On Saturday, September 7th, law students from Northeastern U., Boston U., UMass Darmouth, New England Law Boston, and Harvard U. came together with NLG-Mass Chapter Executive Director Urszula Masny-Latos at Andala Café in Cambridge to drink mint tea and strategize over falafels. Urszula introduced NLG’s mission to the students and outlined ways to get involved. She discussed opportunities to shadow ongoing work regarding surveillance of activists and criminal defense for pro-Palestinian activists. Additionally, she encouraged students to intern in the upcoming year and highlighted past interns’ research as foundational in furthering the NLG’s work.
Our group spent significant time sharing their hopes for the upcoming year. Several students want to prioritize a coordinated divestment campaign across all schools, pressuring their respective universities to cut ties with organizations complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians, with support from NLG-Mass. Additionally, there is interest in re-creating the NLG Mentorship program, with both one-on-one meetings and a brunch to pair mentors with mentees. One student recommended starting a new student loan forgiveness campaign across the schools. The conversation circled back to the ongoing crisis in Palestine and the desire for teach-ins at law schools regarding the prosecution of pro-Palestinian speech, and the collaboration between American and Israeli law enforcement agencies.
Each student chapter at local law schools will elect a student representative to maintain communications with NLG-Mass for campaign support and to attend NLG-Mass Board meetings. This representative will coordinate campaigns within their school while fostering relationships cross-campus to build a larger network of students fighting together. Representatives will also be responsible for relaying critical information back to NLG law student members at their respective campuses.
Half of the attendees were first-year law students, myself included. I am grateful to have met other students with similar values so early in my legal education. Specifically, our meeting at Andala Café in Cambridge, a Palestinian restaurant, felt especially welcoming to me as a Jordanian-Palestinian. As censorship and suppression against Palestinians in the U.S. continues, I am happy to see an organization like NLG-Mass tackling the relevant legal issues while creating a safe place for students to share their educational, political, and financial concerns. These meetings are an essential stepping stone in building our legal networks and I look forward to eating more hummus, while fighting for justice, in this community.
Samira Khadar
