Cuban Civil Society, Resumen English. To the Defenders of Peace and to the Peoples of the World To leaders of social organizations, human rights defenders, and citizens of the world: We address you at a time of extreme gravity. The escalation of aggressive rhetoric and threats of military intervention by extremist sectors in the United States […]
By Michael Arria This article was originally published by Truthout The five-year plan is expected to cause 4,000 additional oil spills and the destruction of fragile ecosystems. The Trump administration and fellow Republicans are citing the Iran war as a pretext for oil drilling in Alaska, in an attempt to rapidly implement longstanding policy goals […]
The United Kingdom has banned left-wing streamer Hasan Piker and his uncle Cenk Uygur from entering the country because of their criticism of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Both were scheduled to speak at the upcoming SXSW London festival. Britain’s interior ministry said that Uygur’s and Piker’s presence in the country would “not be conducive to the public good.” The statement made no reference to Israel, but their planned appearance at the conference had already led to backlash from British Jewish groups. Last week, Labour member of Parliament David Taylor called for Piker to be prevented from speaking.“I’ve been banned from the UK. I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel,” Uygur wrote Sunday on X. “Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!”“The UK has revoked my visa as well. All at the behest of Israel,” Piker wrote shortly after. “The west is betraying ‘liberal values’ for a genocidal fascist foreign government. Soon we will all become Israel.”“It’s good to see the Home Office take a tough stance against those who pose a serious risk to public order and community cohesion. At a time when antisemitism is at record levels, it is completely inappropriate to give someone with a history of inflammatory rhetoric such a high profile platform,” Taylor said after news of the ban. This move comes just a year after the U.S. Vice President JD Vance lambasted the U.K. for cracking down on the speech of Islamophobic right-wingers like Tommy Robinson. The U.K. has been suppressing criticism of Israel domestically, as well, arresting at least 3,000 people since last summer simply for expressing support for the Palestine Action activist group, which has gained notoriety for damaging weapons manufacturing factories in the region. “It’s not just Israel. The UK has been escalating mass censorship under the guise of “safety” for yrs now. This is EXACTLY what every single free speech activist predicted, it’s horrible to see it come to fruition,” journalist Taylor Lorenz wrote. “This censorship is intertwined w laws like the ‘Online Safety Act.’” From Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk to Piker and Uygur, it’s clear that the United Kingdom and United States will happily engage in blatant suppression of speech if it means silencing a voice shouting out against genocide.
A federal jury last week convicted three people on felony conspiracy charges over their involvement in an anti-ICE protest in Spokane, Washington, last June. The “Spokane Three” are awaiting sentencing and face up to six years in prison for conspiracy to impede or injure ICE officers. They had attempted to block the transfer of a group of detained immigrants by sitting in front of a bus. Six of the nine protesters originally charged took plea deals, but the Spokane Three decided to fight the charges.
“If I had taken a plea deal, it would have essentially been me lying and saying that I did something that I didn’t do. I didn’t assault anybody,” says Bajun Mavalwalla, a U.S. military veteran and one of the Spokane Three.
“What we have here is a really large reach of the conspiracy statute,” adds journalist and author Aaron Glantz, highlighting that no officers were hurt in the June protest. “What happened was a relatively minor demonstration.”