On Saturday 8 June hundreds of thousands of people are expected to demonstrate on the 15th march for Palestine in London since Israel began its genocidal assault on Gaza in October 2023. This time the march takes place in the midst of the UK general election, in which millions of people who support justice for the Palestinian people will be carefully weighing up the voting records and policies of candidates from all parties:
Assembly point confirmed – National march for Palestine Russel Square, London Saturday, 8 June, 12:30PM
Join us for this on Saturday. With the general election looming, lets show all political parties that they must act to #StopGazaGenocide if they want our vote. pic.twitter.com/h9VNq0ZQVU
Putting Israel and Palestine on the general election map
Israelâs prolonged and brutal attack on Gaza, judged by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to be a plausible case of genocide, has killed more than 36,000 people, with thousands more missing, presumed dead. Earlier this week an Israeli bombing of an UNRWA school killed at least 40 people including children.
Israel has severely restricted humanitarian supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip in violation of international law. UN agencies have warned this week that one million people face the highest level of starvation by mid-July.
Despite this, the British government has refused even to halt arms exports to Israel or to restore funding to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, the only agency on the ground capable of providing aid at scale.
The demonstration on Saturday will be attended by a range of groups, including large student, trade union, medical worker, and Jewish blocs. Speakers will include Chris Smalls (President of the Amazon Labor Union, America), Michael Rosen (poet and author), Juliet Stevenson (actress), and George the Poet (writer and podcaster).
Political leaders must act
Ben Jamal, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) director, said :
The massacre this week at a school in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, is another horrifying chapter in Israelâs genocide. The failure of political leaders in the UK to condemn it or even comment, demonstrates the extent to which the political establishment is prepared to normalise Israelâs massacres.
But the extent of popular protest against this complicity is growing not diminishing. This election will see the issue of justice for the Palestinian people on the election agenda like never before. PSC will be issuing its election demands of candidates next week. Tomorrow, we expect again to be joined by hundreds of thousands bringing that call for change and an end to UK complicity in Israelâs crimes, once more to Londonâs streets.
Gaza is now home to the highest number of child amputees in the world, a devastating consequence of the ongoing conflict. This grim reality underscores the urgent need for an immediate, permanent ceasefire.
This demonstration is particularly significant as it will be the first since the general election was called. It presents a crucial opportunity to demand that our leaders prioritise peace and end arms sales to Israel that perpetuate this cycle of violence.
Join us to raise our voices and call on our political leaders to act. The demonstration will be a powerful statement of our collective demand for a ceasefire and an end to the arms sales that perpetuate this cycle of violence.
Berlin, June 7, 2024âGerman authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate the recent police attack on video journalist Ignacio Rosaslanda, ensure the responsible police officers are held to account, and drop all criminal investigations against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
Police beat and detained Ignacio Rosaslanda, a video journalist for daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung, as he reported on policeâs eviction of more than 150 pro-Palestinian protesters occupying a building at the Humboldt University in Berlin on May 23, according to newsreports, a recording of the incident published by the outlet, and Rosaslanda, who spoke with CPJ.
Police summoned Rosaslanda on Thursday, questioned him for three hours, and told the journalist he was being investigated for resisting police action, causing bodily harm to police, and trespassing. Rosaslanda told CPJ he denies the charges. If charged and convicted, Rosaslanda faces up to three years imprisonment, according to the criminal code.
âGerman authorities must investigate the officers responsible for attacking video journalist Ignacio Rosaslanda while he was covering a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Humboldt University in Berlin,â said Attila Mong, CPJâs Europe representative. âJournalists must be allowed to cover events of public interest without police interference or fear that they will be charged for simply doing their jobs.â
Video journalist Ignacio Rosaslanda wearing a press badge in the elevator before documenting the protest at Humboldt University in Berlin on May 23, 2024. (Photo: Ignacio Rosaslanda)
Rosaslanda, who was wearing press insignia and carrying a camera, was filming as police broke through barricades in the building to clear out protesters, according to the reports and the journalist. An officer assigned him a corner to film from, which he did until another officer grabbed him from behind and pushed him to the ground. In the recording, a helmeted officer repeatedly beat the journalist, hitting Rosaslanda twice in the head, as he repeatedly said, âI am press.â
The journalist was handcuffed and detained with the protestors for around three or four hours before he was released. Rosaslanda was treated in an emergency room for multiple abrasions and hematomas over his left ear and on his face, chest, and left arm.
Rosaslanda told CPJ he filed a criminal complaint against police for the attack and denial of treatment while detained but had not received any further updates as of Friday. A police spokesperson told Berliner Zeitung on May 30, that they had started investigating two officers on suspicion of assault, one in connection with an injured Berliner Zeitung journalist.
A spokesperson for Berlin police told CPJ via email that they could not provide further details about the investigation due to privacy and data protection regulations.
This week on CounterSpin: Surprising no one, Donald Trump and his sycophants responded to his 34-count conviction on charges of lying in business records by claiming that the trial was ârigged,â the judge and jury corrupt, that it was somehow Joe Bidenâs doing, and âyou know who else was persecuted? Jesus Christ.â Trump publicly calling the judge a âdevil,â and Bible-thumping House Speaker Mike Johnson and others showing up at the courthouse in Trump cosplay, were just some of the irregular, shall we say, elements of this trial. It is a moment to examine the right-wing media that have fomented this scary nonsense, but also to look to reporting from the so-called âmainstreamâ to go beyond the âsome say, others differâ pablum we often see. Weâll talk with Matt Gertz, senior fellow at Media Matters, about press response to the trial and the verdict.
Also on the show: For some people the violent police crackdown on peaceful college students protesting their schoolsâ investments in Israelâs war on Palestinians has been eye-opening. For others, itâs one more example of the employment of law enforcement to brutally enforce corporate power. The fight led by Indigenous women against the Dakota Access pipeline is not long enough ago to have been forgotten. Weâll hear a bit from an August 2017 interview with North Dakota organizer Kandi Mossett.
This post was originally published on CounterSpin.
A council has pulled the plug on an arms manufacturer’s planning permission; one that has been complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Brighton and Hove City Councilâs Planning Committee met on Wednesday 5 June to consider the permanent retention of a temporary extension to a building owned by arms manufacturer L3Harris at Home Farm Business Centre.
Stop L3Harris are pleased the council have unanimously opted to vote with their conscience and deny this extension.
Brighton stops L3Harris
Planning permission for the site in Home Farm Road was temporarily given for five years from 2018, but it expired in September 2023.
While L3Harris has been operating without planning consent, Israel has killed over 37,000 Palestinians in Gaza alone, including more than 15,000 children. The actual number killed is much much higher â many people have not been included in the death count due to being either under the rubble or unidentifiable.
Brighton’s Campaign Against the Arms Trade has evidenced that many of these deaths are directly linked to indiscriminate bombing made possible by the use of the bomb release mechanisms made in Brighton.  This is contributing to residents of all denominations and none feeling unsafe and the Council has upheld its duty to protect its citizens and their right to family life.
In a deputation inside the meeting, Maude Casey, a representative of Brighton Migrant Solidarity and the Stop L3Harris campaign shared statements from a Palestinian member of the community and a Jewish member of the community, both of whom have loved ones in Gaza.
A demonstration attended by over 100 people took place outside Hove Town Hall during the Planning Committee council meeting to show support for the representative speaking. This also includes an art installation of hundreds of names of children written on ribbons who have been killed in Gaza since October 7.
Complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza
Herbie, a Jewish Palestinian activist and Moulsecoomb resident, said:
I can see L3Harris factory on Home Farm Road from my house. Living across the road from a factory thatâs profiting from the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza has contributed to my declining mental health over the last 8 months.
It haunts me knowing that my Gazan friendsâ families could be killed at any moment, by weapons made in a factory in eyesight from my kitchen. I feel powerless and hopeless and have had to go on antidepressants to cope with my plummeting mental health. Please, shut it down.
Nidaa, a Palestinian Brighton constituent said:
Iâm a Palestinian woman living in Brighton with my family. It deeply saddens me knowing thereâs an arms manufacturer on our doorstep. This mustnât be normalised and they need to shut down immediately.
My family in Gaza have been deeply affected by the use of chemical weapons by the occupation. They killed a four year old girl and her dad in front of her mum and six year old sister. The little girl canât forget what happened to her sister and her dad. Lots of sad stories in Gaza. All of them have been told to stay in the safe places they asked them to move to and after they bomb the place.
Strong opposition in Brighton
The application was open to public consultation from December 2023, and received 655 comments â 651 objections, and only two in support. A petition with over 1,400 signatures was submitted. Originally, the extension was to be reviewed in March, but the committee was delayed while councillors sought legal advice.
Members of the local community have been protesting outside of Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee Meeting every month since March. They have also taken action at the factory on Home Farm Road, held a Peace Camp for five weeks at the bottom of Home Farm Road and disrupted the last council meeting demanding that Brighton and Hove City Council.
L3Harris is the 12th largest arms manufacturer in the world, and is making huge profits from Israel’s war on Palestinians, supplying Israel with bomb release mechanisms for its F-35 and F-15 fighter jets.
Lucy from the Stop L3Harris Campaign said:
The decision is a landmark victory, sending the message that people in Brighton and Hove will not be complicit in genocide â but there is much more to be done to shut down L3Harris in our city for good, and to end the UKâs wider support of Israelâs massacre of Palestinian civilians.
This is a small and important first step taken by our council, the next will be to ensure they work with Paxton, the landlords of L3Harris to evict L3Harris immediately for undertaking activity which is illegal under international humanitarian law.
Featured image via Brighton Against The Arms Trade
In a unanimous verdict delivered on Wednesday 5 June by a jury at Guildford Crown Court, Just Stop Oil supporters Nathan McGovern, Rosa Sharkey, and Louis Hawkins were found not guilty of causing criminal damage exceeding ÂŁ5,000 over their fossil fuel, climate crisis protest.
Just Stop Oil: not guilty
During the trial, Judge Sellers ruled that none of the defence’s three arguments would be allowed for the jury to consider. Despite this, the 12 member jury made a factual determination and found all three defendants not guilty.
On 28 April 2022, Just Stop Oil supporters blocked the entrances to Clacket Lane Services on the M25 by sitting in the road with Just Stop Oil banners. They also decommissioned the petrol pumps by breaking the display glass and covering it with spray paint. This action was taken in support of their demand for the UK government to end all new oil and gas projects in the country.
The verdict flies in the face of a previous court ruling.
As the Canary previously reported, following a pattern of jury acquittals of environmental defenders and anti-genocide activists, which exposes the media fiction that the British governmentâs âcrackdown on protestâ is in any way democratic, the Court of Appeal in March backed the Attorney Generalâs call to remove what was for many their last remaining line of legal defence.
It has ruled that mass loss of life from climate breakdown and the governmentâs failure to act on the science are irrelevant to the circumstances of an action, for the purposes of the defence of consent to damage to property. That is â protesters deeply-held and factual beliefs are no defence.
This case was one such example of where that applied. However, clearly the jury were unconcerned.
Nathan McGovern spoke about the outcome:
Despite Attorney General rulings, despite losing every legal defence, despite the Conservative Party demonising those taking action to protect our communities from the crimes of oil companies – 12 ordinary members of the public have returned a resounding not guilty verdict.
This is a clear sign that the British public sides with those taking action to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown, not BP or the Tory party.
From a jury in the heart of England, this could not make it clearer where the public lies on the need to end fossil fuels and protect all life.
At a Palestine demonstration in Cardiff cops were out doing what cops do best: being racist, ableist tools of the racist, ableist state.
Cardiff comes out for Palestine
On Monday 3 June, pro-Palestine protesters turned out to demonstrate against Israel’s abhorrent genocide in Gaza:
HAPPENING NOW! WE WILL NOT REST UNTIL PALESTINE IS FREE!
We make this country ungovernable as long as this country is committed to funding the genocide of the Palestinians! pic.twitter.com/oJjt2Baeqe
â Black Lives Matter Cardiff&Vale (@BLMCardiff) June 3, 2024
As Wales Onlinereported, protesters blockaded a Cardiff city centre A road, bringing rush-hour traffic “to a standstill”. Students from the Cardiff University encampment joined members of the community to rally against Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
In particular, they instigated the blockade in response to Israel’s massacre of displaced Palestinians in Rafah.
As the Canarypreviously reported, on 26 May, Israel rained down fire and death on displaced Gazans in a refugee camp. Naturally, the repentless murderous state did so just days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli war criminals, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Co-chair of Stop the War Cymru Lujane Abdalla toldWales Online that was precisely why protesters were there. She reminded the outlet that Israel has CONTINUED bombing Rafah with impunity:
The reason there was an emergency protest today and there was an emergency protest last week is because Israel has now started bombing Rafah, the only designated safe-zone in Gaza, and itâs the only safe-zone that Israel has asked the Palestinians to move to – they told them they will be safe and there will be no bombing there and no killing there.
What they did after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu (Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime minister) was attack the refugee camps in Rafah and they were bombing makeshift tents, with innocent women and children in these tents.
What we have to say is that nine months on, this isnât OK. It doesnât matter if youâre Palestinian or Arab, wherever you come from, we should all be appalled at what is going on. This is why weâre coming out, to tell people that they should also be coming out, demanding the UK stops arming Israel and demanding that the UK calls for a ceasefire, just like so many other countries have.
Violent policing of peaceful protest
Of course, where pro-Palestine protesters appear, racist cops are never far behind. People on X reported how the police arrested between 15 to 17 peaceful protesters blockading the road:
Free them all
South Wales police were brutal in their treatment towards protestors tonight. Pushing and throwing protestors of the stairs.
police in cardiff tonight arrested 17 protestors of palestinian genocide, including 7 students, in what was an entirely peaceful protest , and they arrested them brutally . this country’s institutions have blood on their hands and i want that to be KNOWN . acab . https://t.co/RsWjEC2jl1
In classic cop fashion, the police targeted a disabled protester. Reports vary, but between eight to ten police violently arrested the protester as he was moving off the road:
CALL TO ACTION! OUTSIDE CARDIFF BAY POLICE STATION NOW!
DISABLED CARDIFF PALESTINE ACTIVIST ARRESTED BY 8 POLICE OFFICERS!
Protestors were retreating from the road when suddenly the police grabbed the activist from behind! They then proceeded to push all the protestors pic.twitter.com/pZKp1ZCvS0
â Black Lives Matter Cardiff&Vale (@BLMCardiff) June 3, 2024
one of those arrested last night was a disabled man who requires a cane to walk, and these pigs needed 10 of them just to arrest him. fuck cardiff cops https://t.co/2Qs41XAr0h
Unsurprisingly, as per usual, the police’s raging institutional ableism was on show. Despicably, they forced the pro-Palestine protester to walk without his mobility aid:
â John Urquhart #AintAsking đ ż (@TheDryhtscipe) June 3, 2024
Predictably, the police were ready to make up any old drivel to arrest him too:
from behind by 8 police officers (last slide) when we had retreated and were ready to leave. In fact the speech just before the arrest had actually told the police we were leaving. Their justification was he was using the megaphone to shout in the officer’s ears. pic.twitter.com/FJWLi1hMpL
â Black Lives Matter Cardiff&Vale (@BLMCardiff) June 4, 2024
Did I forget to mention rampant misogyny and Islamophobia? Because Cardiff cops had that covered too, naturally:
SOUTH WALES POLICE ARE OUT OF CONTROL! THEY WILL NOT INTIMIDATE US!
THEY HAVE BARRICADED THE STATION AND THROWN NUMEROUS WOMAN TO THE FLOOR AS WELL AS ARRESTING A PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST. pic.twitter.com/xiEUZB4LiZ
â Black Lives Matter Cardiff&Vale (@BLMCardiff) June 3, 2024
In the second video they aggressively escalate a situation with four young women who were only requesting not to be pushed – the response of the police was to grab a five foot student and drag her into the building. They also attempted to pull the hijab of one of the protestors.
â Black Lives Matter Cardiff&Vale (@BLMCardiff) June 4, 2024
On top of this, according to Black Lives Matter Cardiff & Vale, police ramped up their racist abuse in holding cells. Of course, this was out of sight of the cameras:
Inside the building they dragged protestors to cells and we are told we’re far more aggressive with the Black protestors in the building, where you can see them literally throw a young Black activist to the ground.
This is unacceptable.
â Black Lives Matter Cardiff&Vale (@BLMCardiff) June 4, 2024
Systemic bigotry
Yet while the state’s fascist pigs had numerous officers to protect the daily motorist rat-race, it somehow had none spare to stop motorcyclists literally attempting to ram through the crowd:
During this very protest, aggressive motorcyclists sought to run into our crowds made up students, women, children, and elderly
And they were allowed to intimidate and assault protestors
Yet, a peaceful protestor with a visible disability is arrested
Predictably, the state’s Zionist propaganda machine-come-local media conveniently omitted this detail:
Absolutely no mention whatsoever that a motorcyclist attempted to drive through the protest and threatened to run people over, obviously, but there’s room to whine about late buses. https://t.co/pXXlfQddHU
â John Urquhart #AintAsking đ ż (@TheDryhtscipe) June 4, 2024
However, as one poster rightly pointed out, the cops behaviour is neither unusual, nor anything new:
The idea that somehow the police outside of England (or London really…) are less shite because of broader power dynamics b/t Scotland, Wales and England should be thrown into the bin. Scottish police are shite. just like welsh police are shite just like met police are shite. https://t.co/2eXqppWCpS
â aerin اŮŘąŮŮ #CeasefireNow (@penwingcries) June 4, 2024
Because ultimately, it’s not just a case of a few “rotten apples”, as the toxic establishment and its corporate media sycophants would have you believe. Rather, the bigotry is systemic:
Read this thread. The stories in our report “In Our Millions” only go up to 1 May but campaigners’ experience of repressive policing continues. https://t.co/LWndyi7Aw5
Specifically, Netpol referred to its report from May which found that:
there is ample evidence supporting the accusation of racist and Islamophobic policing. This was significantly more intense during protests in late 2023. Overall, there has been a pattern of racial profiling at demonstrations that has included not only the targeting of Palestinians or Arabic-speaking protesters but also Black and brown children and young people in a way that has reinforced established patterns of racist policing
There’s a four letter acronym for this phenomenon, which one X poster dared not spell out in letters, lest old Musk-y boy threw a hissy on his pet Zionist-amplifying hell-site. Though we did catch that numerical cipher:
If I say what I want to say about tonight, Elon will kick me off this app. 1312. https://t.co/x6hYdMVNyy
Don’t worry though, the Canary isn’t a media site to hedge on injustice, and isn’t about to equivocate now: ACAB.
Rattled the cops
Following the arrests, the good pro-Palestine people of Cardiff stepped up the solidarity. Folks flooded the police station in support of Neezo, the disabled protester who the police had violently arrested:
Disgusting that Neezo has been arrested. I’ve met Neezo at the Swansea marches. He is a lovely man. A humanitarian whose only crime is wanting the death to stop. #FreePalestine
Clearly, protesters showing up rattled the cops, because they quickly closed ranks around the station:
SOUTH WALES POLICE ARE OUT OF CONTROL! THEY WILL NOT INTIMIDATE US!
THEY HAVE BARRICADED THE STATION AND THROWN NUMEROUS WOMAN TO THE FLOOR AS WELL AS ARRESTING A PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST. pic.twitter.com/xiEUZB4LiZ
â Black Lives Matter Cardiff&Vale (@BLMCardiff) June 3, 2024
from behind by 8 police officers (last slide) when we had retreated and were ready to leave. In fact the speech just before the arrest had actually told the police we were leaving. Their justification was he was using the megaphone to shout in the officer’s ears. pic.twitter.com/FJWLi1hMpL
â Black Lives Matter Cardiff&Vale (@BLMCardiff) June 4, 2024
Time and again, the cops keep showing their supremely racist ass on Gaza. However, they can’t, and won’t stop people turning out for Palestine. Until it is finally free, protesters of principle everywhere will continue risking their liberty regardless.
Local community leaders, artists, and Green Party councillors united to defend a pro-Palestine mural in Worcester, which is at risk of being torn down by Worcester City Council – under pressure from notorious UK Lawyers for Israel.
Heroes of Palestine not allowed to be honoured in Worcester
The ‘Heroes of Palestine’ mural, located in Lowesmoor, was created by artist Auberi Chen after Sam Iqbal, a local campaigner, successfully launched a fundraiser for the project on behalf of the Worcester Palestine Solidarity Campaign and art platform Creative Debuts.
The mural aims to honour Palestinian journalists who have risked their lives to show the reality of life in Gaza and Palestine to the world. It is in honour of two people in particular: one, a journalist and mother of two who was separated from her children for months during the conflict, and another, a nine-year-old budding journalist showing the perspective of Gaza’s children to the world.
Worcester City Council officers have deemed the mural an ‘advertisement’ and suggested that the landowners – Munchies, a fast food establishment – must seek retrospective planning consent to accommodate the artwork.
Campaigner Sam Iqbal and landowners believe that the council’s recent actions resulted from lobbying by UK Lawyers for Israel.
The council has given a 14 June deadline for responding to a letter it sent to the landowners about the mural and planning consent. More recently, it issued the following warning:
You should not assume that it will be possible to make changes to the mural so that it is no longer an advertisement without substantially changing the mural to the extent that it may be completely unrecognisable without meaning and not serving its original purpose.
‘Peaceful political art’
So, on Saturday 1 June people came together to oppose Worcester City Council’s plans and UK Lawyers for Israel’s pressuring:
Auberi Chen, mural artist, said of Heroes of Palestine:
The âHeroes of Palestineâ collection of murals has always been intended to raise awareness and are peaceful political art statements. Calum Hall from Creative Debuts (whose concept this project was) only wanted to spread positivity and awareness, which is why we are painting Palestinian heroes who are putting their safety at risk to document and share news of what is happening in Palestine.
It seems a shame that the council has been put under so much pressure to remove this mural from the UK Lawyers for Israel who are clearly trying to censor freedom of expression and speech.
The beauty about painting art in public spaces is that it is subjective and some people might not like a certain subject matter or (as in this case) when it is political they might have a different view, but everyone is allowed an opinion and a voice.
This mural is clearly trying to spread a positive message and the efforts the UK lawyers are going to â to have this mural removed â seem quite extreme and negative.
UK Lawyers for Israel: childrens’ art is ‘victimising’
UK Lawyers for Israel appear to be behind the lobbying of the council. This is a national trend as the group has identified Worcester, along with Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, and Lambeth, as locations where murals “promote divisiveness” – or rather, show the reality of the Zionist occupation. The prime example of this was kids’ artwork at Chelsea and Westminster hospital.
As the Guardian reported:
A display of artwork by Palestinian children at Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London has been removed after a complaint by a pro-Israel organisation [UK Lawyers for Israel], which said it made Jewish patients feel âvulnerable, harassed and victimisedâ.
Artist Sam Iqbal said of Worcester’s artwork:
UK Lawyers for Israel have made it clear on their website that they are behind pressuring the council about this artwork, stating it is classed as an advertisement of a cause. This is not an advert but artistic expression and a celebration of the strength of humanity.
There are multiple artworks across the city that actually do advertise products or services that have not had enforcement actions served on them – the double standard is very sad to see.
On 28 November 2023, Green councillors successfully passed a motion calling for the government to call a ceasefire.
All Greens voted in favour of the motion, but it only passed with the Mayor of Worcester’s additional casting vote. The Mayor was councillor Louis Stephen (the Green Party). Labour councillors tried to water down the motion, and Labour and Lib Dem councillors disputed that a genocide was happening.
Earlier this year, Stephen received a group of Palestinian children at the Guildhall.
Coffee and snack giant Pret a Manger has confirmed it has pulled out of plans to open 40 new stores in Israel. It comes after a successful Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) campaign against the brand – all against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Pret outta Israel
In 2022 UK coffee chain Pret a Manger signed a franchise agreement with Israeli conglomerate Fox Group and restaurant operator Yarzin Sella to open 40 stores in Israel over the next decade.
Activists and branches of Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) had begun to call for a boycott of Pret arguing that to invest in Israel as it conducts a genocide in Gaza and operates a system of apartheid over all Palestinians was unjustifiable and reprehensible:
It’s now been reported that Pret has gone back on this agreement, worth millions of pounds, and will not open Pret stores in Israel. The boycott campaign that had begun against Pret has forced it to reconsider and reverse a major business decision.
Fox had been planning to open Israel’s first Pret a Manger outlet in Tel Aviv towards the end of 2024. It has been reported recently that there has been major pressure from pro-Palestinian organizations that have threatened to boycott the network, if it does open in Israel. The plan has been to set up about 40 branches in Israel.
It also noted that Fox said in a statement:
On May 30, 2024, Pret A Manger announced its decision to cancel the license agreement, and this, according to it, due to the occurrence of a force majeure event as a result of the Iron Swords War and its effect on the company’s ability to carry out the preliminary actions required to open the activity according to the license agreement.
Israel is the subject of a global, Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement to force an end to its regime of settler-colonialism, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians:
Pret is the latest in a long line of companies withdrawing from, or reversing plans, to invest in Israel leading to financial and political isolation in much the same way as South Africa under the apartheid regime.
BDS and protest do work
For example, Palestine Action has successfully stopped a handful of companies working with arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. In an email to Palestine Action on 23 April, MLL Legalâs partner Dunja Koch confirmed the law firm is no longer working for Elbit Systems and will not do so in the future. This came after a two year direct action campaign which involved repeatedly spray painting the law firmâs London office.
In February, transportation giants Kuehne+Nagel (K+N) declared it had ended all ties with Israelâs largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, and would not be working with the company again in the future. It is one of only six companies licensed for the secure collection, delivery, and disposal of firearms and weapons in Britain.
Its sole recruiters, iO associates, the property managers of Elbitâs Shenstone factory Fisher German, and the website hosts for Elbitâs Leicester factory also dropped all ties with the Israeli weapons maker.
Ben Jamal, Director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, says:
This decision sends a message to all companies â if you provide support for Israelâs apartheid and genocide against Palestinians, you will face the strength of our movement who will boycott your products and protest at your stores. Israel has got away with crimes against humanity for too long.
The people of the world are holding Israel to account by refusing to let their spending or saving finance war crimes. Itâs high time our political leaders followed suit by ending arms sales, and financial and diplomatic support to Israel.
Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco was shoved with a baton by a New York City police officer while covering a pro-Palestinian protest in Manhattan on May 6, 2024.
Pacheco told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were reporting on a protest that began at Hunter College at 4 p.m. and marched toward the Met Gala, an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 15 blocks away. WCBS-TV reported that the protesters were stopped by police before they reached the museum.
At 1:10 in the WCBS-TV video report on the protests, police can be seen using batons to push multiple individuals who appear to be wearing press credentials and holding professional cameras. Pacheco confirmed that they were one of the journalists, and a second was identified as independent photojournalist Peter Hambrecht.
Pacheco reported on social media that as the march moved up Madison Avenue, police arrested multiple protesters and attacked members of the press with batons. In their footage, someone can be heard saying, âWeâre all press, stop pushing us!â
At least 8 arrests so far on Madison Ave between 83rd and 85th st. Police attack press with batons. Protesters are being snatched off the sides of the roads. pic.twitter.com/Chfkgc4y6R
Independent photojournalist Peter Hambrecht was shoved with a baton by a New York City police officer while covering a pro-Palestinian protest in Manhattan on May 6, 2024.
Hambrecht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting on a protest that began at Hunter College at 4 p.m. and marched toward the Met Gala, an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 15 blocks away. WCBS-TV reported that the protesters were stopped by police before they reached the museum.
At one point when police were making arrests, Hambrecht said, an officer tackled a demonstrator against a car near where he was standing.
âThe police really started aggressively pushing us back,â Hambrecht said. âThen an officer came with their club and just rams me on my side and slams me against a car. They tried to push me back onto the sidewalk, behind the car so I canât see what theyâre doing to this person.â
Hambrecht said it appeared to be a deliberate police strategy to obstruct the press, as he was standing alongside other journalists who were also forced out of view of the detainment.
At 1:10 in the WCBS-TV video report on the protests, police can be seen using batons to push multiple individuals who appear to be wearing press credentials and holding professional cameras, including Hambrecht and independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco.
Pacheco reported on social media that as the march moved up Madison Avenue, police arrested multiple protesters and attacked members of the press with batons. In their footage, someone can be heard saying, âWeâre all press, stop pushing us!â
At least 8 arrests so far on Madison Ave between 83rd and 85th st. Police attack press with batons. Protesters are being snatched off the sides of the roads. pic.twitter.com/Chfkgc4y6R
After beginning to document protests in early 2024, Hambrecht said, he has observed police singling out visual journalists. âEver since getting my city-issued pass Iâve noticed that they target the photographers and really they try to get you out of there and separate you.â
The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
At least a thousand pro-Palestinian protesters took over the Brooklyn Museum in New York on Friday, with a small group occupying the lobby while others unfurled banners on the facade of the building reading “Free Palestine: Divest from Genocide.” Police arrested at least 34 people, including Within Our Lifetime founder Nerdeen Kiswani, whose hijab was ripped off as officers tackled and arrested her. Democracy Now! was on the scene and spoke with protesters, who said that almost eight months into Israel’s brutal assault on the Gaza Strip, prominent institutions in the U.S. have an obligation to disclose their ties to the occupation and divest. “We are making it clear that we will continue to occupy institutions just like this one and call out individuals like the board of the Brooklyn Museum to make clear that their money and our money is being used for this genocide,” said Abdullah Akl, a member of Within Our Lifetime, a Palestinian-led community organization.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
On Monday 3 June Palestine Action upped the ante over genocide-enabling Barclays – by targetting two locations of the Israel-complicit bank.
Palestine Action: going after Barclays again
Overnight, Palestine Action activists targeted the Bradford and Bolton branches of Barclays, investors in Israel’s largest weapons firm – Elbit Systems. This was Bolton:
Activists left windows smashed and sprayed the banks red, marking them with a symbol of Palestinian bloodshed. This was Bradford:
Barclays Bank holds over ÂŁ1bn in shares and provides over ÂŁ3bn in loans and underwriting to nine companies whose weapons, components, and military technology are being used by Israel in its genocidal attacks on Palestinians.
Complicit in Israel’s genocide
This includes General Dynamics, which produces the gun systems that arm the fighter jets used by Israel to bombard Gaza, and Elbit Systems, which produces armoured drones, munitions, and artillery weapons used by the Israeli military.
Amongst Barclays ÂŁ3bn investments and loans in companies facilitating the Gaza genocide, the bank holds shares in Elbit Systems which is the primary target of Palestine Action’s campaign. Elbit Systems provide 85% of Israelâs military drone fleet and land-based equipment, as well as bombs, missiles and other weaponry.
The Israeli weapons maker market their weapons as âbattle-testedâ after they are developed during bombardments on occupied Palestine. Palestine Action’s campaign of direct action has seen hundreds of occupations, redecorations and other disruptive actions against Elbit Systems directly, forcing two of their weapons factories permanently shut.
The direct action network has also undertaken to ensure that firms which facilitate Elbit operations are exposed and undermined, with Elbit investors targeted alongside landlords, suppliers, and other collaborators. To date, several companies including recruiters and an international law firm have all ended ties following a relentless campaign by the group.
A Palestine Action spokesperson said:
Broken windows and red paint is incomparable to the Palestinian blood spilt and the destruction of Gaza, which Barclays continues to profit from. Banks can not get away with murder and when all else fails, it’s up to the people to ensure humanity is upheld. Palestine Action will continue to act until the bank divests from Israel’s biggest weapons firm, Elbit Systems.
Featured image and additional images via Neil Terry and Palestine Action
An outer London airport – Farnborough – frequently used by the super-rich and politicians, including Boris Johnson, has been the target of Extinction Rebellion and other groups. They highlighted how the flying habits of the super rich are effectively helping to kill us all via their contribution to the climate crisis.
Farnborough: you’re killing us all!
On Sunday 2 June, a group of activists blocked all the main gates of Farnborough airport, the biggest private jet airport in the UK, which has plans to greatly expand. This was part of an international week of action targeting private jets and the injustice of aviation, with protests happening in Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the US.
At Farnborough, protesters barricaded the airportâs Gulfstream Gate with the Extinction Rebellion pink boat:
Ively Gate had four protesters locked on to oil drums:
At the airportâs departure gate activists mounted two tripods blockading the entrance:
A fourth group of protesters moved between the airportâs other gates to block them:
At all three main gates, protesters released colourful smoke flares, chanting slogans and engaging with members of the public, accompanied by the XR Rebel Rhythms band of drummers:
Dr Jessica Upton, a veterinary surgeon and foster carer from Oxford, said:
Iâm here today because private airports are an abomination. Expanding Farnborough would be putting the indulgent wants of the rich minority over the needs of the majority. Local people need cleaner air and less noise pollution, and the worldâs population urgently needs rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to survive.
Private airports disproportionately contribute to climate breakdown and closing them would boost our chances of sticking to the Paris Climate Accords, the supposedly legally binding international treaty agreed to and signed by our government.
More than 100 people took part in the protests and several were arrested.
Farnborough airport: private jets should be banned
InĂŞs Teles, campaigner at Stay Grounded, said:
It’s utterly obscene that, during a climate and cost of living crisis, while people are burning under scorching heat in India and Mexico or being displaced by catastrophic flooding in Brazil, the super-rich keep flying on their private jets and pouring gas in a world on fire.
These are the worst form of bullshit flights, and need to be banned, as well as short-haul flights or night flights. We need to stop this madness and hold the super-rich and institutions accountable for the destruction they are causing.
The actions happened under the banner of the Make Them Pay campaign, supported by Stay Grounded, Scientist Rebellion, and Extinction Rebellion groups. It unites citizens and scientists from around the globe behind three demands:
Ban Private Jets
Tax Frequent Flyers
Make Polluters Pay
Gianluca Grimalda, university researcher and climate activist, said:
Private jets are the single most polluting form of transport, causing about 10 times more CO2 emissions per passenger than a regular flight, and up to 100 times more than trains. About two thirds of such flights are done for leisure over short stretches on which a lower-emitting alternative exists.
The âcollateral damageâ of such flights is to cause about 20.000 deaths every year, as we know that every 4.000 ton of CO2 will kills one person and private jets produce about 80 million tons of CO2 every year. This is unacceptable, inhumane, and abhorrent.
Aviation is the pinnacle of climate injustice
But private jets are not the only problem: aviation as a whole is the pinnacle of climate injustice, with 1% of the population being responsible for 50% of its emissions and 80% of the world population never having set food on a plane.
As the world witnesses the announced death of the 1.5º C barrier, scientists and people worldwide call for a full shift in terms of how society relates to aviation and other high emission sectors, to be able to avert the worst effects of climate breakdown which, while affecting everyone, will be even more deadly for the poorest and most vulnerable parts of society.
The rich need to step up and cut superfluous habits such as using private jets, if the entire society is to support a move towards the necessary change.
The demands of the Make Them Pay campaign seek to pave the road towards a fairer wealth distribution: an annual wealth tax of up to 5% on the worldâs billionaires could raise $1.7 trillion a year, enough to deliver a 10-year plan to end hunger, support poorer countries being ravaged by climate impacts, and deliver universal healthcare and social protection for everyone living in low-income countries.
Climate inequality is one of the worldâs most pressing problems, and questions of social and economic justice must be at the heart of how we act on the climate collapse.
Featured image and additional images via Extinction Rebellion
On Saturday 1 June, several thousand goons descended on London – probably not expecting a bus to end up the centre of attention:
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson organised a demonstration in central London to call out a "two-tiered policing system" and demand the resignation of Met police commissioner Mark Rowley.https://t.co/xItZsH7teapic.twitter.com/DomPueDckV
This latest protest was supposedly about ‘two-tiered’ policing, which was weird because the attendees were chanting things like “who the fuck is Allah?”. While they might be unsure who Allah is, we can tell you definitively that he doesn’t work for the Met Police.
Like all such protests, this one ended with a seemingly drunk goon getting himself into trouble. Hilariously, the goon in question was failed London Mayor Laurence Fox:
Laurence Fox was involved in a road accident with a bus. He sounds drunk.
The car he was travelling in (Silver Audi) doesn't have a valid MOT.
Nick Lowles of Hope not Hate was one of the people documenting the “respectful” behaviour of the goons:
This morning, we posted up a blog about the violent intent of some of those coming today. Well, one of those featured was Dean, from Grays, Essex. He's just posted asking: "Where are all the counter-protester faggots??? Weigh them all in after 4pm." Nice bloke. @metpoliceukhttps://t.co/i2wX6MKsE6
Lowles was of the opinion that for all his self-promotion, Fox is a very minor player in all this – what his friends might think of as a ‘beta goon’:
Lawrence Fox has never had so many eyes on his political campaigning beforeâŚ. Sadly for him, heâs a complete bit player in this event pic.twitter.com/1wrgz0huJl
Not wasting his time on the big stage, Lawrence Fox is talking a whole lot of shite, from Pride month, covid conspiracies and lockdown nonsense…. Guess he'll never get to talk to so many people again, so he might as well make the most of it
Under the guise of a protest about two tier policing, Tommy Robinsonâs London march is just a plain and simple anti-Muslim demo. âThis is London not Londonistanâ reads the banner behind which they march. Far right to the core pic.twitter.com/hDz1pjv0eW
Islamophobia, fear mongering, and heavy drinking all on full display at today's far-right march in London led by Tommy Robinson & backed by Laurence Fox. pic.twitter.com/wkyP9TcxUG
Ironically, the goons who are dead against foreign influence seem content for Britain to carry on serving as America’s lapdog:
Give me strength⌠five hours after people met up and almost four hours since demo first arrived in Parliament Square, the Tommy Robinson rally is still going onâŚ. Now unveiling their support to convict and rapist Trump⌠pic.twitter.com/jaUYqwNjHX
I told Laurence Fox he was ‘a racist piece of shit’ on social media, and stand by every word
He added:
Fox’s threat of libel action against me was ridiculous and never stood a chance of succeeding. He tried to flex his muscles and bully me, and it didn’t work. If I continue to call out Laurence Fox as a racist, he can try to sue me again if he wants, but he won’t because he knows he’ll lose.
And he didn’t lose to just anybody, he lost – badly, and very publicly – to a young Black boy. I think that will have hurt and embarrassed him. Now he even gets heckled about it in the streets.
The tweet that really captured everyone’s attention, however, was the following:
Laurence Fox is drunk, and they crashed into a bus because they was on a cycle lane. Now he's saying Black kids are threatening his life and he's scared for his life and ringing the police.
Laurence Fox is clearly either pissed off his gourd or coked up to the tits. Or maybe both.
He embodies the worst excesses of privilege without talent. If he was working class & without the family dosh heâd probably be doing a life sentence.
To give Fox the benefit of the doubt, he had just been in a car crash with a bus, so may have been concussed. Additionally, he’d spent several hours at a goon rally which almost certainly destroyed several of his remaining brain cells.
Regardless of Fox’s state of sobriety, people had fun with it:
Watching drunk Laurence fox live stream after being in a car crash. Start a fight with some kids, then get home and film his police interview whilst getting his own kidâs face splashed all over the internet. Father role model of the year pic.twitter.com/wjunqHJTg4
Laurence Fox crashing into a bus in a car with no MOT on his way home from a far right rally in a city he claimed to have left after Sadiq Khanâs victory is glorious
According to RAC, Fox could be fined up to ÂŁ1,000 for this, with that amount rising if he failed an MOT because the car was found to be ‘dangerous’. That’s a drop in the ocean to Fox, obviously, given that he was recently ordered to pay ÂŁ180k after losing a different court case.
While the Romans weren’t Muslim, they also weren’t natives of the British Isles. Following the logic these people don’t have, should London be returned to the Romans? Or should so-called British people with Roman, Viking, and/or French DNA be split into parts and deported back to where their ancestors came from?
The past has been and gone, and the world we have now is the only one we can build from.
Do we want a world in which several thousand goons dictate who can and can’t live here?
No, of course not. And if people don’t like that London is and always has been multicultural, maybe they should do what they keep threatening to do and leave:
Susan Hall, Dan Wootton and Laurence Fox, RT if London is happy to see them leave. pic.twitter.com/BAv6APwFRa
Independent photojournalist Peter Hambrecht was shoved into a bus mirror by a New York City police officer, damaging his microphone, while he was covering a pro-Palestinian protest near the Manhattan Bridge on May 11, 2024.
Hambrecht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest began in downtown Brooklyn near Barclays Center before demonstrators marched up Flatbush Avenue. The protest broke into separate groups following rounds of arrests by police, with a large group walking beside and attempting to enter the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
He said that he was walking behind officers from the New York City Police Departmentâs Strategic Response Group, a heavily armored unit used for crowd control, and higher-ranking officers wearing white shirts when they arrested a demonstrator who had been drumming.
âThey grabbed someone and pushed them against the school bus thatâs right next to me,â Hambrecht said. âIâm trying to back up a little bit and then I get shoved by a white shirt, ramming me into the front mirror and it ends up cutting my shoulder open and pinning my microphone, which damaged it.â
In Hambrechtâs footage of the drummerâs arrest, an officer can be seen pushing a second individual against the bus in front of Hambrecht. Within seconds and without warning, a commanding officer shoves Hambrecht backward into the mirror extending from the hood of the bus and the sound on the footage cuts out. When sound resumes, the officer can be heard saying, âOn the sidewalk.â
Police, now running to keep up with the march, make more arrests after protestors refuse to leave the street.
Assistant Chief Charles McEvoy then slams me into the mirror of a school bus which cut my shoulder and damaged my microphone. He continues to push me after I am already⌠pic.twitter.com/Wlx47Q3Osg
âHe pushed me on the sidewalk and kept pushing me further even once I was on it,â Hambrecht told the Tracker. âIt was very aggressive.â He added that he was wearing a press credential issued by the mayorâs office and was clearly identifiable as a journalist.
After beginning to document protests in early 2024, Hambrecht said, he has observed police singling out visual journalists. âEver since getting my city-issued pass Iâve noticed that they target the photographers and really they try to get you out of there and separate you.â
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.
Journalist Evan Urquhart was arrested while covering a Virginia State Police operation to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Virginiaâs campus in Charlottesville on May 4, 2024.
Students had set up an encampment on a university lawn April 30 to protest Israelâs war in Gaza and call for the school to divest its endowment from Israel, according to Virginia Public Media. After protesters erected tents to shelter from rain on the night of May 3, in violation of what the university said was school policy, state police in riot gear moved in the next day to clear the encampment. At least 25 protesters and onlookers were arrested.
Urquhart, a freelance journalist and founder of news website Assigned Media, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that he had visited the encampment for a potential story around five times, to âlook around, looking for things like anti-semitic signs or chants, counter-protesters, and of course police activity.â
âI was very careful all of the times I went, including on May 4, to identify myself clearly as press and avoid anything that could be construed as participating in the protest or showing support for the protest,â he told the Tracker. âI told anyone who asked my name, my website's name, and some of the outlets where I'd freelanced in the past.â
When he arrived at the campus May 4 to cover the protest, the journalist said that police had already separated the encampment itself from a gathering crowd of onlookers and protesters.
Urquhart ended up at the front of the crowd, straining to see around the police line and taking photos. He said he was wearing a name tag with âPRESSâ handwritten on it and told the police he was a journalist. âThis not being my usual beat, I realize now my positioning was bad to avoid what happened after the encampment itself was cleared,â he added.
He went on to describe how the police line pushed forward, moving the crowd of onlookers back. âNear the start of that process I was pushed over by one of the police officers as he moved forward, and then arrested after I fell.â The journalist added that he had âno reason to think the officer intended to push me down,â saying, âI may have been distracted or I may have tripped as I tried to step back, maybe both.â
Urquhart said he was charged with misdemeanor trespassing and released five or six hours after his arrest. The charges were dropped May 15, after the district attorney said there wasnât enough evidence to justify proceeding with the case.
He said he also received a no trespass order from the university May 4, denying him access to the campus grounds. âUntil that moment I hadn't heard anything about trespassing from the police or through any sort of sign or alert,â Urquhart said.
He said he appealed the order May 9 and it was lifted May 15.
The Virginia State Police did not respond to a request for comment.
Independent photojournalist Michael Nigro was shoved and his camera equipment damaged by a New York City police officer while documenting a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Brooklyn on May 18, 2024.
Brooklyn Paper reported that the rally marking Nakba Day â which commemorates the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 â has been held in the Bay Ridge neighborhood for years without incident.
Nigro told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has documented the rally six or seven times in years prior and described the demonstration as a generally family-friendly, community event. He said that the police response was markedly different this year, with officers in riot gear and from the NYPDâs Strategic Response Group, a heavily armored group used for crowd control, present from the beginning.
Shortly after protesters took to the street, Nigro said, officers made the first arrest of the day. Nigro said he filmed the detainment and had complied with orders to step back when an officer assaulted him.
âI didnât see him coming,â Nigro said, âhe just came over and smacked my camera. With the vibration in the camera and the sound that I heard, I thought, âHe just broke my lens.â Then I saw that the hood was cracked and thankfully the lens was not.â
In footage of the incident captured by another photojournalist, a commanding officer can be seen grabbing Nigroâs camera and using it to shove him back and to the side, striking the camera against another photographer in the process. As the first officer walks away, a second can be seen pushing Nigro backward.
Deputy Chief Jesse Lance is seen targeting a photographer and forcing his camera into another photographer's face. Lance seems to wander around aimlessly before returning to where he started.
Nigro followed the commanding officer to ask him for his name and badge number, and the officer identified himself as Jesse Lance, deputy chief executive officer patrol borough Brooklyn South. Nigro told the Tracker that Lance has interfered with members of the press documenting protests multiple times in recent months, and that officers routinely obstruct photojournalists.
âThe tactic of late with the NYPD and the press is to block us from covering it,â Nigro said. âTheyâll stand in front of your camera and put their hands in front of it or just push you back and back. Or, the newest tactic has been taking the press and detaining them, sometimes flexy-cuffing them, and then letting them go.â
Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco was detained that day in the âcatch-and-releaseâ fashion Nigro described. Independent videographer Sam Seligson was also arrested and released the following morning on three charges. Nigro called such tactics extremely troubling.
âThey are preventing us from doing our work and from documenting the history that is happening in front of us,â Nigro told the Tracker. âIt seems that they are just looking at us as the enemy, which weâre not.â
In the meantime, Nigro added, journalists covering pro-Palestinian demonstrations in New York are banding together to watch each othersâ backs and document police aggressions against them. âThere needs to be some kind of pushback and accountability because if we do not itâs only going to continue and likely get worse.â
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.
A youth-led protest group has threatened to “disrupt London” unless the government stops all arms export licences to Israel. However, the ‘youth demand’ is time-constrained – and the clock is ticking before time is up.
Stop arming Israel says Youth Demand
Youth Demand is a recently-formed direct action group. It not only focuses on the climate crisis, but has also be taking action over Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. For example, Palestine Action and Youth Demand teamed up to paint the MoD headquarters in London, while other supporters marched through the capital, on Wednesday 10 April.
They were demanding an end to the MoD contracts with Israelâs largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems and an end to all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK, including revoking oil and gas licences issued since 2021:
However, now Youth Demand are taking things a big step further.
As the group announced on X, it gave the UK government one week from 23 May to stop all arms licences to Israel. As the Canary previously reported Spain, Canada, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands have all paused arms licenses or shipments to Israel over fears that they may be used in violation of international humanitarian law.
So now, that week is just about up. Youth Demand noted that if the government didn’t comply:
we will be disrupting London every Saturday, beginning on the 1st [June]
To the UK government, you have one week to commit to imposing an arms embargo on Israel.
Otherwise, we will be disrupting London every Saturday, beginning on the 1st. Join us in Jubilee Gardens at 12PM. See you there. pic.twitter.com/nol7EMODxY
So it seems that the disruption will go ahead. It is unclear at this point exactly what this will look like. However, the group is saying that on 1 June:
In Jubilee Gardens at 12PM we will be meeting to take action, because we cannot allow the Israeli State to continue murdering every child, parent, sibling and grandparent in Palestine, while our government lets them.
The group said on its website that the Tories and Labour are “fully backing the live-streamed genocide of Palestinians in Gaza”. To this end, Youth Demand is adamant it has to act. If you agree, join them in Jubilee Gardens on 1 June at 12pm. With Israel continuing its slaughter in Gaza, someone has to act.
Featured image and additional images via Youth Demand
On Friday 24 May, 2024, I was one of the three European people released from Amygdaleza Deportation Camp, outside Athens, Greece. Nine non-Greek European passport-holders were amongst 28 people arrested on Tuesday 14 May, during a police raid of the Athens Law School, which had been declared occupied in solidarity with Palestine and in support of al-Aqsa Flood, the ongoing liberation struggle, waged by the Palestinian Resistance, since 7 October.
The occupation of the law school entailed demands for academic boycott and divestment from any affiliated parties supporting or profiting from the Zionist entityâs retaliatory genocidal warfare, witnessed by the world for the last eight months.
After a typically long and inconvenient detention and arrest procedure, followed by a night in the cell, all 28 defendants were declared free to go from the Evelpidon Courthouse, the next day – Nakba Day – pending a postponed hearing for charges of disturbing the peace.
Upon the adjournment of the session, however, the police continued to cuff and detain the nine non-Greek European passport holders and conspired to lie to the legal representatives that the 9 people were required to return to the central police head quarters, where their documents would be checked to determine the ‘legitimacy’ of their presence on Greek territory.
The deception of the ‘law enforcers’ was quickly realised due to the direction of travel; soon, the bus transporting the nine arrived at Allodipon, the immigration processing centre.
Through extrapolation of the circumstances and rumours, the nine people gleaned the possibility they may be facing deportation, although this was never formally expressed by any police official and was only confirmed upon the visitation of lawyers.
Beginning Wednesday 15 May – Nakba Day – the nine people were detained under administrative detention at Amygdaleza Deportation Camp. The subsequent Saturday, all nine people were handed deportation orders, which are currently being challenged; the administrative detention was also appealed. On Friday 24, three people were released from detention, while six remain, awaiting a response, which is anticipated to be delivered on Monday 27 May.
The judge handling my case made their decision quicker than the others, which we were advised could happen. Many of us have visited the various detention camps and centres around Athens, before. Many of our friends have also been held inside such camps. But, it is a different to have been processed and detained, and then to leave the reality behind. I feel sick with rage.
Not just for the comrades with European passports – if they let me out, the others are smooth sailing. But there are many others whoâll spend much longer, under worse conditions, awaiting their fate.
The nine of us were separated from the general population, secluded to a segregated container compound, closed off at each end with barbed wire fencing, we suspected this had something to do with our status as ‘unwanted aliens’ who present a ‘threat to national security’. Seclusion was also no doubt due to fears we’d be exposed to the realities and conditions experienced by non-white, non-European people, despite the aforementioned, preexisting knowledge and interactions with these institutions, which has also been well documented by refugees and migrants.
We had air conditioning, hot water, food delivered by a supportive network of comrades, lawyers on call, access to our phones. While inside, I learned in some camps the police remove inbuilt cameras completely from electronic devices belonging to detained people. Our period of detention was tainted with rage due to this shared understanding of the realities for others.
IÂ received the news that I would be free, while I was on the phone to Abdullah, a friend of mine who lives in Gaza. We had not talked for a while. He conveyed his deep faith in Allah, his familyâs resolve to remain, and of course the urgency and necessity of raising funds to survive the unimaginable reality of genocide enacted by the imperialist-backed Zionist entity. I want to sincerely thank everyone who has amplified and donated to his fundraiser.
The place in which Abdullah and his family are currently located, there is nothing; no infrastructure, just tents and makeshift living environments. The IOF-guarded and polluted sea is the only source of water.
His familyâs survival is indeed by the grace of God.
Bathing in the sea, eating scarcely, drinking less. Sick, tired and exhausted. Physically and mentally drained. Witness to unspeakable atrocities. We strained a conversation through bad network reception; me from the camp, Abudllah from a particularly exposed and dangerous location. We talked about the fundraiser; how to amplify it; the complications with international money transfers; fundraiser accessibility issues for his Arabic speaking colleagues.
The lawyer said me and two others would be free to go in a few hours. I was interrupted during a precious phone call; we donât know when – or if – the next one will occur. Abdullah said he would go, to be âsafer” – he was at increased risk in the area where internet access can approximately be found. He reiterated the need to purchase an e-sim compatible phone and hung up.
The time came for me to leave the camp. Leave the others behind. Leave the 40 men from various non-European countries, cramped in the containers running parallel to ours, who announced a collective hunger strike in recent days.
The European comrades I left behind have also announced a hunger strike, following the decision to release just three of us today. Like the 40 other detainees, the demands of the hunger strike pertain to the living conditions in the camp, the random and repressive structure of administrative detention and the release of those who remain.
Medical negligence, withholding food, nutritionally-insufficient meals, arbitrary rules and abuse of power as a vehicle for psychological abuse; we experienced all these punitive measures and rights violations in 11 days of administrative detention. For us, it was 11 days. Some will spend months, years⌠When I think â11 daysâ, May 2021 comes to mind. Saif al-Quds, the 11-day battle sparked by the Unity Intifada, a collective uprising that erupted across Gaza, West Bank, and inside â48, duo to the increased colonial violence in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
While being held under administrative detention, I thought of my friend Khalid.
I met Khalid through We Are Not Numbers, an initiative in Gaza that provides training and workshops in creative writing, digital journalism, videography and presentation skills. Participants in Gaza and journalists aboard are paired up through a mentorship scheme. I was incredibly lucky to be introduced to Khaled, who had written an article about the Occupationâs use of administrative detention. I learnt then, how the Occupation entangles Palestinian prisoners in an endless loop of torturous incarceration.
At present almost 10,000 Palestinian people – men, women and children – suffer under Zionist lock and key, a number which increased exponentially since 7 October. Prisoners are the compass of the struggle, negotiating their release was one of the principle motivating factors behind the inception of al-ŮAqsa flood.
In November, 2023, and multiple times since, the Resistance has indeed been victorious in forcing the Occupation to liberate streams of prisoners, including high profile people like Israa Jaabis. The release of the imprisoned exposed the horrors of detention.
Needless to say, knowing the extent of abuse Palestinians face at the hands of their jailer made my detention at Amygdaleza practically inconsequential.
As I departed the camp, I scrolled through the Resistance News Network; the occupation extended the administrative detention of Wissam Abu Zeid, a Palestinian resistance fighter from the Jenin Brigades, for a further four months. Abu Zeid has been imprisoned since Zionist soldiers failed to assassinate him, almost three years ago. Resistance in the West Bank, and especially in Jenin, has exploded in response to increased IOF invasions, since 7 October.
For those who are not martyred while actively fighting for Palestine, the Occupation prisons – referred to as ‘slaughterhouses’ – are often the locations of slow and painful deaths due to torture, medical negligence, poor sanitation and ‘food’ that is better described as a health hazard. For all these reasons and more, Palestinian prisoners have long harnessed hunger striking as a form of protest, reclaiming their right to bodily autonomy in defiance of the Occupation’s grip on their freedom.
Since 7 October, regimes around the world have resorted to myriad repressive tactics to silence Palestinians and the voices of their allies. Arrest, brutality, torture, administrative detention and deportation have been wielded with increased frequency. Deportation and displacement are weapons of repression straight from by the Zionist playbook.
Since the waves of al-Aqsa Flood engulfed the world, Palestinians from Gaza have been detained in both the West Bank and ’48, with random releases and transfers back to Gaza taking place; hundreds of martyrs have ascended due to torture, malnutrition and medical negligence. Inside Gaza, vicious collective punishment has led to consistent scenes of mass kidnapping, humiliation and execution of civilians.
Mass graves continue to be discovered, revealing decomposing bodies with their hands tied behind their back; wrist ties for babies, children and adults have been unearthed from shallow graves, pitifully covered.
In the weeks before the Athens Law School action, the Hellenic police had cracked down severely on all and any expressions of solidarity with Palestine. On one occasion the mass detention of 42 people from solidarity gatherings outside the courthouse and the police HQ shocked the movement in Athens, highlighting, with utmost clarity, the need to assemble and organise in strong and protective numbers. One arrest followed the detention of 42, which was a pathetic move, aiming to deter and criminalise support for victims of the police state’s fascistic behaviour.
The strategy of deportation is now being leveraged by repressive regimes across the world; last year, Jerusalem-born, French-Palestinian, Saleh Hamouri, was deported to France for his consistent resistance to colonial subjugation in Palestine. This marked a significant shift and revived the spotlight, internationally, on the illegal practice of deportation and the denial of the right to return. The lack of action from the international community and the direct collaboration between the Zionist entity and European regimes has now seen this silencing strategy spread to the European continent.
In recent months, Samidoun Network have launched campaigns for Mohammed al-Khatib and Zaid Abdul-Nassr, who risk the revocation of their residency and refugee statuses, as well as deportation, from Belgium and Germany, respectively.
In Jordan, after weeks of mass mobilisation in support of the Palestinian Resistance have triggered continued police sweeps. Various people were taken hostage by Jordanian authorities, crystalising the traitorous and normalising attitude of the Kingdom and it’s complicity with Zionism.
For Jordanians citizens, the ramifications are bad, but for the refugee community, especially Syrian refugees, who have been ostracised, mistreated and segregated from Jordanian society, the threat of deportation back to a hostile homeland is enough to trigger hunger strikes. Syrian nationals, Wael al-Ashi and Atiya Abu Salem, are just two of the people holding refugee status who face the reality of deportation. Last week, Abu Salem comitted to a hunger strike in protest, as our comrades in Amygdaleza.
Now, retaliation for Palestinian advocacy has become widespread, regardless of nationality, country of origin or documentation. Greece has entered the conversation with its recent move to deceptively administratively detain nine European passport holders, and threaten them with deportation. The decision to do so is, of course, not a deterrent for determined strugglers, but a catalyst for robust resistance and refusal to submit to techniques of silencing.
While we witness the same fascist and intolerant practice rolling out across continents, it’s crucial to remember the impact will never be the same for everyone. Deporting Europeans back to France, Italy, Spain, the U.K and even Germany is a mere inconvenience, as opposed to a fearful prospect with deathly potential. In the US, international students participating in university campus uprisings are also increasingly facing threats to their immigration status and visas.
During our time at Amydaleza, the authorities withheld food, refused access to visitors from outside, enacted medical negligence, prevented access to doctors, psychological support and other basic rights. Despite this, there was an ever-present cognizance of the dramatically different effect these abuses of power can have.
The role Egypt plays in besieging Gazans, for example, through the application of restrictions on goods, services and rights violations. The decision of Egyptian authorities to prevent aid and access to Gaza has exacerbated the impact of the Occupation’s maniacal obliteration of all life-sustaining infrastructure, including disabling the healthcare system through incessantly bombing hospitals.
Waves of starvation and sickness have spread rapidly across the strip due to Egypt’s prevention of aid and healthcare. This, twinned with the policies of extortion and bribery amounting to human trafficking, perpetrated at the Rafah crossing by the spineless Sisi regime, condemns Palestinians to confront their murderous oppressor with no way out.
This despicable cheapening of Palestinian life contradicts the vast sums of money demanded for emergency evacuation through Rafah. This exorbitant cruelty puts a price tag on the right to seek safety from genocide, to the tune of thousands of dollars, depending on the size of families wishing to leave.
The cost is inhumane and inconceivable, especially for a population of people who’ve spent eight months livestreaming their mass murder to little effect. The millions of social media followers who have borne witness, digitally, to the genocide are now rallying to share fundraisers, which aim expressly to raise money for the corrupted movement of people.
These fundraisers are a veritable point of contention – from calls to boycott Zionist Go Fund Me, to abhorrent reports of disingenuous people stealing funds they assisted in raising – the fundraising last resort accentuates the crucial need to destroy and build alternative’s to the pervasive hegemony of racial capitalism.
The tentacular spread of fascism, emanating from the beastly body of imperialism, grows audaciously each time the popular masses submit to repressive control by ‘authorities’ and governments. These entities pacify and condition their citizens – beneficiaries of exploitation – while scrambling to protect their economic and political interests. But, increased repression with always entail increased resistance. The call to escalate for Palestine is echoing around the world, strengthened by each reverberation.
Actions and movements aiming to break international support and involvement in the genocide are increasing, not only in frequency, but also in militancy. As the wider axis of armed resistance across the Arab world continues to overwhelm the capabilities of the Occupation Forces, it is the duty of every person outside Palestine to heed the calls of the Palestinian people and their resistance.
Now is the time to locate our positionalities in the struggle for collective liberation and to act upon our revolutionary duties. By any means necessary, we owe it to the Palestinian people to sacrifice and defy our personal, social, vocational, economical and political involvement in genocide.
Actions speak louder than words, but never forget: silence is violence – don’t stop talking about Palestine.
Activists from Palestine Action Scotland sabotaged the internet cables of Edinburgh’s Leonardo factory and sprayed red paint over their fighter jet model displays. It was over its supplying of kit to Israel, which is currently committing an ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Palestine Action: breaking the internet
In the early hours of Tuesday 28 May, activists from Palestine Action opened the box of cables, cut the internet wires, sprayed expanding foam inside the box and spray painted ‘Stop Arming Israel’ on the lid:
At the front of the factory, others sprayed the fighter jet display with paint to symbolise the company’s role in spilling Palestinian blood:
Leonardo who continue to arm the Israeli military is one of the world’s largest weapons producers.
The Edinburgh Leonardo weapons factory specialise in ‘high-energy military lasers’, which are rigged to F-35 fighter jets, which Israel have been using extensively to bomb Gaza. Leonardo also supply Israel with Aermacchi M-346 aircraft and components for its Apache attack helicopters, all while benefitting from millions in Scottish Enterprise funding.
The weapons firm also merged with Israeli arms company RADA Electronic Industries, in a move that gives Leonardo a âstable domestic presence in the Israeli industrial contextâ.
In recent days, Israel has continued to bombard Rafah â where Palestinians were previously told to seek refuge as it was said to be the last “safe-zone” in the besieged Gaza strip. On Sunday 26 May, Israeli air strikes burned Palestinians alive in their tents and attacks on the area are continuing, despite the International Court of Justice ruling Israel must stop its bombing campaign.
Since 7 October, Israel has killed over 36,000 Palestinians and injured more than 85,000. The occupying forces have used starvation as a weapon of war, cut off internet access and destroyed the majority of Gaza’s infrastructure.
Janine Jackson interviewed historian Ellen Schrecker about the attack on academic freedom for the May 24, 2024, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.
Janine Jackson: Any accounting of the impact of Israel’s Gaza assault on scholarship, on learning, has to start with the reduction to rubble of all 12 universities in Gaza, with the incalculable loss that entails, and the reported killing of at least 90 professors. But as the Interceptâs Natasha Lennard writes:
Israel’s attempted eradication of intellectual life in Gaza echoes far beyond the territory, with US universities ensuring that some professors vocal in their support of Palestine can no longer do their jobs either.
We are now learning of how many academics and teachers around the country are seeing their jobs targeted as part of a purge, aggressively encouraged by funders andâmostly, but not onlyâRepublican politicians.
It’s being called a new McCarthyism. But our guest, an expert on McCarthyism, suggests we understand other elements at play that make today different from, say, anti-Vietnam college protests in the 1960s, including the fact that today’s political repression aims not just at teachers themselves, but at what gets studied and taught.
Historian Ellen Schrecker is author of numerous books, including The Lost Promise: American Universities in the 1960s; No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism and the Universities; and she’s editor, with Valerie C. Johnson and Jennifer Ruth, of the new book The Right to Learn: Resisting the Ring-Wing Attack on Academic Freedom, out now from Beacon Press. She joins us now by phone. Welcome back to CounterSpin, Ellen Schrecker.
Ellen Schrecker: Thank you for having me on your program.
JJ: There are a number of differences between student (in particular) protests today, and that of the 1960s. For one thing, today’s student protesters remember previous student protesters, and their impact on history. And I would say, also, the availability today of more person-to-person information sources, avenues outside of âall the news that’s fit to print.â But you note that the playing field of the university, as a site, as a place for voicing dissent, is itself importantly different. Tell us about that.
ES: Yes, that’s really the key issue now. Every time there is an attempt to repress free speech and academic freedom, I’m always asked, how does this compare to McCarthyism? And I’m a trained historian, so I sort of put in a lot of nuance, and I’ll say, âOh, it dependsâŚ.â But I don’t do that anymore, because it’s worse than McCarthyism. Much worse.
And that is really because the university of 2024 is a very different place than the academic community in the late 1960s. In the 1960s, American universities were expanding. They had a great reputation. People loved them. State governments and the federal government were throwing money at the universities.
And that’s no longer the case. And what we’re seeing is a very much weaker system of American higher education than had existed during what was called the Golden Age of American higher education, in the late 1950s and 1960s.
So I’d like to talk about what has changed between that period and now, and why what’s happening today is so much worse.
When we look at McCarthyism itselfâand up until recently, it was probably the longest-lasting and most widespread episode of political repression in the modern American universityâwhat we saw was an attack on individual faculty members. It was part of a broader purge of left-wing scholars, movie stars, government officials. It was running throughout large sectors of American society, not specifically targeting the universities, but they probably accounted for a quarter or fifth, maybe, of the victims of McCarthyism, in the sense that these were the people who were losing their jobs as a result of the inquisition.
To my knowledge, there were about a hundred people, more or lessâprobably more, because people kept this stuff secret, so they could keep their jobsâwho were fired. And they were fired specifically because they had had some kind of connection with the American Communist movement earlier in the 1930s and ’40s, and did not want to cooperate with the ongoing anti-Communist inquisition that we now call McCarthyism. (Although we should have called it Hooverism, if we really understood how it operated.)
But anyhow, what’s interesting, and what’s very different, of course, from today, is that these people were being fired for their external political activities, or former political activities, and were never questioned about their teaching or scholarship. That was simply not of interest. It was their political work, or former political work.
That’s not the case today. What is happening today is that there is a huge movement attacking all of American higher education. It’s been ongoing now for 40 years. It started as a response to the ’60s, to the student movement of the ’60s, to the originally nonviolent civil disobedience. These students were protesting, very much like students today, against what they saw as a dreadful moral calamity, a dreadful American participation in the Vietnam War. Certainly that was the main thing, but also, they were very involved with the movement for racial justice.
And as they tried to get some kind of action to end the warâwhich they actually did do, but it wasn’t obvious at the timeâand trying to open up American society to racial equality, they became frustrated and noticed that their own institutions, universities, had been collaborating in some way with these injustices that they were seeking to rectify.
And so that’s why you get this sort of campus-focused movement on the part of students, because, after all, this was the only institution they could affect. They may not have been particularly realistic; in retrospect, maybe they should have emphasized electoral politics a lot more than they did, but that’s rewriting history. What we need to learn from history is the fact that as a result of the student unrest of the ’60sâwhich was essentially nonviolent on the part of the students, and only became particularly violent when universities and political bodies sought to repress it, just like today, of courseâwhat we’re seeing on campuses is police violence; the kids have been remarkably restrained, much more so than in the ’60s, actually. They’re just sitting on the ground in their tents.
They’re not bothering anybody, except, of course: if you look at this from the perspective of 40 years of repression against higher education, that is in large part, not entirely by any means, but in large part the product of a very self-conscious conspiracy, and I don’t use the word âconspiracyâ a lot, on the part of a group of very wealthy businessmen and intellectuals who were seeking, as early as the 1960s, to roll back the political reforms of the ’60s, and impose a more right-wing, neoliberal political culture on the United States, that contained, as one of its main focuses, an attack on higher education.
Because these wealthy conservatives felt that the kind of dispassionate and educated, evidence-based scholarship that was coming out of universities was attacking them, and they wanted to destroy the reputation of higher education. And they did so very self-consciously, by undermining the institutions of higher learning, by circulating propaganda about how universities have been taken over by left-wing professors, byâthe word that they use today is âwokeââthe forces of âwoke” left-wing radicals, by weak-kneed administrators who are capitulating to these powerful forces.
Well, that wasn’t the case at all. What happened was universities themselves changed in response, not just to this attack, but also in response to a very strong economic pullback on the part of the state legislatures and the federal government that had been funding them so well up until the end of the ’60s.
So what we’re seeing is universities that then, for the past 40 years, have been responding to a very different financial economic situation, an economic climate that was punishing them, and they had to respond, administrators did, not by taking a more positive approach to what’s going on, and trying to sell what American higher education was doing for the country, for individuals, they thought to placate these forces of reaction.
But they also responded by seeking other sources of income, when state funding shrank, and that’s key. And what did they do? They raised tuition, slowly at first, but then quite significantly. So we now have, of course, the student debt problem, which I think it’s up to $1.8 trillion of student debt. And we have people being very upset about how much higher education costs, when in so many other countries, it seems to be free.
They also look for other sources of income: donors. The leaders of higher education began to curry favor with these very wealthy billionaires, many of whom were funding this attack on higher education. So we’re seeing that, and we’re also seeing universities themselves following a corporate agenda, on the assumption that this is what they can do to get favor with the new donors.
Ellen Schrecker: “Universities have also ignored their faculty members, and this is why they have put up, I think, such a pathetically weak and collaborationist response to the current repression.”
But also because they have imbibed the neoliberalism that came about beginning in the 1970s, and continuing through til today, whereby the public good sort of disappears from the agenda and it’s intensely individualistic. Even a higher education now is something that’s good for individual people, and its role as a benefit to the rest of society has long since disappeared, which is really a total travesty.
Anyhow, as a result, universities have also ignored their faculty members, and this is why they have put up, I think, such a pathetically weak and collaborationist response to the current repression.
The final point here is that the way that the universities have been weakened is by ignoring their faculty members, but also by destroying the faculty:Â Over the past 40 years or so, very gradually, the number of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty members has declined to the extent that 75% of all instruction is now being offered by faculty members who have no academic freedom.
These are what we call contingent workers. They are part-time or contract temporary workers who have no academic freedom, no economic security. They can be fired at any time for any purpose or no purpose at all. And they are not in a position to fight back, and their administrations do not support them when they’re attacked from the outside.
They’re very good teachers. They’re equally qualified with the tenured and tenure-track faculty members, but have terrible salaries. They often are hired to teach one course for one semester for $3,000 or so, that’s the average pay, and can be fired at any time.
And I think we have to realize that this is a structural problem that needs to be addressed before we can really fight back and preserve the jobs of people who are now particularly threatened, especially after October 7, by another group, a very powerful political group of supporters of Israel.
JJ: The fact that, of the many professors who’ve been fired, only one of them, as far as we know right now, had tenureâit is the adjuncts, it is the people who are basically at-will workers who are easier to just be cut off by these universities. So part of it is, it is this structural thing where you undermine the very idea that as a professor you would have some kind of job security, you would have some kind of protection.
ES: Exactly. Yes.
JJ: Let me just say, we have seen a number of professors putting themselves, sometimes physically, between students and police. We have seen professors standing up for, not only their own rights to speak, but their students’ rights to protest. And I would just say, because we’ve talked about this before, that faculty/student support and coalition-building, that’s part of a tradition too.
ES: Exactly. And what we’re seeing, for the first time, really, since the 1960s, is faculties beginning to organize themselves in support of causes that many of us support. And that should be protected by the universities and has not been, because the administrations over the past 40 years have been seeking to curry favor with these right-wing billionaire donors, and have been living in a kind of right-wing bubble.
They don’t know students, they don’t care about students. What they care about is getting money, getting support, growing their institutions, growing them in a way that will appear on the US News & World Report status ranking, without really paying attention to the kind of education they’re giving their students.
And it’s been shown, there’s evidence that the predominance of these temporary and low-paid contingent workers are unable to give their students the kind of education they deserve. And that’s a very significant problem. But, together, what we’re seeing is a real beginning, however, of a new awareness that we’re all in this together.
I would argue that the most powerful way to fight against this probably is through unionization, through organizing unions that can get contracts that include language supporting academic freedom. That’s very important. That seems to be the only way that these gig, part-time and temporary professors can gain a measure of economic security, so that they can speak out and keep their jobs.
I mean, this is really destroying free speech within American society, because universities have traditionally been, and certainly at the moment still are, spaces where there is more support for intellectual freedom than anywhere else in American society.
So it’s very important that faculty members begin to fight back, begin to form coalitions, can begin to argue for a serious pushback against these forces that, as we know, have been passing laws, certainly since 2020, in red states and in some blue, to sanction free speech and ideas that the right-wing Republicans do not think are appropriate. And this is a terrible threat to our whole democratic system.
JJ: The book talks about how we can’t just rhetorically defend academic freedom and free speech; we have to act, and the book is part of that. So I would just ask you, finally, this new book, The Right to Learn, I want to say, it’s not a tome; it’s immensely readable. I just would ask you, what do you and other contributors hope that this book will do in the world? How do you look for it to be used?
ES: OK, we wrote this book more than two years ago, and I remember feeling it recently: âOh my God, it’s out of date. How can it be used?â Well, it’s more relevant now than it was then. The situation has really worsened enormously since October 7.
What we were hoping to do is give people some intellectual ammunition, the facts about what’s going on on American campuses, and how people have been distorting history, have been distorting constitutional measures, have been distorting the function of academic freedom, and how people can fight back, give people information that they need, so that then they can go out and become active on their campuses, recruit colleagues, recruit students, start teach-ins, start doing whatever they can to create a buzz on their campuses, which certainly is happening.
But we’ve got to mobilize. We’ve got to organize. People have to have the information, and that’s what we felt was a necessary precursor for mounting a serious campaign to take back power on our campuses, to bring the faculty back into action as it has never been before. And we’re really asking for something very revolutionary, I guess.
What we’d like to see is a much more democratic university, that isn’t under the sway of these reactionary politicians and businessmen. And it’s going to be hard to do. It’s going to require a lot of action, but we want that action to be well-informed, and we hope that this book will be useful, be a weapon. It’s not going to save the world, obviously, but it’s our contribution to this campaign.
JJ: Thank you so much for that. We’ve been speaking with Ellen Schrecker, author of books, including The Lost Soul of Higher Education: Corporatization, the Assault on Academic Freedom and the End of the American University. That’s available from the New Press. The new book we’re talking about is called The Right to Learn: Resisting the Ring-Wing Attack on Academic Freedom That’s out now from Beacon Press. Thank you so much, Ellen Schrecker, for joining us this week on CounterSpin.
On Monday 27 May at around 7pm, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) attempted to forcibly gain access and evict the student occupiers of Walid Daqqa (Whitworth) Hall at the University of Manchester; the ongoing occupation against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the university’s complicity. It comes after cops also moved in at a similar occupation on Oxford University campus.
Cops move in on the University of Manchester occupation
This attempt was blocked by hundreds of students and members of the community who gathered and formed crowds in front of the doors, resisting and deterring the police:
The police responded with violence, including using batons against the protesters and injuring several University of Manchester students:
However, they had no other option but to withdraw after seeing the determination and resilience of the crowd:
This escalation occurred at the end of an emergency protest called by the Greater Manchester community in response to the horrific massacre committed by Israeli occupation forces in Rafah, a designated âsafe zoneâ for the Palestinian refugees in south Gaza.
A spokesperson for the University of Manchester students said:
The student protestors denounce this unwarranted escalation by GMP, particularly the treatment of peaceful protestors, including several instances of physical assault.
The police have yet again proven that they are an oppressive and violent tool of state that aims to silence us while extending endless support to Israel. The student protestors also believe that this confrontation would not have taken place if the University of Manchester had listened to the demands of the student body.
This comes after close to eight months of the escalation of the genocide in Palestine, with at least 35,000 Palestinians killed, and millions displaced by Israel.
Students will not be deterred
Students have been campaigning since October for the University of Manchester to end its complicity with the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, with three previous building occupations and the recent Manchester Camp of Resistance for Palestine in Dr Adnan al-Bursh (Brunswick) Park, leading to the current occupation of Walid Daqqa Hall. The studentsâ demands are that the University of Manchester must:
1. End its partnership with BAE Systems.
2. Cut ties with Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
3. Adopt a policy ensuring that all research is ethical and doesnât contribute towards the arms trade.
4. Not pursue disciplinary action against any students involved in the Encampment, occupations or other protests.
One of the University of Manchester student occupiers said:
The Greater Manchester Community stands together for Palestine. We see the actions of the Police as what they are: defending the right of a state to commit genocide. We refuse to allow our University to follow suit, UoM must Disclose, Divest, Demilitarise.
The Manchester Camp of Resistance for Palestine remains as steadfast as ever in its struggle against the Universityâs deadly ties, and not amount of repression will deter us.
Climate crisis activists took French fossil fuel firm TotalEnergies to task at its annual general meeting. Unsurprisingly, the climate-wrecking company proved their action warranted, as it announced plans to double-down on fossil fuels.
Activists take on TotalEnergies at AGM
As TotalEnergies shareholders convened for their AGM, Greenpeace activists scaled the building:
WANTED: Patrick PoyannĂŠ, CEO of @TotalEnergies is wanted for fuelling the climate crisis
The banner branded Pouyanne “the leader of France’s most polluting company”.
In March, the company marked its 100 year anniversary. Then too, Greenpeace rained on the corporations celebratory parade. Notably, in a serendipitous ruling, a judge dismissed a legal case TotalEnergies had issued to silence the campaign group.
Meanwhile, several hundred Extinction Rebellion activists gathered near the Paris offices of Amundi. The French asset manager is among TotalEnergies’ biggest shareholders.
The boss of TotalEnergies told shareholders Friday the French energy giant needed to develop new oil fields to meet global demand, as their AGM was picketed by the climate activists.
Predictably, cops came to scenes. As Extinction Rebellion activists occupied Amundi’s offices, French authorities begun issuing a number of arrests. At the TotalEnergies AGM, police quickly acted to protect corporate interests, taking down Greenpeace’s unflattering wanted banner.
Climate strategy and hot air
So while cops shielded the corporate climate criminals from the protesters, inside the AGM, Pouyanne was waxing lyrical about fossil fuels.
First, he claimed that higher oil prices prompted by insufficient fossil fuel output:
would quickly become unbearable for the populations in emerging countries, but also in our developed countries
Of course, TotalEnergies is exploiting oil and gas in a number of these so-called “emerging countries”. For instance, this includes its notorious and human-rights violating East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Tanzania and Uganda.
Pouyane purportedly argued that demand for oil was growing in line with the global population. In another predictable display of blatant greenwashing, Pouyanne also promised that TotalEnergies would pursue its “balanced strategy” of developing both fossil fuel and low-carbon energy production.
Unironically, the oil and gas giant boss said that TotalEnergies had provided proof that it was possible:
to be a profitable, or even the most profitable, company while pursuing a transformation
Naturally, at Friday’s meeting, shareholders shored up their profits. Nearly 80% of them approved their company’s woefully inadequate climate strategy. Additionally, over two thirds voted to renew Pouyanne as the company’s CEO.
“Wanted” for crimes against people and the planet
Of course, climate activists and campaigners have repeatedly exposed this as palpable greenwashing bullshit.
As the Canaryreported on the 21 May, a new report by Oil Change International revealed the company’s climate catastrophic trajectory. Specifically, its continued emphasis on developing new oil and gas projects will send temperatures soaring well beyond the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°c limit.
TotalEnergies’ latest piety to expanding fossil fuels comes as a group of nonprofits and members of the public have launched legal action against the company. The Canary previously explained that through the case:
they are calling to try the company for involuntary manslaughter and other consequences of climate crisis âchaosâ.
Crucially, the case targets the companyâs board, including Pouyanne and major shareholders that backed its climate strategy.
As the stakes on climate breakdown grow, fossil fuel companies dig their heels in. However, climate activists and campaign organisations will continue to use all avenues to hold these criminal planet-killing corporations to account.
As climate activists plastered Pouyanne’s ‘wanted’ poster at its AGM, TotalEnergies’ latest shareholder shenanigans only proved their point.
Six people including barrister held for social media posts before Tiananmen Square anniversary
Hong Kong police have arrested six people, marking the first time that the cityâs new national security law, known as Article 23, has been used against suspects since it was implemented in March.
The six people, aged between 37 and 65, are accused of publishing messages with seditious intent ahead of an âupcoming sensitive dateâ, according to a police statement.
Late last night (Friday 24 May 2024), a group of several dozen students occupied the Whitworth building on the University of Manchester campus. It was over Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and the university’s complicity in this.
University of Manchester: under occupation
Students have barricaded all entrances to the building::
Banners are also being flown:
Protesters are linked to the nearby Encampment of Resistance for Palestine and are demanding that the University promises no disciplinary action for student activists and opens negotiations with the camp about their demands. They say the University of Manchester must:
End its partnership with BAE Systems.
Cut ties with Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Adopt a policy ensuring that all research is ethical and doesnât contribute towards the arms trade.
Not pursue disciplinary action against any students involved in the Encampment, occupations or other protests.
Despite the encampment now reaching its 25th day, the university has refused any communication with the camp and has instead chosen to continue to prioritise itâs profitable ties with companies and institutions directly involved in the genocide being carried out in Gaza.
Over the last 25 days, over 500 students and community members from across Manchester have taken part in the camp to force the university to negotiate on their demands. The encampment in Manchester is just one of over 30 across universities in Britain, prompting Rishi Sunak to summon vice-chancellors from across the country to a meeting at Downing Street to discuss the encampments last week.
At the University of Manchester, a student has been suspended for involvement in an earlier occupation for Palestine and another student had their visa revoked by the Home Office.
Divest from Israel or face the consequences
Occupiers said:
The University must realise that targeting of student activists with disciplinary action will not dissuade protesters. We are witnessing a genocide and nothing that the University can threaten us with compares to the suffering of the Palestinian people. The student body has already voted overwhelmingly in favour of Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions and our movement is only growing.
Tel Aviv University – whom UoM has a research partnership with – helped develop the Dahiya Doctrine, which calls for the mass targeting of civilian infrastructure. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is built on illegally occupied land, with exchange students from UoM sent to live in these settlements.
BAE Systems is Europe’s largest arms company and is involved in producing F-35 and F-16 jets, which are used against Palestinians in Gaza. The University of Manchester has no policy regulating whether research could be used to harm lives or for other unethical purposes, and has received at least ÂŁ15m in research funding from arms companies in the last five years.
The occupiers said:
We have taken the Whitworth building to escalate our pressure on the University to end its ties with the genocide in Palestine. We have full control of this building which is due to hold hundreds of students for exams next week. We will not leave until the University commit to not disciplining any student protesters and enter negotiations on the other demands.
If students are concerned about the potential impact of this action on their exams they should direct their complaints to the University, which continues to value its profitable links to genocide over the welfare of its students.
Two activists from Palestine Action were unanimously acquitted of criminal damage against arms manufacturer Elbit by a jury in Leicester Crown Court after a deliberation of just one hour and 40 minutes.
Palestine Action: occupying Elbit
For six days from 19 May 2021, four people from Palestine Action occupied the roof of UAV Tactical Systems, an Elbit drone factory in Leicester:
The action was taken urgently in response to the ongoing bombardment of Gaza at the time.
Whilst on the roof, the activists spray painted messages including “Shut Elbit Down” and “Free Palestine”, damaged a skylight to reveal a military drone inside and sprayed the building in blood red paint:
In total, it was claimed that the knock on costs of extra security since the action amounted to ÂŁ40,000 of losses per month, totalling ÂŁ1.6m.
Three days into the action, two of the four came off the roof in order to ration supplies. The jury heard from one defendant about how the two which remained on the roof and were subsequently charged, resorted to drinking rainwater in order to maintain the disruption for as long as possible in order to save lives in Palestine.
The defendant explained how the factory, which is majority owned by the Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems, was used to assemble drone equipment for the Israeli military and the ways in which Elbit’s drone are deployed in Gaza. Between the defence and prosecution, the agreed facts of the cases included the factory’s export licenses of drones to Israel for use by the state of Israel.
He spoke through reports by drone wars and human rights watch which explained the numerous war crimes which have been conducted in Gaza using Elbit’s drones, leading to deliberate massacres of the Palestinian people.
Not guilty – obviously
The jury also heard of how hundreds from the local community supported the action, several of which were arrested for attempting to throw water for to the activists on the roof.
Cops eventually forced the activists down:
The defence argued that the action taken was necessary in order to save lives and prevent the greater property damage in Palestine. In her closing speech, Mira Hammad from Garden Court North Chambers told the jury that:
The consequences of failing to act would mean the death of children, parents, grandparents in Palestine
and prioritising Elbit’s right to property over Palestinians right to live is a:
smokescreen of dehumanisation.
Clearly, the jury agreed.
Featured image and additional images via Palestine Action
Assembly point confirmed – National march for Palestine
Russel Square, London
Saturday, 8 June, 12:30PM
(@RowxnBuriedIt) 
#AintAsking đ
ż (@TheDryhtscipe) 
(@penwingcries) 
you! 
#JohnsonâsOut #Rejoin (@EuropeanUnity1) 
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