The Palestine exception, otherwise known as the Palestine exception to free speech, describes a pattern of

institutional discrimination Institutional discrimination is discriminatory treatment of an individual or group of individuals by institutions, through unequal consideration of members of subordinate groups. Societal discrimination is discrimination by society. These unfair ...

and

selective enforcement In law, selective enforcement occurs when government officials (such as police officers, prosecutors, or regulators) exercise discretion, which is the power to choose whether or how to punish a person who has violated the law. The biased use of ...

of policies and laws that restricts the voices, scholarship, and advocacy of

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

and their allies, contrary to principles such as the

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

or the

right to protest The right to protest may be a manifestation of the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of association, and the right to freedom of speech. Additionally, protest and restrictions on protest have lasted as long as governments have. ...

. Especially since the onset of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, academics, lawyers, free speech and civil liberties advocates, journalists, and pro-Palestinian activists have raised concerns about

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

and suppression of protests against the war, calls for a ceasefire, criticism of US military and diplomatic support for Israel, and criticism of Israel's invasion of Gaza and its war conduct there. The term has also regularly been used to criticize university policies which restrict pro-Palestine campus protests, including those which call for

disinvestment from Israel Disinvestment from Israel is a campaign that aims to use disinvestment to pressure the government of Israel to put "an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories captured during the 1967 military campaign." The disinvestment camp ...

Steven Salaita Steven Salaita (born ) is an American scholar, author and public speaker. He became the center of a controversy when the University of Illinois did not hire him as a professor of American Indian Studies following objections to a series of tweets ...

suggests that, beyond Palestinians themselves, suppression of pro-Palestinian discourse particularly affects Arabs, Muslims and ethnic minorities. Jairo I. Fúnez-Flores says that many pro-Palestinian advocacy groups have changed social media platforms in order to evade what they claim is institutional censorship or punishment for their pro-Palestinian comments, and that calls for suppression have been amplified by traditional media.

United Nations Special Rapporteur Special rapporteur (or independent expert) is the title given to independent human rights experts whose expertise is called upon by the United Nations (UN) to report or advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. De ...

for freedom of speech

Irene Khan Irene Zubaida Khan (; born 24 December 1956) is a Bangladeshi British lawyer and human rights activist. She is serving as the United Nations Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion. She previously served as the seventh Secreta ...

has recognized the discrimination and double standards that protests for the Palestinian cause have faced in Europe and the United States, which include bans on, and even criminalization of, public displays of Palestinian flags and the ''keffiyeh''.

Description

In 2015, Palestine Legal published an extensive report with the

Center for Constitutional Rights The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR; formerly Law Center for Constitutional Rights) is an American progressive non-profit legal advocacy organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1966 by lawyers William Kunstler, Arthur Kin ...

about what the two organizations described as "the Palestine exception to free speech", and began to run a news section dedicated to documenting and analyzing instances of the Palestinian Exception on educational institutions (especially university campuses), media coverage, and protest crackdowns. The "Palestinian Exception" is described by pro-Palestinian activists and scholars as a documented pattern of

and selective enforcement of policies that are stated to specifically target and restrict

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

voices, scholarship, and advocacy in

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

academic and media institutions. This phenomenon, used particularly to describe events in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, manifests through what are described as systematic attempts to silence Palestinian narratives and critical discussions of Israeli policies towards

Palestinian Territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

, while disproportionately emphasizing platforms for opposing viewpoints. Institutional mechanisms described by pro-Palestinian advocates that enforce the Palestine Exception include the adoption of specific definitions of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

that encompass criticism of Israeli state policies, the implementation of restrictive speech or dialogue policies in

educational institution An educational institution is a place where people of different ages gain an education, including preschools, childcare, primary-elementary schools, secondary-high schools, and universities. They provide a large variety of learning environments a ...

s, the elective application of "balance" requirements in media coverage, and external pressure from pro-Israeli advocacy groups such as the

AIPAC The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ) is a pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates its policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. It is one of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the ...

, the

Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA; ) is a Zionist and Jewish advocacy organization and an agency of the Jewish Federations of Canada. It was founded in 2004 as the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CCIJA) and headqu ...

, and the Women’s International Zionist Organization. In academia, restrictions are described as selective enforcement of academic freedom principles, pressure on institutions to cancel events or withdraw speaking invitations regarding Palestinian issues, complications in hiring and tenure processes for scholars working on Palestinian issues, and the implementation of policies that specifically restrict criticism of Israeli state policies. The phenomenon has also been claimed to extend into

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and secondary education systems, such as with the

Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...

's allowance of pro-Israel lobbyists such as the Centre for Israel and Jewish to directly shape class curriculum.

Instances

In 2020, the

University of Toronto Faculty of Law The University of Toronto Faculty of Law (U of T Law, UToronto Law) is the law school of the University of Toronto, located at the University of Toronto#St. George campus, St. George campus in Downtown Toronto. It is the top ranked common law facu ...

initially withdrew an employment offer to scholar Valentina Azarova following external pressure from a donor related to their work on Palestinian human rights. The rescinding of the offer led to widespread academic protest and boycotts headed by the

Canadian Association of University Teachers The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT; , ACPPU) is a federation of independent associations and trade unions representing approximately 70,000 teachers, librarians, researchers, and other academic professionals and general staff a ...

(CAUT), eventually leading to the university re-offering employment to Azarova, who declined. The term was also used by a

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...

editor to describe the retraction of an essay by

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and legal scholar Rabea Eghbariah discussing the use of "

Nakba The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...

" as a

legal term The following pages contain lists of legal terms: *List of Latin legal terms *List of legal abbreviations *List of legal abbreviations (canon law) *''on Wiktionary:'' ** wikt:Appendix:English legal terms, Appendix: English legal terms ** wikt:App ...

, following an intervention by Harvard Law Review president Apsara Iyer.

Media

Many pro-Palestinian activists cite western media coverage as demonstrating patterns of the Palestinian Exception. Notable examples include different news networks' policies restricting the use of the term "Palestine", such as with the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

(CBC) and the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

. In one incident, CBC ''

Current Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (hydr ...

'' guest anchor Duncan McCue was required to issue a

public apology A public apology is a component of reparation as stipulated in the United Nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights resolution proclaiming the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for ...

for referring to Palestine during an interview. Social media platforms such as

Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, Threads ...

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

were also noted to systemically censor or de-weight the use of terms relating to Palestine and the ongoing conflict.

FAIR A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

provided two examples from May 2025. In the first instance, it compared the '' New York Times''' high-profile coverage of

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

's climate justice activism with its silence about her presence aboard the

June 2025 Gaza Freedom Flotilla A flotilla was organized in June 2025 by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) attempting to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver aid in response to the famine and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which the crew members have d ...

, which was aiming "to bring in some aid and raise ‘international awareness’ over the ongoing humanitarian crisis". In the second instance, FAIR mentioned that an op-ed by the ''New York Times publisher,

A.G. Sulzberger Arthur Gregg Sulzberger (born August 5, 1980) is an American journalist serving as the chairman of the New York Times Company and publisher of its flagship newspaper, ''The New York Times''. Early life and education Sulzberger was born in Wash ...

, "decried attacks on the freedom of the press around the world, but omitted that the biggest killer of journalists in the world today is the

Israeli government The Israeli system of government is based on parliamentary democracy. The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government (also known as the cabinet). Legislat ...

University campus protests

Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Palestine Exception was frequently used to describe documented patterns of disproportionate institutional reactions to pro-Palestinian protests compared to other social justice movements on university campuses. Pro-Palestinian protesters and their allies have criticized the disposition of many university administrations as perpetuating a "Palestine exception" to academic freedom. Pro-Palestinian students and their allies have raised concerns about

anti-Palestinianism Anti-Palestinianism or anti-Palestinian racism refers to prejudice, collective hatred, and discrimination directed at the Palestinian people for any variety of reasons. Since the mid-20th century, the phenomenon has largely overlapped with ant ...

and

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

. Investigations by the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...

have been opened at Columbia, Emory University, the University of North Carolina, and at Umass Amherst over their administrations' response to student protests and advocacy since the start of the war. A comparative analysis of different

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

approaches to student protests noted that the administration held measured responses to anti-Apartheid encampments in 1986,

Occupy Movement The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...

encampments and access restrictions in 2011, and

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

blockades in 2015 with minimal punishments for students involved. In contrast to prior temporary disruptions, pro-Palestinian encampments on Harvard campus faced threats of mass suspensions, stricter enforcement of rules and restrictions, and what was described as a shift away from dialogue and protest as part of academic discourse, necessary to protect academic freedom. Several pro-Palestinian advocates have also described the Harvard administration as implementing the Palestine exception for preventing thirteen undergraduates from collecting their diplomas at the annual commencement ceremony as a consequence for participation in pro-Palestinian protests. Nearly 500 Harvard faculty and students criticized the sanctions as disproportionate, unprecedented, and designed to stifle open discourse, while others identified it as an example of the "Palestine Exception" to free speech.

Responses

Besides affecting Palestinians themselves, Steven Salaita suggests that suppression of pro-Palestinian discourse also particularly affects Arabs, Muslims and ethnic minorities. He says that individuals initially investigated for pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli speech have been subsequently prosecuted on politically motivated charges. According to Jairo I. Fúnez-Flores, many pro-Palestinian advocacy groups have shifted to less restrictive social media platforms such as Twitter/X in order to evade

or punishment when speaking about the Gaza war and the resulting

humanitarian crisis A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or exter ...

. Several groups have also used social media or

instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate ( real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involv ...

platforms to organize protests, media campaigns, and other activities without direct oversight. Fúnez-Flores says these shifts occurred in response to claims that traditional media coverage often amplified institutional justifications for restricting speech, while giving less attention to faculty and student perspectives. A film documenting the Palestine Exception in academia and during pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses was produced and screened at several universities. Robert Horenstein, head of community relations and public affairs for the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, suggests there is no "Palestine exception" to free speech. He says the prevalence of pro-Palestinian activism in academic and public spaces, which includes over 300 active chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), far outnumbers pro-Israel activism. He says that the frequent calls for

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's o ...

(BDS) against Israel are evidence that anti-Israel sentiment is freely expressed. Horenstein and StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein suggest that pro-Israel demonstrations on campus are being suppressed instead.

References

External links

* Palestine Legal �
The Palestinian Exception to Free Speech
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