SDS Statement on Executive Order GA44 by Greg Abbott
Students for a Democratic Society condemns executive order GA-44 by Texas governor Greg Abbott, which targets pro-Palestine organizing on college campuses in Texas by forcing universities to adopt disciplinary policies that punish students who oppose the Israeli occupation and invasion of the Gaza Strip.
This executive order defines slogans of Palestinian resistance such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic calls to violence, and threatens student activists with punishment up to and including expulsion from their University. The order pretends to be about anti-Semitism, but this language is only a cover for a clear attempt to increase repression against students organizing Palestine solidarity demonstrations on campus.
The order targets Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), student organizations that have been at the forefront of the Palestine solidarity movement. This order, along with the banning of SJP in Florida, sets a dangerous precedent for political repression of the student movement across the country.
These policies are a reaction to the clear successes of the student movement in mobilizing for Palestine solidarity. Abbott and other right wing governors are attacking the right to protest, and 1st amendment rights for the Palestine movement because it is successfully changing public opinion. They know that the students leading demonstrations of thousands in the streets are winning.
National SDS calls upon its chapters to continue protesting against repressive measures such as Executive Order GA-44. While the threats of repression against student activists are real, we will not allow it to silence the student movement. We will continue to march in defiance of these repressive measures and in support of the Palestinian Resistance. We stand in absolute solidarity with PSC, SJP, and all those who are fighting back against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
End student repression!
Palestine solidarity is not a crime!
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!