receive an update by the end of the week. The club has still yet to hear back. 

In addition to facing pushback on the film, a Palestinian Culture Night scheduled for Jan. 18 was suddenly removed from the school’s event calendar. The only explanation provided was that the event was not scheduled a month in advance, despite the club’s faculty sponsor submitting a request on Dec. 19. 

When they tried to reschedule for February or March, the students say they were denied again. 

Instead, the club decided to host the event at a nearby restaurant, Busboys and Poets, on Jan. 19. The event was successful, but few Jackson-Reed students not already part of the Arab Student Union attended, the students say. 

However, the club was able to receive approval for another Palestinian Culture Night at the school, set to take place Thursday, April 25. In order to receive approval, the students say, the event has been heavily censored and restricted “so that it no longer presents the message” the club envisioned. 

“The First Amendment would mean nothing in schools if administrators could shut down speech simply because it offends people in the community,” said Arthur Spitzer, ACLU-DC senior counsel and attorney for the club in an emailed statement. “The logic of the First Amendment is that having tough conversations is part of learning to become citizens in our democracy.”

The students want a federal judge to declare that the school administration's actions violated their First Amendment rights and order they be allowed to screen the film and engage in other expressive activity. They also want the judge to order the administration to treat the group the same as other clubs on campus.

Follow @Ryan_Knappy

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit