States Across the South Are Introducing Laws Punishing Pro-Palestinian Speech

In the months since October 7, students, organizers, and community members have decried the ongoing genocide in Gaza and called for a free Palestine. There has also been a corresponding increase in Islamophobia and brutal suppression of Palestinian organizing, including intimidation, police brutality, and violence waged against college students who protested Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.

The backlash will only continue — and this time, it will impact people nationwide.

Legislators, acting in lockstep with school officials’ efforts to suppress free speech, have spent the last several months introducing bills intended to target pro-Palestine protests. It is no coincidence that many of these bills have been introduced in the South. As W.E.B. Du Bois famously said, “As the South goes, so goes the nation.” Project South has always recognized the U.S. South as an important lever for both oppression and liberation within the U.S., and we know many harmful bills are piloted in Southern states before spreading nationwide.

In response to outpourings of public support for Palestine, state governments have resorted to introducing legislation and enacting policies that target and suppress pro-Palestine advocacy. As one example, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 30 into law. The bill incorporates the heavily criticized International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism that conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Although there were previous attempts to pass similar versions of the bill in Georgia, this year’s hearing testimony invoked pro-Palestine advocacy to justify the bill, which then passed quickly with bipartisan support. Kemp even invoked Oct. 7 during the bill’s signing, referring to “horrific terrorist attacks” that “claimed the lives of over 1,200 Israelis.”

State legislatures also invoked Oct. 7 as justification to introduce or amend state antiterrorism laws. The use of domestic terrorism laws to target Palestine and pro-Palestine advocacy is not new, as evidenced by a February report highlighting the anti-Palestine animus that underpins a great deal of U.S. antiterrorism law. This year, numerous bills were introduced that reinforce anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant trends. These bills purposefully conflate terrorism with support for Palestine by making unsupported claims about pro-Palestine protests being backed by or representing support for terrorist groups.

Take Tennessee’s House Bill 2348/Senate Bill 2610. Signed into law in May by Gov. Bill Lee, the bill modifies the state’s Terrorism Prevention and Response Act of 2002 by making it an offense to use public funds to provide meeting spaces or other forums (including printing and electronic platforms) to certain groups for the purpose of soliciting support for a “designated entity,” a group or organization that receives support from a “designated entity,” or a group or organization found by a court to have engaged in an act of “terrorism.” A designated entity is a person or group designated by the State Department as a “foreign terrorist organization” or by the Treasury as a “specially designated national” subject to sanction programs. During committee hearings, state representatives referred to Palestine solidarity protests and alleged that they were linked to foreign “terrorist organizations.”

Back in Georgia, legislators introduced Senate Bill 523, later integrated into House Bill 505, which would have criminalized protest tactics as terrorism. Though it did not pass, SB 523 created a great deal of concern because it cleverly purported to protect “privacy rights, civil rights, and civil liberties” when, in fact, it would have curtailed those rights and increased the intimidation of free speech and Palestinian organizing. Given the broad definitions in the bill, it also would have given law enforcement a tool to surveil and counter social movements and pro-Palestine advocacy. Calls from Zionist organizations to investigate pro-Palestine groups have already stifled free speech and organizing, and this bill would have worsened these impacts.

Florida is home to some of the most extreme efforts to silence pro-Palestine speech. Senate Bill 470 and House Bill 465, for example, would have created penalties for students who supported or promoted a “foreign terrorist organization,” as designated by the State Department. Additionally, institutions would have been required to report students on F-1 visas found to promote a “foreign terrorist organization” to the Department of Homeland Security Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

During the Florida House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Subcommittee meeting on Jan. 25, state Rep. John Temple claimed the bill would help universities prevent material support to “foreign terrorist organizations.” Temple also listed a wide range of activities that may fall under the scope of the bill, including wearing the colors of flags associated with “terrorist organizations” and using threatening language. As state Rep. Anna Eskamani noted in the meeting, the bill “clearly originated from [Florida] Gov. Ron DeSantis’ rhetoric about students who are protesting for Palestinian human rights” and would have stifled free speech on campuses.

DeSantis was also more than happy to step in to unilaterally suppress pro-Palestine advocacy. With the support of DeSantis, Chancellor of the State University System of Florida Ray Rodrigues directed universities to disband chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine based on allegations of terrorism. However, the attempt largely failed when university officials realized they could face legal liability and many opted not to comply.

There was a similar effort in Texas when Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order in March directing Texas higher education institutions to review and update free speech policies, in part by including the IHRA definition of antisemitism that was also incorporated into Texas law. Abbott also singled out Palestinian student groups for discipline based on alleged free speech violations, referring to the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The governor’s executive order falsely claimed this was an antisemitic slogan used by “terrorist” organizations. Palestine solidarity organizations on Texas campuses issued a joint statement rejecting and condemning the executive order, saying it violated their First Amendment rights.

At the federal level, a bill is moving rapidly through Congress that would allow the secretary of the Treasury to unilaterally revoke the tax-exempt status of organizations, such as nonprofits and universities, based on allegations of supporting “terrorism.” House Resolution 6408 passed the House in April, and the same month, a companion bill, S.4136, was introduced in the Senate.

Unsurprisingly, the representatives who support these bills often accuse Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizations of supporting “terrorism.” In a November 2023 House Ways and Means Committee meeting, Chairman Rep. Jason Smith from Missouri claimed that the organization American Muslims for Palestine was an “alter ego” for the Holy Land Foundation, which was prosecuted in 2017 under the Anti-Terrorism Act for providing “material support” to a “foreign terrorist organization” for its humanitarian aid to zakat (charity) councils in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Smith also claimed that American Muslims for Palestine trained Students for Justice in Palestine. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Education and the Workforce recently sent a joint letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen requesting “suspicious activity reports” for a variety of groups expressing support for Palestine, including Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Legal, American Muslims for Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace. The letter also indicated that the committees are investigating the “funding and financing” of groups involved in the encampments for Gaza and related protests on college campuses.

Providing financing for terrorism is already illegal under federal law. Yet, one representative claimed that the bill was necessary for “dismantling the financial networks of terrorist organizations.” More than 130 organizations recently issued a letter opposing the bill, noting its potential for abuse.

While advocacy has hindered the passage of some anti-immigrant and anti-protest legislation, legislators appear committed to the continued introduction of repressive bills. This is why we must remain vigilant—understanding that Palestinian organizations will be the first on the chopping block.

Despite attempts by legislators, governors, and universities to repress Palestine solidarity actions, students across the U.S. have only reaffirmed their support for Palestinian liberation. We have a lot to learn from the bravery of these students. We also owe it to them to fight against legislation that seeks to chip away at our constitutional rights and intimidate us out of demanding that our institutions divest from companies linked to Israel.

As anti-Palestine legislation continues to be introduced, we must act as quickly and with as much conviction as the young people who set the world ablaze by simply demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza.

Prism is an independent and nonprofit newsroom led by journalists of color. We report from the ground up and at the intersections of injustice.