ProPalestinian

Police in Australia broke up a protest against Israeli companies taking part in a defence show in Sydney. At least one pro-Palestinian protester was seen dragged along the ground by officers.

It was one of the most dramatic protests in Los Angeles by activists who opposed Israel’s war in Gaza: a shutdown of the southbound lanes of the 110 Freeway as it passes through downtown.

In a chaotic scene captured by news helicopters, protesters sat down on the freeway in December 2013, halting traffic just south of the four-level interchange. On live television, enraged motorists responded by getting into physical altercations with demonstrators.

Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office later charged many of the protesters with unlawful assembly, failure to disperse, failure to comply with a lawful order and obstruction of a street, sidewalk or other public corridor — all misdemeanors.

On Monday, after a lengthy legal battle, a judge agreed to put 29 protesters into a 12-month diversion program, which requires that each performs 20 hours of community service.

If they complete that service and obey the law, the charges will be dismissed in October 2026, said Colleen Flynn, the protesters’ attorney.

In court Monday, Flynn praised her clients for taking a stand, motivated by a moral duty to “bring attention to the loss of life and humanitarian crisis going on in Gaza.”

“These are people who were, out of conscience, making a decision to engage in an act of civil disobedience,” she told the judge.

Two others charged in connection with the protest were granted judicial diversion earlier this year and have already completed their community service. The charges against them have been dismissed, Flynn said.

Flynn initially asked for the 29 protesters to each receive eight hours of community service. City prosecutors successfully pushed for 20 hours, saying the political reason for the protest had no bearing on the case. Deputy City Atty. Brad Rothenberg told the judge that the freeway closure lasted about four hours.

“That affected thousands of people who come to the second largest city in the United States to work,” he said.

The hearing brought a quiet end to a furious legal battle.

Flynn spent several months pushing for the case to be dismissed, arguing that Feldstein Soto’s decision to charge the protesters was rooted in “impermissible bias” — religious or ethnic prejudice against Palestinians and their supporters.

At multiple hearings, Flynn said her clients experienced disparate treatment compared to other protesters who also disrupted traffic but were highlighting different political issues, such as higher wages for hotel workers. Flynn also pointed to social media posts by Feldstein Soto on Oct. 7, 2023, the day Hamas-led militants invaded Israel, murdering more than 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 others.

“Every nation and every moral person must support Israel in defending her people,” Feldstein Soto wrote on her @ElectHydee page.

Last month, a judge denied Flynn’s request to dismiss the case. At that hearing, prosecutors said the protesters were charged because they shut down a freeway, creating a particular threat to public safety.

Prosecutors argued that a motorcycle traveling between traffic lanes at a high rate of speed easily could have plowed into freeway protesters who were sitting cross-legged on the pavement.

Prosecutors also defended Feldstein Soto’s social media posts, saying they were written on the day of the invasion, before Israel had launched its counterattack. At that point, Feldstein Soto was expressing outrage over a horrific day of violence, the prosecutors said.

Since then, Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, a majority of whom were women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

Norwegian riot police used pepper spray to disperse a pro-Palestinian protest outside a World Cup qualifier match between Norway and Israel, which the hosts won 5-0. Several activists were arrested.

Erling Haaland’s Norway close in on World Cup qualification in a match where a pro-Palestine demonstration was held.

Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick to pass 50 international goals in record time as Norway cruised to a 5-0 thrashing of Israel, edging closer to qualifying for a first FIFA World Cup finals since 1998.

Before the Saturday night match in Oslo, hundreds of people attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration, chanting “Free Palestine” to protest against Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza, AFP journalists reported.

Norwegian police dispersed a gathering of pro-Palestinian activists with tear gas and made several arrests.

Inside the Ullevaal Stadium, several dozen Israeli fans waved their country’s flag and a banner reading “Let the Ball Talk!”.

Norway now lead Group I with 18 points, six more than second-placed Italy, who beat Estonia 3-1 in Tallinn to stay on track for qualification.

The comfortable win in Oslo leaves Norway firmly in control of the group as they seek a place at next year’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

After a meek performance, Israel take on Italy in Udine on Tuesday, knowing they must win to keep alive their fading hopes of qualifying.

Haaland’s hat-trick sets the tone

Haaland became the fastest player in men’s international football to reach 50 goals for his country and now boasts 51 goals for Norway in just 46 games.

His early penalty was saved by Israel goalkeeper Daniel Peretz, but the referee ordered the spot-kick to be retaken for encroachment inside the area, only for Peretz to parry away Haaland’s second effort.

But Norway forged ahead in the 18th minute through an Anan Khalaili own goal, before Haaland raced clear to score. Norway got their third from an Idan Nachmias own goal.

Manchester City forward Haaland added his second with a powerful header before nodding in to complete his sixth hat-trick for his country with 18 minutes left.

Norway has not played at a major tournament since Euro 2000.

Italy, attempting to reach their first World Cup finals since 2014, moved a step closer thanks to goals from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui and Pio Esposito in Tallinn.

The Italians move three points ahead of Israel in second place in Group I, which offers a playoff spot.

Italy’s meeting with Israel is expected to be a tense affair, surrounded by pro-Palestinian protests, and only 5,000 tickets have been sold.

Israel-Premier Tech cycling team will drop Israeli ties after multiple protests at the Vuelta a Espana race.

The Israel–Premier Tech cycling team will drop its ties to Israel from the 2026 season, following repeated pro-Palestinian protests against it at the recent Vuelta a Espana bike race.

The move was announced in a statement on Monday, just weeks after pressure from its sponsors to change its name.

The team, which is based in Israel and which is owned by the Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, has been subjected to widespread criticism over Israel’s war on Gaza, in which more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel, and leading experts have called a genocide.

Adams has previously said that Israel has done “miracles” in its fighting in Gaza and elsewhere, despite the devastation of the Palestinian enclave, where famine has spread.

Last month, protesters disrupted several stages of Spain’s Vuelta because of its participation in the prestigious three-week cycling event.

Amid the public pressure, the team removed its full name from its jerseys midway though the race. Later on, the final stage of the Vuelta had to be abandoned when pro-Palestinian demonstrators entered part of the course in Madrid.

Following the protests against it in Spain, Israel-Premier Tech was then excluded from the Giro dell’Emilia race on Saturday because of concerns about public safety.

Explaining its decision to rebrand, the team said on Monday that it was moving away from its Israeli identity out of a “steadfast commitment to our riders, staff and valued partners”.

“In sport, progress often requires sacrifice, and this step is essential to securing the future of the team,” it added.

The statement also confirmed that Adams, its owner, would no longer speak on behalf of the team. Instead, he will focus on his position as President of the World Jewish Congress, Israel, it said.

Premier Tech, the Canada-based multinational company that co-sponsors the team, had voiced its desire for change last month.

“We are sensitive and attentive to the situation on the international scene which has evolved considerably since our arrival on the World Tour in 2017,” it said.

“Our expectation is that the team will evolve to a new name excluding the term Israel, and that it will adopt a new identity and a new brand image.”

Factor, the company that provides the team with equipment, also warned that its involvement would end unless there was “a change of flag”.

Israel has grown increasingly isolated internationally as the war on Gaza continues, with an effort on the part of many countries to exclude Israel from sporting and cultural events, in a similar manner to Russia’s exclusion following its war on Ukraine.

Riders have crashed as a result of the protests, with some saying they have been worried for their safety.

Last week, Israel-Premier Tech began racing in modified jerseys which did not display their team name.

Organisers said: “It is still unknown whether there will be a winning ceremony with the situation as it is, with thousands of protesters filling downtown Madrid.

“The race has been officially ended and Jonas Vingegaard is the winner.”

Clashes continued after the race was abandoned, with protesters throwing bottles of water and other objects at police.

Race organisers had already shortened the 21st and final stage of the Vuelta from 111.6km to 103.6km.

Organisers did not specify a reason for the section removed, which would have crossed the plush Madrid neighbourhood of Aravaca.

Cycling journalist Brian Smith told BBC Sport: “They realised [there could be disruption] a few days ago when the protesters stopped a stage going into Bilbao.

“So there was always a contingency in place and the riders all voted to ride into Madrid. They knew something may happen”.

The protests come in the wake of the Israeli military launching a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Speaking before Sunday’s final stage, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he admired the protesters.

“Today marks the end of the Vuelta,” Sanchez told a socialist party rally in the southern city of Malaga. “Our respect and recognition for the athletes and our admiration for the Spanish people who are mobilising for just causes like Palestine.”

Madrid’s Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said Sanchez’s comments were to blame for causing the abandonment.

“[It is] violence that the prime minister is directly responsible for due to his statements this morning instigating the protests,” he said.

“Today is the saddest day since I became mayor of this great city.”

France’s Egan Bernal won stage 16 of the Vuelta a Espana that had to be shortened by eight kilometres because of pro-Palestinian protests.

Protests aimed at the Israel-Premier Tech team have disrupted several stages of this year’s race, including stage 11 which was shortened without a winner last week.

However, on Tuesday, the race directors decided the winner and took times early after “a big protest at three km before the finish line”.

The stage was scheduled to run along a 168km stretch from Poio to Castro de Herville before it was cut short.

In Sunday’s stage 15, a protestor caused a minor crash that involved Spain’s Javier Romo, who abandoned this year’s race on Tuesday saying he was “not feeling very well, mentally or physically”.

The 26-year-old Movistar rider had suffered “only bruises” during the fall and was able to complete the race on Sunday but quit with 80km to go in stage 16.

The team time trial in stage five was also disrupted when the Israel-Premier Tech team, owned by Israeli-Canadian businessman Sylvan Adams, were stopped on the road by a group of protesters holding Palestinian flags.

Bernal, riding for Ineos Grenadiers, secured the victory on stage 16 in three hours, 35 minutes and 10 seconds, finishing ahead of Spanish rider Mikel Landa.

France’s Brieuc Rolland took third place while British rider Finlay Pickering, 22, finished eighth.

Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard remains top of the general classification with Joao Almeida 48 seconds behind, while Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock sits third.

Friday will see another medium mountain stage stretching 143km from O Barco de Valdeorras to Ponferrada.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 64,605 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Aug. 9 (UPI) — More than 200 people were arrested in London Saturday during a major pro-Palestinian protest in the British capital, police confirmed.

“We’ve now arrested 150 people in Parliament Square. While many of those remaining in the Square are media and onlookers, there are still people holding placards supporting Palestine Action,” the Metropolitan Police Service said in an update on X.

“Officers are steadily working through the crowd making further arrests,” added ahead of an update that confirmed the more-accurate arrest count.

“We’re aware of a statement by Defend Our Juries (the organizers of today’s protest) claiming we were only to arrest ‘a fraction’ of those breaking the law in Parliament Square this afternoon,” the Met said on X.

“That claim simply isn’t true. We estimate there were 500 to 600 people in Parliament Square when the protests began, but many were onlookers, media, or people not holding placards in support of Palestinian Action.

“We are confident that anyone who came to Parliament Square today to hold a placard expressing support for Palestinian Action was either arrested or is in the process of being arrested.”

Officials said they are prepared for three days of similar demonstrations in the city, which has a population of around 9 million people.

A majority of the protestors are reportedly members of Palestine Action. The British government in July deemed the pro-Palestinian group a terrorist organization. A conviction for membership in the group can carry a 14-year prison term.

Police from other jurisdictions are being brought in to deal with the expected crowds over the weekend.

“This is going to be a particularly busy few days in London with many simultaneous protests and events that will require a significant policing presence,” Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said in a statement.

“I’m grateful not just to the Met officers who will be working incredibly hard over the coming days but to those colleagues from other forces who have been deployed to London to support us.”

The demonstrations come days after Israel’s security cabinet this week voted to approve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s plan to take over control of Gaza.

Netanyahu later said the Israel Defense Forces would “free Gaza from Hamas” but that the military would not occupy the Palestinian enclave.

The plan has drawn international criticism, with several international leaders voicing their concerns this week.

“The Israeli Government’s plan for a complete military takeover of the occupied Gaza Strip must be immediately halted,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement Friday.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday his government is suspending further military exports to Israel over the latter’s desire to take control of the Gaza Strip.

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah flown to Lebanon from France after incarceration ends.

France has released Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a pro-Palestinian Lebanese fighter jailed since 1984, and put him on a flight to Beirut after he spent nearly four decades behind bars.

Shortly before 3:40am (01:30 GMT) on Friday, a convoy of six vehicles with flashing lights was seen leaving the Lannemezan prison in southern France, according to journalists with the AFP news agency on the ground. A source confirmed the 74-year-old had been freed and later boarded a flight to Lebanon.

Abdallah, who was convicted in 1987 for his role in the killings of United States military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris, had long been eligible for release. However, repeated applications were rejected, often due to pressure from the US, which was a civil party in Abdallah’s case.

Last month, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled in favour of his release, effective on Friday, on the condition that Abdallah leave French territory and never return.

His lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, told AFP that the former fighter appeared “very happy” during their final visit “even though he knows he is returning to the Middle East in an extremely tough context for Lebanese and Palestinian populations”.

Abdallah, the founder of the now-defunct Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Factions, had declared during a recent visit by a lawmaker that he remained a “militant with a struggle”. French police uncovered submachine guns and communication equipment in one of his flats at the time of his arrest.

Abdallah has never expressed regret for his actions and has always insisted he is a “fighter” who has battled for the rights of Palestinians and is not a “criminal”.

The Paris court described his behaviour in prison as irreproachable and said in November that he posed “no serious risk in terms of committing new terrorism acts”.

The appeals court cited the length of Abdallah’s detention and his advanced age, calling his continued imprisonment “disproportionate”. In France, inmates serving life sentences are typically released after less than 30 years.

Abdallah’s family said they would greet him at Beirut’s airport before travelling to his hometown of Kobayat in northern Lebanon, where a reception has been planned.

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah’s prison release on July 25 is conditional: He must leave France and never return. 

A French court has ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese fighter Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for his role in the killings of two foreign diplomats in France in the early 1980s.

The Paris Appeals Court ordered on Thursday that Abdallah, 74, be freed from a prison in southern France on July 25 on the condition that he leave French territory and never return.

The former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Brigade was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 for complicity in the 1982 murders of United States military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris and the attempted murder of US Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg in 1984.

First detained in 1984 and convicted in 1987, Abdallah is one of the longest serving prisoners in France as most prisoners serving life sentences are freed after less than 30 years.

The detainee’s brother, Robert Abdallah, told the AFP news agency in Lebanon on Thursday that he was overjoyed by the news.

“We’re delighted. I didn’t expect the French judiciary to make such a decision nor for him to ever be freed, especially after so many failed requests for release,” he was quoted as saying. “For once, the French authorities have freed themselves from Israeli and US pressures.”

Abdallah’s lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset also welcomed the decision: “It’s both a judicial victory and a political scandal that he was not released earlier.”

Abdallah is expected to be deported to Lebanon.

Prosecutors may file an appeal with France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, but it is not expected to be processed quickly enough to halt his release next week.

Abdallah has been up for release for 25 years, but the US – a civil party to the case – has consistently opposed his leaving prison. Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said Abdallah should be freed from jail and had written to the appeals court to say they would organise his return home to Beirut.

In November, a French court ordered his release on the condition Abdallah leaves France.

But French prosecutors, arguing that he had not changed his political views, appealed the decision, which was consequently suspended.

A verdict was supposed to have been delivered in February, but the Paris Appeals Court postponed it, saying it was unclear whether Abdallah had proof that he had paid compensation to the plaintiffs – something he has consistently refused to do.

The court re-examined the latest request for his release last month.

During the closed-door hearing, Chalanset told the judges that 16,000 euros ($18,535) had been placed in the prisoner’s bank account and were at the disposal of civil parties in the case, including the US.

Abdallah, who has never expressed regret for his actions, has always insisted he is a “fighter” who battled for the rights of Palestinians and not a “criminal”.

The Paris court has described his behaviour in prison as irreproachable and said in November that he posed “no serious risk in terms of committing new terrorism acts”.

Abdallah still enjoys some support from several public figures in France, including left-wing members of parliament and Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux, but has mostly been forgotten by the general public.

BOSTON — Plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s campaign of arresting and deporting college faculty and students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations spent the first few days of the trial showing how the crackdown silenced scholars and targeted more than 5,000 protesters.

The lawsuit, filed by several university associations, is one of the first against President Trump and members of his administration to go to trial. Plaintiffs want U.S. District Judge William Young to rule that the policy violates the 1st Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, a law that governs how federal agencies develop and issue regulations.

The government argues that no such policy exists and that it is enforcing immigration laws legally to protect national security.

Investigating protesters

One of the key witnesses was Peter Hatch, who works for the Homeland Security Investigations unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Over two days of testimony, Hatch told the court a “Tiger Team” was formed in March — after two executive orders that addressed terrorism and combating antisemitism — to investigate people who took part in the protests.

Hatch said the team received as many as 5,000 names of protesters and wrote reports on about 200 who had potentially violated U.S. law. The reports, several of which were shown in court Thursday, included biographical information, criminal history, travel history and affiliations with pro-Palestinian groups as well as press clips and social media posts on their activism or allegations of their affiliation with Hamas or other anti-Israel groups.

Until this year, Hatch said, he could not recall a student protester being referred for a visa revocation.

“It was anything that may relate to national security or public safety issues, things like: Were any of the protesters violent or inciting violence? I think that’s a clear, obvious one,” Hatch testified. “Were any of them supporting terrorist organizations? Were any of them involved in obstruction or unlawful activity in the protests?”

Among the report subjects were Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who was released last month after 104 days in federal immigration detention. Khalil has become a symbol of Trump’s clampdown on the protests.

Another was Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was released in May from a Louisiana facility. She spent six weeks in detention after she was arrested while walking on the street of a Boston suburb. She says she was illegally detained following an op-ed she cowrote last year criticizing the school’s response to the war in Gaza.

Hatch also acknowledged that most of the names came from Canary Mission, a group that says it documents people who “promote hatred of the U.S.A., Israel and Jews on North American college campuses.” The right-wing Jewish group Betar was another source, he said.

Hatch said most of the leads were dropped when investigators could not find ties to protests and the investigations were not inspired by a new policy but rather a procedure in place at least since he took the job in 2019.

What is Canary Mission?

Weeks before Khalil’s arrest, a spokesperson for Betar told the Associated Press that the activist topped a list of foreign students and faculty from nine universities that it submitted to officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who made the decision to revoke Khalil’s visa.

The Department of Homeland Security said at the time that it was not working with Betar and refused to answer questions about how it was treating reports from outside groups.

In March, speculation grew that administration officials were using Canary Mission to identify and target student protesters. That’s when immigration agents arrested Ozturk.

Canary Mission has denied working with administration officials, while noting speculation that its reports led to that arrest and others.

While Canary Mission prides itself on outing anyone it labels as antisemitic, its leaders refuse to identify themselves and its operations are secretive. News reports and tax filings have linked the site to a nonprofit based in the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. But journalists who have visited the group’s address, listed in documents filed with Israeli authorities, have found a locked and seemingly empty building.

In recent years, news organizations have reported that several wealthy Jewish Americans made cash contributions to support Canary Mission, disclosed in tax paperwork filed by their personal foundations. But most of the group’s funding remains opaque, funneled through a New York-based fund that acts as a conduit for Israeli causes.

Were student protesters targeted?

Attorneys for the plaintiffs pressed a State Department official Friday over whether protests were grounds for revoking a student’s visa, repeatedly invoking several cables issued in response to Trump’s executive orders as examples of policy guidance.

But Maureen Smith, a senior advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, said protest alone wasn’t a critical factor. She wasn’t asked specifically about pro-Palestinian protests.

“It’s a bit of a hypothetical question. We would need to look at all the facts of the case,” she said. “If it were a visa holder who engages in violent activity, whether it’s during a protest or not — if they were arrested for violent activity — that is something we would consider for possible visa revocation.”

Smith also said she didn’t think a student taking part in a nonviolent protest would be a problem but said it would be seen in a “negative light” if the protesters supported terrorism. She wasn’t asked to define what qualified as terrorism nor did she provide examples of what that would include.

Scholars scared by the crackdown

The trial opened with Megan Hyska, a green card holder from Canada who is a philosophy professor at Northwestern University, detailing how efforts to deport Khalil and Ozturk prompted her to scale back her activism, which had included supporting student encampments and protesting in support of Palestinians.

“It became apparent to me, after I became aware of a couple of high-profile detentions of political activists, that my engaging in public political dissent would potentially endanger my immigration status,” Hyska said.

Nadje Al-Ali, a green card holder from Germany and professor at Brown University, said that after the arrests of Khalil and Ozturk, she canceled a planned research trip and a fellowship to Iraq and Lebanon, fearing that “stamps from those two countries would raise red flags” upon her return. She also declined to take part in anti-Trump protests and dropped plans to write an article that was to be a feminist critique of Hamas.

“I felt it was too risky,” Al-Ali said.

Casey writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Adam Geller in New York contributed to this report.

A July 5 CNN article reported on three incidents in Melbourne, Australia: attempted arson at a synagogue, a confrontation at a restaurant and three cars set on fire near a business. The piece was scant on the details of the alleged crimes and the identities of the perpetrators, but it did clarify that the business “has been targeted by pro-Palestine protesters in the past”.

That the author chose to conflate activism in support of the Palestinian cause with violent acts that are low on facts and high on conjecture is indicative of how Western media have come to operate. Media reports are increasingly linking by default acts of aggression to activism they call “pro-Palestinian”.

Here are more examples: Before his name was released, we learned that a gunman shouted, “Free, free Palestine,” in a shooting rampage that killed two Israeli embassy staff members outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, on May 21. Reports linked the suspect to what news outlets described as “pro-Palestinian” advocacy.

When on June 1 an Egyptian national attacked demonstrators voicing support of Israel in Colorado, the media also linked the incident to “pro-Palestinian protests”.

Softly landing on the term “pro-Palestinian” allows reporters to meet editorial standards for brevity. But brevity is not a fixed journalistic value. Accurately informing the public is.

The word “pro-Palestinian” has become political shorthand for a well-worn and misleading coupling: Palestinian advocacy and violence. Stripped of critical context, the term offers news consumers a reductive explanation – a violent act distilled and opaquely linked to “Palestinian” entities as imagined and understood through a narrow and distorted lens.

A failure to engage with contexts is not neutral omission. Rather, it is an affront to knowledge processes and a bow to power structures that govern mainstream journalistic storytelling.

What historical, cultural and religious claims do Palestinians make? Most news consumers in the West are unprepared to answer this question. In a closed information ecology, they rarely encounter these claims in full – or at all.

Like many who have followed the historical arc of all things Palestine or reported on it, I’ve used the term pro-Palestinian myself. It felt functional at the time: concise and seemingly understood.

Now, however, that shorthand misleads. Any word that is prefaced by “pro-” demands honest re-examination. When circumstances shift and new meanings emerge, the hyphenation clanks as anachronistic. We’re in one of those moments – a circumstance that is the epicentre of global opprobrium, humanitarian collapse and spectacular moral failure.

To describe activism and peaceful protests against the genocidal violence in Gaza as “pro-Palestinian” is disparaging. Opposing the strategic starvation of a trapped population is hardly pro-Palestinian. It is pro-humanity.

Is it “pro-Palestinian” to call for the end of violence that has claimed the lives of more than 18,000 children? Is it “pro-Palestinian” to call for the end of starvation that has killed dozens of children and elderly? Is it “pro-Palestinian” to express outrage at Gaza parents forced to carry body parts of their children in plastic bags?

The term “pro-Palestinian” operates within a false linguistic economy. It flattens a grossly unequal reality into a story of competing sides as if an occupied, bombarded and displaced people were an equal side to one of the most advanced armies in the world.

Gaza is not a side. Gaza is, as one UNICEF official put it, a “graveyard for children”. It is a place where journalists are killed for bearing witness, where hospitals are obliterated and universities reduced to rubble, where the international community is failing to uphold minimal standards of human rights.

In an era of impatience with rigour, “pro-Palestinian” is the rhetorical crutch that satisfies the manufactured need for immediate alignment (fandom) without critical thought. It permits bad-faith actors to stigmatise dissent, dismiss moral clarity and delegitimise outrage.

To call Elias Rodriguez, who carried out the shooting in Washington, DC, a “pro-Palestinian” shooter is a framing device that invites readers to interpret words of Palestinian solidarity as potential precursors to violence. It encourages institutions, including universities, to conflate advocacy with extremism and put a chill on free expression on campus.

Obfuscations in the conventions of reportage, euphemism or rhetorical hedging are the last things we need in this catastrophic moment. What’s needed is clarity and precision.

Let us try something radical: Let us say what we mean. When people protest the destruction of lineage and tillage in Gaza, they are not “taking a side” in some abstract pro-and-con debate. They are affirming the value of life. They are rejecting the idea that one people’s suffering must remain invisible for another’s comfort.

If people are advocating for human rights, then say so. If they believe that Palestinian life is worthy of dignity, safety and memory, say so.

And if they are calling for the “liberation” of Palestine and use phrases like “free Palestine” – phrases charged with decades of political, historical and emotional weight – that too deserves clarity and context. Liberation and freedom in most of these calls do not imply violence but a demand for freedom from occupation, siege, starvation, statelessness, and killing and imprisonment with impunity.

Collapsing these diverse expressions into a vague label like “pro-Palestinian” blurs reality and deepens public misunderstanding.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

British investigative journalist Asa Winstanley, known for his coverage of Palestine, had his home raided by police in October 2024. Although a court in May 2025 deemed the seizure of his devices unlawful, Winstanley says that current laws are being weaponised to intimidate some journalists.

PILTON, England — Irish-language rap group Kneecap gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans on Saturday at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terrorism charge against one of the trio.

Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August.

“Glastonbury, I’m a free man!” O hAnnaidh shouted as Kneecap took the stage at Glastonbury’s West Holts field, which holds about 30,000 people. Dozens of Palestinian flags flew in the capacity crowd as the show opened with an audio montage of news clips referring to the band’s critics and legal woes.

Between high-energy numbers that had fans forming a large mosh pit, the band members led the audience in chants of “Free Palestine” and “Free Mo Chara.” They also aimed an expletive-laden chant at U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has said he didn’t think it was “appropriate” for Kneecap to play Glastonbury.

The trio thanked festival organizers Michael and Emily Eavis for resisting pressure to cancel Kneecap’s gig and gave a shout-out to Palestine Action, a protest group that the British government plans to ban under terrorism laws after its members vandalized planes on a Royal Air Force base.

The Belfast trio is known for anarchic energy, satirical lyrics and use of symbolism associated with the Irish republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., with the Republic of Ireland.

More than 3,600 people were killed during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland involving Irish republican militants, pro-British Loyalist militias and the U.K. security forces. Kneecap takes its name from a brutal punishment — shooting in the leg — that was dealt out by paramilitary groups to informers and drug dealers.

The group has faced criticism for lyrics laden with expletives and drug references, and for political statements, especially since videos emerged allegedly showing the band shouting, “up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” and calling on people to kill lawmakers.

Members of the group say they don’t support Hezbollah or Hamas, nor condone violence, and O hAnnaidh says he picked up a flag that was thrown onto the stage without knowing what it represented. Kneecap has accused critics of trying to silence the band because of its support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in the Gaza Strip.

A performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April — where the band accused Israel, with U.S. support, of committing genocide against the Palestinians — sparked calls for the group members’ U.S. visas to be revoked.

Several Kneecap gigs have since been canceled as a result of the controversy.

The BBC, which airs many hours of Glastonbury performances, didn’t show Kneecap’s set live, but said it would “look to make an on-demand version of Kneecap’s performance available on our digital platforms” afterward.

About 200,000 ticket holders have gathered at Worthy Farm in southwest England for Britain’s most prestigious summer music festival, which features almost 4,000 performers on 120 stages. Headline acts performing over three days ending Sunday include Neil Young, Charli XCX, Rod Stewart, Busta Rhymes, Olivia Rodrigo and Doechii.

Glastonbury highlights Friday included a performance from U.K. rockers the 1975, an unannounced set by New Zealand singer Lorde, a raucous reception for Alanis Morissette and an emotional return for Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi, two years after he took a break from touring to adjust to the effect of the neurological condition Tourette syndrome.

Dixon writes for the Associated Press.

June 23 (UPI) — Britain’s Met police banned a pro-Palestinian protest in front of the Houses of Parliament in central London scheduled to take place on Monday to “prevent serious public order,” property damage and disruption to elected representatives.

Met Commissioner Mark Rowley said in a statement Sunday that while he could not stop the demonstration going ahead, he was using powers under public order legislation to impose an exclusion zone preventing protestors from assembling in a roughly 0.5 square mile area around the Palace of Westminster and restrict the duration to between noon and 3 p.m. local time.

The We Are All Palestine protest was being organized by Palestine Action but backed by around 35 other groups, including the Stop the War Coalition, Cage and Muslim Engagement and Development.

Calling Palestine Action “an extremist criminal group” with members awaiting trial on serious charges, Rowley said he was frustrated that he lacked legal authority to ban the protest outright.

“The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest,” he said.

Rowley added that criminal charges faced by Palestine Action members, including allegedly attacking a police officer with a sledgehammer and causing millions of dollars of damage, represented extremism of a type that the vast majority of the public found abhorrent.

Palestinian Action responded by moving the protest, telling supporters in a post on X early Monday that it would now go ahead in Trafalgar Square, which is just outside the northern edge of the exclusion zone.

“The Metropolitan police are trying to deter support from Palestine Action by banning the protest from taking place at the Houses of Parliament. Don’t let them win! Make sure everyone is aware of the location change to Trafalgar Square, London. Mobilize from 12 p.m.”

The move came as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper updated lawmakers on plans to proscribe Palestinian Action as a terrorist organization after members of the group claimed responsibility for damaging military aircraft Friday after breaking into an RAF base northwest of London.

They also allegedly damaged the offices of an insurance company, which the group claimed provided services to Elbit Systems, an Israel-based military technology company and defense contractor.

Activist Saeed Taji Farouky called the move to proscribe the group a ludicrous move that “rips apart the very basic concepts of British democracy and the rule of law.”

“It’s something everyone should be terrified about,” he told the BBC.

Cooper said in a written statement to the House that she expected to bring a draft order amending the country’s anti-terror legislation before Parliament next week. Proscribing Palestine Action would make membership or promotion of the group punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Palestinian Action, escalated from targeting arms producers to vandalizing the two Airbus refuelling tanker aircraft because Britain was, it claimed, deploying aircraft to its Akrotiri airbase on Cyprus from where it can “collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza.”

The attack at RAF Brize Norton, the British military’s main hub for strategic air transport and refuelling, including flights to RAF Akrotiri, came the same day a British man appeared in a closed court in Cyprus on charges of planning an “imminent terrorist attack” on the island and espionage.

The suspect was arrested by Greek anti-terror officers on a tip-off from a foreign intelligence service claiming he’d had the RAF Akrotiri base under surveillance since April and had links with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He faces charges of terrorism, espionage, conspiracy to commit a felony and other related offences.

RAF Akrotiri is the U.K. military’s largest base for the Middle East region and a key waypoint en route to its giant Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands, 3,800 miles to the southeast in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Palestinian activist and former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was released after three months in immigration detention, following a judge’s ruling to free him amid growing backlash over Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protests.

Pro-Palestinian activists have broken into RAF Brize Norton and sprayed two military planes with red paint in a major security breach.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the action as “disgraceful”, saying that it was an “act of vandalism”.

Footage posted online by Palestine Action on Friday showed two people inside the Oxfordshire airbase in darkness, with one riding on a scooter up to an Airbus Voyager and spraying paint into its jet engine.

The Ministry of Defence, which has also condemned the move, is now expected to conduct a review of security at UK military bases. It is working with Thames Valley Police, which is leading the investigation.

Palestine Action said the activists evaded security and claimed they had put the air-to-air refuelling tankers “out of service”.

However, RAF engineers are assessing the damage and a defence source told the BBC they did not expect the incident to affect operations.

In a statement, a Palestine Action spokesperson said: “Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets.”

RAF Brize Norton serves as the hub for UK strategic air transport and refuelling, including flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The air force has conducted reconnaissance flights over Gaza out of the Cyprus base.

The base is encircled by a large perimeter fence, with security camera and sensors in the area in addition to manned security checkpoints. Patrols around the base are also carried out from time to time.

But a defence source said these measures would not have been able to provide complete cover around the large airbase.

Palestine Action has engaged in similar activity since the start of the current war in Gaza, predominantly targeting arms companies. In May, it claimed responsibility for the daubing of a US military plane in Ireland.

The group said the activists who entered RAF Brize Norton used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the planes’ engines.

It also said they caused “further damage” using crowbars – though this is not visible in the bodycam footage it provided.

Video shows the activists then roaming around the airbase.

The protesters did not spray paint on the Vespina aircraft – used by the prime minister for international travel – which was also on the base.

The MoD told the BBC that RAF Voyager aircraft had not been involved in refuelling or supporting Israeli Air Force jets.

A spokesman said Voyagers have been used in the Middle East to refuel RAF Typhoon jets involved in the ongoing international efforts to tackle the so-called Islamic State in eastern Iraq and Syria.

They have also been used in operations in the Red Sea in the past in operations against Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Thames Valley Police confirmed it had received a report about people gaining access to the base and causing criminal damage.

“Inquiries are ongoing to locate and arrest those responsible,” the force said.

Lord West, Labour minister for UK security and former head of the Royal Navy, said earlier that while he was not aware of the full details, the break-in was “extremely worrying”.

“We can’t allow thing like this to happen at all,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, adding that breaches like it were “really a problem” for national security.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the security breach was “deeply concerning”.

“This is not lawful protest, it is politically motivated criminality,” she said in a statement.

“We must stop tolerating terrorist or extremist groups that seek to undermine our society.”

Shadow armed forces minister Mark Francois told the BBC any attempt to interfere with the engines of large aircraft was “totally reprehensible”.

He added there were “serious questions for the MoD to answer” about how protesters were able to “gain access to what is supposed to be a secure RAF airbase”.

The local Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard described the activists’ actions as “stupid and dangerous”.

He said the investigations should establish “how this happened and what can be done in future to make sure no further breaches occur”.

The Trump administration’s crackdowns on pro-Palestinian activism look eerily similar to a conservative proposal to target universities and international students it claims are part of a “terrorist support network”. Who is behind the plan, and what will its impact be?