Weekly Briefing: The U.S. crackdown on Palestine activism is escalating

This week, we witnessed an alarming expansion of the Trump administration’s efforts to silence dissent by focusing on marginalized groups that have dared to speak out against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, its apartheid system, and the oppression of the Palestinian people. The administration is broadening its crackdown on free speech, especially targeting student activists and political dissidents, by using legal and political mechanisms to crush political opposition. D. Musa Springer, a U.S. citizen, was detained and interrogated when they traveled back into the United States. These attacks on activists and organizations, particularly among Black, Muslim, and other marginalized communities, are an undeniable effort to suppress resistance movements that threaten the status quo. The Trump administration’s use of accusations of “antisemitism” to justify these repressive actions is an affront to free speech and political activism. And of course, it is not about the safety of Jewish communities. Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler published a call to “continue to fight, even when you are weary.“

At the same time, Israel escalates its brutal campaign of occupation and genocide. The conditions in Gaza are dire, with widespread displacement, mass casualties, and destruction of vital infrastructure. Palestinians are enduring unimaginable hardship. Reports of worsening conditions for prisoners in Israeli detention—torture, starvation, and abuse—reveal the systemic cruelty Palestinians are subjected to on a daily basis. In the West Bank, Israel is pushing forward with its “Iron Wall” offensive, further dividing the region and accelerating the annexation of Palestinian land. The calls from Gaza’s General Federation of Trade Unions and others for action against the genocide reflect the urgent need for global grassroots solidarity in the face of the international community’s failure to act. As Israel’s crimes intensify, Palestinians remain resolute in their struggle for justice.

It’s clear that the battle for justice for Palestine is not just a fight against occupation, apartheid, and genocide—it is a global struggle for the right to dissent, to speak freely, and to challenge injustice. This week’s articles highlight the intersection of these struggles, showing how efforts to silence dissent in the U.S. are part of a broader campaign to protect the systems of oppression that sustain Israel’s apartheid policies.

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Must read: ‘Psychologically tortured to the last minute’: Ahmad Manasra, arrested at 13, is finally free after a decade in Israeli prison

Qassam Muaddi: Ahmad Manasra was arrested at 13 and kept in solitary confinement for years. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in prison and was at serious risk of self-harm. His release to a remote location far from his family was Israel’s final act of torture.

Catch-up

🧑🏽‍🎓 Engy Sarhan and Vivian Ho: The student movement for Palestine is grappling with strategic stagnation. At this pivotal moment, as Israel intensifies its genocide and the West strips rights to free speech, we must reassess our efforts to face these urgent challenges.

🇮🇱 Shatha Hanaysha: Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention are subjected to conditions of torture, starvation, and torment that are the worst they have been since 1967. My brother has been imprisoned amid these conditions for over a year.

🏛️ Amira Jarmakani: The Trump administration’s recent investigation of 60 schools for “antisemitic discrimination” appeared to target campus protests. But a closer look shows it was driven by pro-Israel groups’ use of civil rights law to push a broad right-wing agenda.

🇾🇪 Craig Mokhiber: The U.S. claims its attacks on Yemen are out of self-defense, and that it has the UN Security Council’s support. These are both lies. The lawlessness of the U.S. in support of Israel’s genocide in Gaza should send alarm bells across the globe.

🇮🇱 Qassam Muaddi: Israel is expanding its “Iron Wall” offensive in the West Bank as it approves plans to separate the northern West Bank from the south. The plan is an accelerated prelude to Israel’s expected annexation of the West Bank.

🏥 Tareq Hajjaj: When the bombing of hospitals was still taboo in October 2023, Israel denied bombing al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. This time, Israel claims it targeted a Hamas command-and-control center at the hospital. It has not provided any evidence.

✊🏽 Open Letter: On April 17, the one-year anniversary of the Columbia University Gaza encampment, academic workers, students, and activists are calling for a coordinated national direct action to protest the ongoing genocide and escalating repression in the U.S.

🎥 Shokoofeh Rajabzadeh: The objective of the new film “October 8” is not to impart information but to cause panic— a panic the filmmakers hope will lead viewers to support the violent crackdowns on student Palestine activists that we are seeing across the U.S. right now.

🇬🇧 Hebh Jamal: Hamas’s application to the UK Home Secretary to remove its designation as a terrorist organization aims to build international support for Palestinian resistance and affirm the group’s role as a political actor in determining the future of Gaza.

🇮🇷 Sina Toossi: Donald Trump’s surprising announcement that talks are starting with Iran gives the White House a pivotal choice: follow pro-Israel hawks calling for a military confrontation with Iran, or chart a diplomatic course that could avert a disastrous war.

🇵🇸 Qassam Muaddi: Despite widespread participation in a general strike protesting the genocide in Gaza, organized Palestinian forces in the West Bank are experiencing a “moment of weakness,” civil society activists say, due to Israel’s campaign of terror.

👩🏽‍🎓 Michael Arria: The Trump administration has reportedly revoked hundreds of student visas amid a widening crackdown on the U.S. Palestine movement, with one attorney estimating as many as 1,000 visas have been canceled at universities across the country.

🏛️ Mahmoud Khalil: In a scathing letter, Mahmoud Khalil writes from an ICE detention center in Louisiana, blasting Columbia University’s role in his abduction and the targeting of other student activists by the Trump administration.

⛪ Jeff Wright: Palestinian Christians are condemning the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for collaborating with the American Jewish Committee on an online resource that defines Palestinian resistance as antisemitic.