25 In 2017, demonstrators gathered peacefully outside of an Oakland, California restaurant to protest its installation of a mural glorifying a woman convicted of murder and terrorism in Israel. After a few demonstrations, the restaurant’s owner filed a civil harassment lawsuit and sought temporary restraining orders against some of the protesters. StandWithUs, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating people about Israel and fighting anti-semitism, reached out to Mintz on behalf of these defendants, and attorneys Mitch Danzig and Evan Nadel agreed to represent the lawsuit’s main respondent, Michael Lumish, pro bono. In addition to participating in the protests, Lumish had written articles on his personal blog criticizing the restaurant and its mural. The mural featured Rasmea Odeh, a member of the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who was sentenced to life in prison in Israel in 1970 for her role in a bombing that killed two college students. Ten years later, she was released in a prisoner exchange. In 1995, Odeh entered the United States using a visa application that falsely stated she had no criminal record and no connection to any designated terrorist organizations. She was convicted of immigration fraud in 2014 for that falsified application, and later deported. But by then she was associate director of the Arab American Action Network in Chicago, and a hero to some who believed, without evidence, that she was innocent of the crimes for which she had been convicted (in a trial observed by the International Red Cross). Mitch serves on the board and as president of the San Diego office of StandWithUs. Together he and Evan quickly reached out through social media and other channels to interview a large number of the protesters and eyewitnesses and deter- mine what had happened outside the restaurant in Oakland. Their exhaustive fact-gathering involved many long phone conversations, as well as a careful review of photos and videos of the protests. What they found was that the demonstrators had protested the mural peacefully, and lawfully. Several carried posters with photos of the young men murdered by Odeh and messages urging the restaurant and onlookers to honor the victims of terrorism, not their murderer. And they did so in the public space of the shopping center plazas. Assisted by Mintz attorney Paul Huston, Mitch and Evan responded to the lawsuit in part by filing an anti-SLAPP motion—SLAPP standing for “strategic lawsuit against public participation.” These motions are filed in response to lawsuits whose purpose is to discourage people from exercis- ing their rights. If an anti-SLAPP motion is granted, the case is dismissed and the plaintiff must pay for the defendants’ attorneys’ fees, which often deters plaintiffs from filing lawsuits frivolously. After learning that the Mintz team’s anti-SLAPP motion would likely be heard before the scheduled trial date, the plaintiff immediately dismissed the entire case. “If the trial had proceeded on the merits of the plaintiff’s application, the case could have gone on for quite a while,” Mitch said. Evan was particularly interested in this case because it involved a fundamental constitutional right. “We never argued that the owner of the bakery had no right to put up a politically controversial mural, but argued that people have a right to voice their opposition to it,” he said. “I wouldn’t tolerate an attempt to take the mural down, but the plaintiff wanted the First Amendment to run in one direction,” Mitch said. Both the restaurant’s owner and the protesters, including Lumish, continue to exercise their rights. “We are thrilled for the respondents that this meritless lawsuit was dismissed and especially proud of our partnership with Mintz on this case. This is a prime example of what can be achieved when we partner with pro bono attorneys to help those in need of legal resources.” Yael Lerman Legal Department Director StandWithUs Standing Up for the First Amendment