An ongoing federal lawsuit filed by several pro-Palestinian organizations in May calls on Gov. Greg Abbott and state universities to stop enforcing an executive order addressing antisemitism on college campuses.
The lawsuit — filed by the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at UT Dallas and the University of Houston — claims the executive order violates the First Amendment through viewpoint discrimination. The plaintiffs claim Texas universities cracked down on pro-Palestinian protests in the spring to comply with the order.
Abbott’s March executive order calls on universities to update their free speech policies to address rising antisemitism, specifically naming Students for Justice in Palestine and UT’s Palestine Solidarity Committee as potential violators. The order also designates the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic.
On April 24 and 29, UT-Austin called in state law enforcement to subdue pro-Palestine demonstrations, leading to 136 total arrests across both days. The University has since disciplined several students, suspending at least one protester, according to previous Texan coverage.
The defendants — including Abbott, the UT Board of Regents and Jay Hartzell — said they shut down the demonstrations because protesters violated “content-neutral anti-disruption policies, or state law prohibiting camping on public property,” not due to the executive order, according to their Aug. 19 motion. They also said UT-Austin had not updated its rules to comply with the order when the demonstrations occurred.
In a declaration from Aug. 19, interim Dean of Students Katie McGee said University officials believed that the Palestine Solidarity Committee intended to set up an encampment on April 24, and she “did not consider there to be any ambiguity.” McGee said the demonstration appeared to align with National Students for Justice in Palestine’s “Popular University for Gaza” campaign. Earlier campaign-aligned demonstrations at other universities, such as Columbia University, formed encampments.
The committee’s social media posts announcing the demonstration called on students to “occupy the lawn.” Ammer Qaddumi, a PSC steering committee member, stated there were no plans to create an encampment on April 24.
“National SJP is a guiding body that provides tips on messaging that we will borrow from to assist in our own messaging,” Qaddumi said. “But they do not dictate to us in any way.”
