How data on the crackdown on Gaza protests reflects the increasing repression of activist movements in the U.S.

 

Data shows Gaza protesters faced harsher punishments than Black Lives Matter protesters did just a few years ago. Experts tell Mondoweiss this is the result of pro-Israel bias and a backlash against protest movements that has been building for years.

Protests over the unfolding genocide in Gaza erupted across the U.S. in 2023, quickly becoming the largest mass demonstration since Black Lives Matter a few years earlier. In both cases, the protest movements took aim at state violence and oppression against marginalized groups.  

Deeper scrutiny of the protests and law enforcement response reveals how the U.S. government at all levels has escalated its repressive tactics during the last five years. One telling statistic shows how a strong majority of cases filed against Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 were dropped or dismissed, but the crackdown on Gaza demonstrators has grown even more draconian and resulted in harsher punishments.  

Why is this?

While the protest movements’ contexts preclude a direct apples-to-apples comparison, around 100 legal observers and attorneys who discussed the issue with Mondoweiss say the escalation reflects pro-Israel bias in the political system, a strengthening of anti-protest tactics, and a conservative shift in the nation’s attitude about law enforcement. 

The shift is part of a broader pattern of political opponents to social justice movements building upon anti-protest strategies across Standing Rock, Black Lives Matter, Cop City, and Gaza protests, said Stefanie Fox, executive director of Jewish Voice For Peace. 

The goal, civil rights advocates say, is to silence dissent. 

“It is clear evidence of an escalating war on protest that the right wing has been waging for the past few decades,” said Fox, who protested at Standing Rock. She sees “vestiges of lawfare to take down water protectors at Standing Rock directly being used against anti-genocide protesters.”

“And the Gaza protests will be used by the right to sharpen new tools that will then be used against all of our communities and all social movements,” Fox added. The theory is supported by the escalation of tactics against ICE protesters currently being witnessed in Minneapolis and elsewhere.  (more...)

How data on the crackdown on Gaza protests reflects the increasing repression of activist movements in the U.S.

Trump targets two Muslim Congresswomen with deportation call after State of Union clash

 

In a fresh display of hostility toward dissent, US President Donald Trump has demanded the deportation of two Muslim members of Congress after they challenged him during his State of the Union address.

Trump demanded on Wednesday that Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar be expelled from the United States following their vocal protest during his address to Congress on Tuesday evening.

The two Democratic lawmakers interrupted the speech - the longest-ever address of its kind - to condemn Trump’s immigration policies, shouting, “You have killed Americans!” before leaving the chamber.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump attacked them personally, writing, “When people can behave like that, and knowing that they are Crooked and Corrupt Politicians, so bad for our Country, we should send them back from where they came — as fast as possible.”

Omar, originally from Somalia, has held US citizenship for nearly 30 years, while Tlaib, a Palestinian American born in Detroit, has been a citizen since birth. Under US law, neither can be deported to an ancestral country.

Tlaib pushed back on X, stating, “Can't take two Muslims talking back and correcting him so now he is crashing out. #PresidentMajnoon,” using an Arabic phrase meaning “mad” president.

The clash underscored ongoing friction between the White House and progressive lawmakers critical of the administration.  (more...)

Trump targets two Muslim Congresswomen with deportation call after State of Union clash

Kamala SECRET Report REVEALED!

 

The Gaza genocide was THE issue.

Over 900 Cases of Palestine solidarity repression recorded in Britain

An advocacy group says it recorded more than 900 incidents of repression targeting Palestine solidarity activists across Britain in the past six years.

Palestinian solidarity in Britain is being "silenced, criminalised and sanctioned," according to the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), with more than 900 documented incidents of repression reported over the past six years.

The group, in collaboration with research agency Forensic Architecture, launched what it calls an "Index of Repression," cataloguing cases ranging from employment dismissals to arrests.

According to the ELSC, individuals have faced smears, disinformation campaigns, harassment, doxing, visa cancellations, financial blacklisting, job losses, and arrest. The group said many of these actions were justified by allegations of antisemitism or support for terrorism. The index identifies police (220 incidents), educational institutions (192), pro-"Israel" advocacy groups (141), and journalists and other media actors (141) as the primary "actors of repression."

Students, academics, and teachers accounted for the highest number of recorded cases (336 incidents), followed by activists and organisers (229). Artists and cultural workers were frequently affected by event cancellations, with 71 such incidents documented.  (more...)

Over 900 Cases of Palestine solidarity repression recorded in Britain

Emailing police isn’t a crime: Zionist Lawfare and suppression of dissent

 

Yves Engler and lawyers Barbara Bedont and John Philpott discuss Engler's recent conviction for promoting an Action Alert email campaign to the police in response to charges of "harassing" Israel advocate Dahlia Kurtz. They discussed the recent appeal and the implications of the case.

Rights group finds six-year pattern of 'anti-Palestinian repression' across UK

 

A legal rights organization has documented a “systematic effort” to suppress pro-Palestine solidarity movements in Britain, recording nearly 1,000 incidents over the past six years that reveal an entrenched pattern of “anti-Palestinian repression.”

The European Legal Support Center (ELSC) said it verified 964 cases between 2019 and August 2025 involving arrests, workplace sanctions, visa revocations, university investigations and event cancellations linked to expressions of solidarity with Palestinians.

Working with researchers from Forensic Architecture, the group published the cases in an “Index of Repression,” a public database intended to map patterns across institutions, including universities, employers, cultural venues and government bodies.

According to the ELSC, the incidents reflect coordinated pressure aimed at framing Palestine advocacy as a security concern rather than a legitimate political position. The organization argues that the impact stretches from campuses to workplaces, creating a chilling effect on public expression.

Among the cases highlighted is a student at the University of Warwick who was arrested after displaying a protest sign during a campus rally in late 2023.  (more...)

Rights group finds six-year pattern of 'anti-Palestinian repression' across UK

The filth business

 

A history of repression in Canada. Yves Engler is the latest victim. Mark Carney wants a Zionist Palestine state. And Canadians see the US as their main threat. And why wouldn't they?

Epstein, Chomsky, & The Politics of Betrayal

 

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, author, & theologian Chris Hedges returns to Bad Faith to engage in a spirited debate about how to act  now that liberal incrementalism has led to incremental fascism. Why does it feel like so much left discourse is explaining why we aren't ready to act?: Insufficient union density, insufficient political consciousness, insufficient organization? Also, Hedges discusses his viral commentary on Epstein's relationship with Noam Chomsky, why he's not a Marxist, and more.

Resistance101: Forging a New Movement for Palestine in Italy

 

With little hope of the genocide in Gaza subsiding, dock workers in major Italian port cities have organized strikes and large demonstrations to halt arms shipments to Israel. These actions are a direct response to the refusal of international institutions and governments around the world to confront the carnage. Though the genocide continues, the dockworkers’ industrial disruption offer us a model of resistance. Will the Italian way spread to the imperial core — and can it end the genocide?

Strategic Incapacitation: Toronto Police and Protests

 

Two Toronto based Legal Observers from the Orange Hats (https://orangehats.noblogs.org/main-pages/meet-the-orange-hats/)  return to give us details on the tactics Toronto Police are using to try to bring down the Palestinian Solidarity Movement.

Tasked with keeping an eye on cops during protests and other actions, Gisela and Leon have lots of stories to tell. Together the group recently issued a 2025 Year-In-Review (https://orangehats.noblogs.org/general/orange-hats-2025-report-on-toronto-police-service-conduct-at-protests/)  on Toronto Police Services conduct at protests. The report includes statistics on injuries and arrests; it warns of trends in policing; and it points to a clear strategy to suppress the activities of activists - and legal observers. 

Its not all bad news. Thanks to their experience, the Orange Hats are a great source of advice for organizers and activists - or anyone coming into contact with Police.

How can tech help Palestine? | Panel discussion with Paul Biggar

 

At Web Summit Qatar in Doha, Middle East Eye’s Mohamed Hashem sits down with Paul Biggar, founder of Tech for Palestine, to examine the big tech industry’s role in the genocide in Gaza. Biggar asserts that major corporations, including Google, Microsoft, and Palantir, are directly complicit by providing the technical infrastructure used by Israel to carry out crimes against humanity.

The discussion explores the systemic shift of tech power over the last two decades, detailing howcoll the sector has moved from an alternative ecosystem to one that aligns with billionaire interests and government oppression. Biggar outlines the necessity of "ethical tech" that prioritises human rights over profit and explains how Tech for Palestine operates as an incubator for advocacy projects, including widespread boycott and divestment tools.

Corporate backing of Israeli regime fuels global indifference to Gaza genocide: Journalist

 

The sheer indifference of the world to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza largely stems from the fact that the world’s largest corporations support Israel, says an analyst.

Agnieszka Piwar, an independent journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author based in Poland, said in an interview with the Press TV website that global corporations finance both the media and a significant portion of political elites, shaping the narrative and limiting the scope of permissible criticism.

“As a result, we are witnessing systemic self-censorship: journalists and politicians remain silent or downplay Israel’s crimes, even though the tragedy in Gaza is documented in real time and visible to the entire world — and anyone who dares to speak the truth, myself included, faces pressure and ostracism,” she said.

Piwar is the author of “The Holocaust of the Palestinians” (Holokaust Palestyńczyków in Polish), a book that chronicles the plight of people living under brutal military occupation and traces the roots of the genocide currently unfolding in Gaza.

Published by Wydawnictwo 3DOM in 2025, the book amplifies Palestinian voices through vivid testimonies from those whose lives have been shaped by resistance to the Israeli occupation.

Writing the book, she said, has been a form of her “personal protest against the lies and manipulation in the media.”  (more...)

Corporate backing of Israeli regime fuels global indifference to Gaza genocide: Journalist

“Arms Embargo Now”: Canada called out over Israel arms shipments

 

Nearly 50 people protested in Montreal on January 30, at complexe Desjardins. The demonstration happened during Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand's visit to the city, which organizers and protesters said highlighted trade and economic partnerships, while Canadian weapons components continue reaching Israel. Protesters denounced her complicity and shared concerns about the lack of compliance with international law amid ongoing violence in Palestine. The event, which was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement Montreal chapter, called for an arms embargo and the passage of Bill C-233, which would close U.S. loopholes used for arms and weapons exports. Protesters are also planning a nationwide actions on February 17 to pressure members of parliament ahead of the parliamentary vote on February 25.

An Engineer Was Fired After Speaking Out for Palestine. Now He’s Suing His Former Employer

 

Palestinian-Canadian Amjad Ramadan is seeking nearly $400,000 in damages after he was abruptly terminated by NTN Canada, the manufacturing company he’d worked at for 15 years. He was fired soon after a video clip circulated online of him protesting outside an Indigo bookstore

A 52-year-old father of five in Brampton is suing his former employer for wrongful dismissal and violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code, alleging that the company discriminated against him on the basis of his expression of Palestinian identity and solidarity.

On Jan. 15, Amjad Ramadan, a Canadian citizen of Palestinian origin, launched a lawsuit against NTN Bearing Corporation of Canada, an Ontario-based manufacturer of ball bearings and other automotive parts. 

In a detailed statement of claim viewed by The Grind, Ramadan says that he was treated in a “discriminatory and humiliating manner” by his employer in response to his efforts to raise awareness about the humanitarian situation in Gaza during Israel’s retaliation to the Oct. 7 attacks. This began in fall 2023 and culminated in early 2025 when NTN fired Ramadan following an online pressure campaign.

“This has been the worst year of my life,” Ramadan told The Grind in a video call. 

“What they did to me has had a great impact on my mental health, on my physical health and on my reputation. It has done irreparable damage to my reputation, and has affected my family and my loved ones around me. It turned my life upside down.”  (more...)

An Engineer Was Fired After Speaking Out for Palestine. Now He’s Suing His Former Employer

Social Media as a Site of Resistance: Reclaiming Our Digital Power

 

In a world where protest is met with surveillance, social media has become both a battleground and a lifeline. For many, it is the only space left to document injustice, organize communities, and tell stories that mainstream media refuses to carry. Yet the very platforms that claim to “connect the world”  the Metas and TikToks of our time are far from neutral. They are infrastructures of control, built to measure and monetize our attention.

What began as digital connection has become a marketplace of distraction. Every notification, every scroll, every algorithmic “suggestion” is designed to keep us inside the feed — feeding it in return. The business model is simple: capture attention, convert emotion, and sell both to the highest bidder. Our presence has become a product.

Behind the feed, invisible power moves quietly. The same financial giants who fund weapons manufacturers, surveillance tech, and fossil fuel corporations BlackRock, Vanguard, and their peers also own vast shares of the platforms shaping our digital lives. The pipelines of profit run from our timelines to global systems of extraction and exploitation.

When we post, teach, or protest online, we’re forced into contradiction. We use the tools of the very structures we resist. We depend on platforms that surveil, censor, and profit from our pain — even as we try to build something better. Digital resistance, then, is not only about what we say online. It’s about how we exist online. It is the act of reclaiming the terrain of our attention.  (more...)

Social Media as a Site of Resistance: Reclaiming Our Digital Power

As TikTok falls into Zionist hands, UpScrolled fills the vacuum to give voice to Palestine

The genocide in Gaza, raging since October 2023, has been a brutal war against an occupied population, resulting in over 70,000 fatalities. The Lancet and, more recently, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories suggest the real toll is far higher.

Francesca Albanese recently asserted that the actual death toll from the Israeli genocidal offensive on Gaza could be as high as 680,000, most of them women and children.

We have all witnessed the unimaginable destruction inflicted upon Gaza’s institutions of learning, healthcare, and worship throughout these more than two years. It has not only been a physical assault but also a war against truth and justice, revealing the true nature of the Israeli regime as a warmonger, as its propaganda – its hasbara – lies in tatters.

Yet, one critical lesson from the global struggle against anti-Palestinian hate and injustice is that oppressors, once defeated, do not simply surrender. They fight back fiercely, while those who advocate for justice often return to their everyday lives, trying to navigate an inherently abnormal world.

Take the case of TikTok, which gained significant recognition for amplifying factual perspectives about Israel and its ruthless military – widely regarded as one of the most immoral armies in the world – and their killings of Palestinian women and children, which has been widely recognized as genocide.

So, how did authorities in the US respond to TikTok? They launched a campaign against the platform, claiming, among other things, that it posed a security risk – fearing that China could access user data or manipulate the algorithm.

US President Donald Trump acknowledged TikTok’s value during his recent electoral campaigns, and through vile threats, propaganda, and legal measures, he sought to seize the platform to serve his political agenda and that of the Israeli regime.

Then, in September 2025, evidence emerged confirming these suspicions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was secretly recorded boasting to a group of influencers at Israel’s Consulate General in New York that TikTok was “the most important purchase going on right now.” He also described X (formerly Twitter) as key “weapons” in Israel’s arsenal.  (more...)

As TikTok falls into Zionist hands, UpScrolled fills the vacuum to give voice to Palestine

Simple concept.
Somehow revolutionary. 😎
You build an audience.
The algorithm shouldn’t decide who sees you.
Chronological feeds.
No shadowbans.
Your voice. 🗣️ Your choice.#UpScrolled #NoShadowbans pic.twitter.com/Oc8zJqLJ2a

— UpScrolled (@realUpScrolled) January 19, 2026

Inside PAJU’s weekly solidarity for Palestine

 

Montreal is Canada's most pro-Palestinian city. Solidarity. Spartacus.

Ontario Solicitor General Calls for Heavier Policing of Palestine Protests While Charges Keep Dropping

 

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have been detained, arrested or charged since October 2023. Only two have been convicted, while most have charges withdrawn, stayed or discharged.

In late December, Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner sent a letter to the Toronto Police Service (TPS) calling for a crackdown on what he described as “hate, intimidation and harassment-motivated offences.” In the letter, Kerzner specifically cited Palestine solidarity demonstrations, describing a peaceful demonstration inside the Eaton Centre as a “mob intimidation and harassment,” and denouncing protests near Bathurst and Sheppard.

In response, TPS Chief Myron Demkiw highlighted the fact that police have arrested more than 460 people and laid more than 1,000 charges related to protests and potentially hate-motivated offenses over the past two years.

Legal experts worry that this type of pressure will encourage TPS to further criminalize protest movements and limit civil liberties. “Any left-wing protest is packed to the brim with police ready to brutalize and harass participants,” criminal defence lawyer Matthew Campbell-Williams told The Grind. He describes Kerzner’s letter as “ridiculous,” pointing out that the vast majority of the charges laid against protesters at Palestine or Indigenous solidarity rallies have not been held up in court. “The reason is very clear: they are criminalizing protests with bogus charges to scare people from speaking up,” Campbell-Williams says.  (more...)

Ontario Solicitor General Calls for Heavier Policing of Palestine Protests While Charges Keep Dropping

Trump aims to create new UN and own it, Brazil’s Lula warns

 

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has criticized US President Donald Trump for attempting to create a new United Nations and be the sole owner of the international body.

“Instead of fixing” the United Nations, “what’s happening? President Trump is proposing to create a new UN where only he is the owner,” Lula said in a speech at an event on Friday.

Lula sounded the alarm about the new world order Trump is creating, warning that the international community is facing a “very critical” political moment in global dynamics, with multilateralism being forced out in favor of US unilateralism.

He warned that “the UN charter is being torn” to pieces by Trump.

Lula said Trump is replacing the UN charter with “the law of the jungle” in reference to his use of the US military to press Washington’s demands.  (more...)

Trump aims to create new UN and own it, Brazil’s Lula warns

Decolonizing The World

 

Palestine, Professor Amin Husain says, is the blueprint for a future that embraces traditional colonialism carried out through violence and erasure.