Letter to Attorney Licensing Entities Regarding Anti-Palestinian Repression

On Wednesday, January 15, 2025, Unlock the Bar and Palestine Legal submitted a joint letter to each attorney licensing entity within the United States, detailing the legal obligations that Character and Fitness Committees are bound by when evaluating bar applicants before them.

This letter advises each of these licensing entities that they must be mindful of, both, growing anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim sentiments and the anti-discrimination protections that pro-Palestinian advocates and Arab, SWANA, and Muslim applicants hold. We caution committees to evaluate these prospective attorneys fairly and equitably. 

Join us in reminding Character and Fitness Committees of their legal obligations. If you or your organization would like to sign the letter, please do so here, or click the link below. The signatories will be updated on a rolling basis nightly until Friday, January 24th, 2025 at 5pm EST.

*Additional signatories include National Lawyers Guild, Center for Constitutional Rights, The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Palestinian American Bar Association, and the Climate Defense Project.*

Check out our press release here. If you would like to contact us, please email unlockthebar@gmail.com.

Additional Signatories*

24 Organizations:

  • Muslim Legal Fund of America

  • The Future Left

  • Jamie W. McGloin-King PLLC

  • Center for Security, Race and Rights

  • NYU Law Students for Justice in Palestine

  • National Lawyers’ Guild - Chicago Chapter

  • Agenda 970

  • National Lawyers’ Guild - Brooklyn Law School Chapter

  • Brooklyn Law School Students for Justice in Palestine

  • Law 4 Black Lives

  • Muslim Civic Coalition

  • MK Law, LLC

  • Civil Liberties Defense Center

  • National Lawyers’ Guild - Los Angeles Chapter

  • Media Alliance

  • Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine

  • Council on American Islamic Relations, New York

  • Defending Rights and Dissent

  • National Lawyer's Guild - San Diego Chapter

  • Indiana Center for Middle East Peace

  • Muslim Bar Association of Chicago

  • UC Irvine - Law Students for Justice in Palestine

  • National Lawyers’ Guild - Temple Beasley Chapter

  • Fordham School of Law Advocates for the Incarcerated

246 Individuals Including:**

  • 135 Lawyers

  • 47 Law Students

  • 33 Advocates/Activists

  • 10 Legal Workers

  • 4 Law Professors

  • 1 Former Character and Fitness Committee Member

* List updated as of 9:00 PM ET on February 10, 2025

** Individual names not published to minimize doxxing and other retaliation