On July 18, the NEA Board of Directors voted to ignore a vote by 7,000 NEA members to end ties with the ADL. Still, union members are celebrating the original vote as a major shift among the rank and file toward Palestine and pledge to move forward.

“This is about Palestine and this is not about Palestine,” said New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice director Amy Torres at a recent rally in support of Mahmoud Khalil. “This is about this administration. . . going after every single one of us.”

Princeton students are heading to trial over charges from the school’s Gaza solidarity encampment last spring. Despite intimidation from the university, the activists are insisting on defending their right to protest for Palestinian liberation.