Jackson-Reed High School: School bars student group from screening documentary critical of Israel

In December 2023, the Arab Student Union, a student club at Jackson-Reed High School in Washington, DC, sought to screen the documentary “The Occupation of the American Mind” at two of the group’s lunchtime meetings. School administrators barred the student group from showing the documentary because the “content and individuals associated with the film may provoke strong emotional responses.” 

On February 2 and March 22, FIRE and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee wrote a letter calling on the school to allow the documentary screening and explaining that restricting student speech or association based on viewpoint violates students’ First Amendment rights.