Palestinian American Bar Association

PABA Initiatives

If you are interested in working with PABA on our initiatives, please connect with us by emailing contact@pabalaw.org or joining our Allies Mailing List.

Ending Israel's Illegal Occupation of Palestinian Territory

Please see PABA's summary of the July 19, 2024 International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on the matter of Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.‍

Ending and Holding Israel Accountable for the Genocide in Gaza

October 1, 2024

PABA honors the memory of over 40,000 Palestinians killed in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and occupation of the West Bank, including our own family members. We also remember many thousands more injured or buried under the rubble, unjustly imprisoned, and threatened daily by illness, starvation, and continued bombardment with no end in sight. Please view our complete statement.

March 14, 2024

The Palestinian American Bar Association proudly announces that we are a signatory to a very important amicus brief.

In Defense for Children International - Palestine, et al. v. Biden, et al., Palestinian human rights organizations, together with Palestinians in Gaza and the U.S. (“Plaintiffs”), filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court against President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Austin for the U.S. officials’ failure to prevent and complicity in the Israeli government’s unfolding genocide against them, their families, and the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza. In its order granting defendants' motion to dismiss, the federal district court held that "it is plausible that Israel’s conduct amounts to genocide," but the court declined to exercise jurisdiction due to the political question doctrine. On behalf of Plaintiffs, the Center for Constitutional Rights and Van Der Hout LLP filed an appeal of the dismissal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

PABA has joined dozens of other organizations in signing the amicus brief in support of the Plaintiffs' appeal to reinstate the case and have it decided on the merits. As we stated in the amicus brief, PABA is an association of attorneys, judges, law students, and other legal professionals whose mission includes supporting the protection of human rights and upholding international law. We firmly believe that the obligation to prevent genocide and refrain from complicity is ingrained within the legal profession.

Combating Anti-Palestinian Racism

PABA is alarmed by the prevalence of anti-Palestinian racism in the United States and around the world. As explained in an important report published by the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, "anti-Palestinian racism is a form of anti-Arab racism that silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives."

Anti-Palestinian racism takes various forms including:

denying the Nakba;
justifying violence against Palestinians;
failing to acknowledge Palestinians as an indigenous people with a collective identity, belonging and rights in relation to occupied and historic Palestine;
erasing the human rights and equal dignity and worth of Palestinians;
excluding or pressuring others to exclude Palestinian perspectives, Palestinians, and their allies; and
defaming Palestinians and their allies with slander such as being inherently antisemitic, a terrorist threat/sympathizer, or opposed to democratic values.

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In April 2024, the Institute for the Understanding of Anti-Palestinian Racism (IUAPR) published the results of a national survey that explored the impact of anti-Palestinian racism on both Palestinians and their allies in their daily life. The results revealed key insights into how racism and discrimination against Palestinians have harmful effects on Palestinians and non-Palestinian allies advocating for Palestinian rights in the United States.

Please stay tuned for updates on PABA's initiatives to combat anti-Palestinian racism.

RESOURCES:

Report of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association: "Anti-Palestinian Racism: Naming, Framing and Manifestations"
The Institute for the Understanding of Anti-Palestinian Racism provides research and training resources
The Alliance for Inclusion and Justice's list of experts on anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim discrimination

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Supporting the Rights of Peaceful Protest and Free Speech on Campus

PABA supports students and allied protesters courageously exercising their right of peaceful assembly and engaging in peaceful acts of civil disobedience on university campuses across the United States.

These students and allies are protesting the ongoing human rights violations inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza — which human rights organizations, a California federal court, and the International Court of Justice have found may plausibly constitute a genocide — and university investments supporting weapons used by Israel in carrying out these human rights violations.

PABA condemns any efforts by universities across the United States to suppress the rights of pro-Palestine student protesters and allies as well as law enforcement’s use of unnecessary, disproportionate, and excessive force against peaceful protesters. PABA also condemns the failures of many universities to take measures to keep pro-Palestinian student protesters and allies safe and the unjustified suspension of university-affiliated student organizations for exercising their rights.

PABA also condemns these universities’ failure to protect students and allies against anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic intimidation that silences and creates a culture of fear for those communities. Likewise, allied students and protesters should not be deterred or punished for expressing their solidarity with Palestine.

Universities have an obligation to protect all of their students and foster a safe educational environment. Engaging law enforcement to exercise disproportionate and grossly excessive use of force against peaceful protesters is a failure not only to their students’ safety, but also to democratic principles that universities should be safeguarding.

The legacy of campus activism protesting against Jim Crow, the Vietnam War, South African Apartheid, and the Iraq War, among other historic examples, reminds us that student protests have been fundamental to advancing freedom, justice, peace, and democracy. Students across the country who are opposing the genocide against the Palestinian people are courageously joining those ranks in history.

We urge all universities to follow the lead of universities that have chosen to be on the right side of history by negotiating with student organizers instead of subjecting them to violent repression. Furthermore, any university that has used or authorized the use of force against peaceful protesters should conduct an independent investigation into the circumstances around the decision to use force and all harm done to students. Lastly, we implore all universities that have suspended, dismissed, or otherwise not permitted students to complete courses and remain students, to revaluate such drastic and draconian measures and immediately reinstate their students.

RESOURCES:

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PABA Referral Network

Hundreds of PABA attorney and law student members routinely connect with one another and share expertise, knowledge and opportunities.

PABA Mentorship Program

PABA's Mentorship Program aims to connect law students and junior attorneys with practicing attorneys for mentorship. To date, our Mentorship Committee has made dozens of matches.

Mentorship plays an important role in every aspiring legal professional’s career. Law students and junior attorneys can gain key insights, advice, and resources from mentor-mentee relationships, and PABA strives to encourage mentor-mentee relationships across our membership.