D.C.’s largest high school to show alternate Palestinian film after suit

The D.C. Public Schools system and Jackson-Reed High School on Wednesday agreed to end their ban on an Arab student group’s attempt to screen a pro-Palestinian documentary and host events about Palestinian culture after the American Civil Liberties Union of D.C. brought a First Amendment lawsuit.

The interim settlement averted a showdown in federal court Friday over the ACLU-D.C.’s allegation that the Arab Student Union was being treated differently from other groups at the 1,983-student institution serving the city’s Northwest Washington neighborhoods. In a suit filed April 24, students at the largest public high school in D.C. alleged administrators asked the group to censor materials and go through “procedural roadblocks” to host events.