Judge allows Students for Justice in Palestine to hold Oct. 7 vigil at UMD

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A pro-Palestinian student organization at the University of Maryland will be allowed to hold a vigil on campus on Oct. 7 after a judge ruled the university was wrong to cancel it.

U.S. District Court Judge Peter J. Messitte wrote Tuesday that the university violated the First Amendment rights of the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine when it abruptly canceled the event on Sept. 1 under pressure from pro-Israel alumni, donors and others.

The decision came after Messitte heard arguments on Monday in Greenbelt.

“It is clear to the Court that (the university’s) decision to revoke its permission to SJP to hold its event on October 7 was neither viewpoint-neutral, nor content-neutral, nor narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest,” Messitte wrote. “The decision clearly came in response to possible speech that several groups or individuals claimed would be highly objectionable.”

“By revoking SJP’s permission to host its vigil, which it planned to co-host with (Jewish Voices for Peace), a public university has censored speech based on viewpoint, on content, and the identity of the speaker,” he wrote. “(The university’s) decision to revoke appears to be nothing less than an effort to suppress speech which would be offensive to some, indeed many.”

In August, SJP reserved McKeldin Mall, a central gathering place on campus, in order to commemorate the tens of thousands of Gazans who have died in the war that began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,000 people and taking hundreds hostage.

On a webpage, the group says the purpose of the event is to “mourn the lives lost as a result of the settler-colonial zionist entity’s 76-year campaign of rapacious occupation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.”

SJP met with UMD President Darryll Pines and other officials after they heard from a pro-Israel coalition — armed with a petition with nearly 28,000 signatures — seeking to stop the “disgusting” event. That group objected to SJP’s characterization of Israel’s assault on Gaza as a “genocide.” Pines canceled the event, replacing it with a university-sponsored “Day of Dialogue.”

SJP sued Sept. 17, asking for a preliminary injunction against the university to allow the vigil. They are represented by Palestine Legal and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and other groups filed an amicus brief in support of SJP last week.

SJP, on its Instagram page, described the decision as a “historic victory.”

“Today, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Maryland has achieved a historic victory for the student movement for justice and liberation by compelling Maryland’s flagship university to cease violations of our First Amendment rights and respect students’ freedom of speech,” the group posted.

In an unattributed statement, the university said it conducted a “threat assessment” in August and eventually canceled the event due to “unprecedented communications of a concerning and threatening nature.”

“The University of Maryland recognizes, and will abide by, the court’s decision, and will work with all registered student organizers of events requested for October 7,” the statement says. “Event organizers, campus officials and UMPD will implement a plan that allows all events to proceed in accordance with the court’s ruling. Notwithstanding today’s court ruling, the safety concerns that were raised remain a source of ongoing attention and focus for us.”

Messitte wrote that the university had many options for ensuring a safe environment short of canceling the vigil. UMD Campus Security Chief David Mitchell conceded at Monday’s hearing that the university can easily enhance security, as it did during an event called Israel Fest.

“(T)his is a matter of law, not of wounded feelings,” Messitte wrote. “Free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment may be the most important law this country has. In many ways, all other basic freedoms — freedom of religion, of the press, of the right to assemble, and to petition the government — depend upon it.”