Protesters say UTSA restricted their speech at march calling for Gaza ceasefire

During a Wednesday afternoon protest at the University of Texas at San Antonio calling for a Gaza ceasefire organizers were forced to halt chants several times, saying school administrators imposed rules limiting their speech.

During the three-hour demonstration, organizers stopped the approximately 150 participants from chanting in Arabic and using slogans that explicitly mention Israel.

Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) member Tori Ramirez said a UTSA administrator warned she and other organizers shortly before the event got underway that terms including “Zionism” and “Israel” and chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” were prohibited due because they qualified as “antisemitic hate speech.”

The administrator, whom organizers were unable to identify, also forbade them from chanting in Arabic, Ramirez said.

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• Michael Karlis
• A UTSA student wearing a Palestinian flag as a cape chants pro-Palestine slogans during a demonstration at UTSA on Wednesday.

The school’s restriction on students’ First Amendment right stems from an executive order signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in late March requiring colleges and universities to discipline hate speech, including “antisemitism,” organizers said.  
UTSA public affairs specialist Ari Castañeda, who was onsite during the protest, couldn’t immediately comment on the alleged speech restrictions. However, the Express-News reports that prior to the demonstration, UTSA President Taylor Eighmy warned that the school wouldn’t tolerate disruptive behavior, vandalism or antisemitism.

The protest — organized by UTSA students and the PSL’s San Antonio chapter — was held in solidarity with actions at students at New York’s Columbia University, who have built an encampment on the school’s quad. Students there are calling for Columbia to divest from funds that profit from or aid Israel’s war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, police on Wednesday handcuffed and removed at least 30 people participating in a student protest on the University of Texas at Austin campus demanding a Gaza ceasefire.

While the UTSA protest was peaceful, participant Judith Norman, a member of Jewish Voices for Peace, said she was disturbed by the limitations UTSA officials allegedly placed on students’ freedom of speech. She equated the banning of certain words and slogans to fascism.

“It’s a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech,” Norman said.

Despite the arrests in Austin, community organizer Moureen Kaki told participants that protests in San Antonio and elsewhere will continue until Palestinian people have a free homeland. She also reminded the protesters, as well as students watching with curiosity, that the demonstration is about more than just the Middle East conflict.

“Whether you are pro-Palestine or not, you don’t have clean water to drink, you don’t have healthcare,  you don’t have free tuition,” she said. “Yet we have money for bombs?”

The crowd yelled “shame” in response.

“We need a revolution in this country, and you guys are the ones that will lead the fucking way,” Kaki continued. “And we’ve got your back, OK? We in the community have your back. Do not be afraid to stand up for your rights against an institution, against the state, against racist police, against any of it. You guys have the power; it’s just a matter of being unafraid.”

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This article appears in Apr 17-30, 2024.