Virginia attorney general addresses pro-Palestine activism on college campuses
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was written by VCU students on the Compass. The protest chant was called as "anti-semitic" by Attorney General Jason Miyares in his letter. Photos by Arrick Wilson.
Andrew Kerley, Audience Editor
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to college and university presidents on Nov. 16, urging them to address the “rise in antisemitism on campuses,” citing student groups like Students for Justice in Palestine, or SJP, as examples.
In the letter, Miyares called the popular protest chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a “call for the complete destruction of Israel and a denial of its right to exist,” noting that the First Amendment does not protect speech inciting or producing imminent lawless action.
Link Alexio, co-founder of VCU’s SJP chapter, said the chant is not antisemitic, but rather a statement “just asking for freedom.”
“‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ is a statement about Palestinians having freedom,” Alexio said. “If that statement implies Israel needs to end, then that means Israel itself is oppressive. If the freedom of a people depends on the end of another people, then you have an inherent issue.”
Alexio said calling the chant antisemitic is trying to pin the blame on people for standing for the oppressed.
“Anti-Zionism, which is [against] the support of the state of Israel, is not antisemitism,” Alexio said. “We stand with the Jewish people.”
Zaid Mahdawi, president of the Richmond chapter of American Muslims for Palestine, or AMP, also condemned antisemitism at a march to the Capitol on Sunday. AMP has organized multiple marches, walkouts and other demonstrations in the VCU-downtown Richmond area since Oct. 7, according to previous reports by The Commonwealth Times.
“When we use those terms, they believe we’re calling for a genocide,” Mahdawi said. “But, what they don’t understand is that what we’re calling for is a state free of oppression for any ethnicity, any race, any religion and any background or nationality.”
One anonymous founder of the new campus organization Progressive Jewish Student Union, or PJSU, spoke at the march, saying their family told them to stay silent about Palestine.
At the request of the students, The Commonwealth Times has omitted the students’ name to prevent further concerns of doxxing, a form of online harassment where individuals’ personal information is made public without their consent.
PJSU describes itself as “a safe space for discussion and critical thinking regarding Jewish identity, culture and politics” on its Instagram. The organization was created after some of its founders felt ostracized from their communities for being anti-Zionists, according to PJSU.
The anonymous PJSU member said they were previously the president of another Jewish campus organization, but had to step down after receiving community backlash for a pro-Palestine post they made on Instagram.
“There were well over 50 people, Israelis and Zionists in the Greater Richmond community, in this group chat, saying that I shouldn’t be allowed to be a member, let alone a leader,” the anonymous PJSU member said.
The anonymous PJSU member said their advisor told them that some people may have wanted their information, leading them to be concerned about being doxxed and worrying for them and their roommate’s safety.
“That experience has made me brutally aware of the hostility and antisemitism within the Jewish community that is aimed at pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist Jews,” the anonymous PJSU member said at the march. “You get called antisemitic or Nazi, or maybe someone tries to revoke your Jewish identity.”
Miyares’ letter comes after multiple instances of pushback against activists. The attorney general opened an investigation into AMP for potentially not registering with the state prior to soliciting contributions, and for allegations of indirectly funding terrorist organizations in October.
AMP called the allegations a “defamatory and dangerous smear” in a statement released the same day.
“American Muslims for Palestine is a duly registered non-profit organization that has stood up for justice here and abroad for over a decade in compliance with the law,” the organization stated. “We are currently in consultation with our legal team to ensure our work continues and our constitutional rights are protected.”
The Commonwealth Times reached out to the Office of the Attorney General, but they declined to comment on the ongoing investigation or provide evidence of either claim.
Miyares signed a different letter, along with 19 other state attorney generals, to the Secretary of State on Nov. 9, calling for the deportation of international students supporting terrorist groups, also using the national SJP organization as an example.
VCU has not made a statement regarding the letter at the time of this article’s publication.
