18th Annual CODEPINK Mother’s Day Bridge Walk for PEACE!
Sunday, May 12, Noon
11:45: Gather at the Welcome Center Plaza, on the East (Hill) side of the San Francisco end of bridge.
(IMPORTANT: Arrive 30-40 min. EARLY, as “The Authorities” purposely close nearby parking lots to discourage participation!)
NOON: March Begins
1:30 P.M.: Short Rally after the March on the bridge.
In light of U.S. complicity in the ongoing genocide and forced starvation of the people of Gaza, we will put Palestine front and center. With over 12 thousand children killed and tens of thousands of children hungry and near famine in Gaza alone, not to mention the urgent crisis for the children of Sudan, Ukraine, and Haiti, this is an urgent call for the global family to rise up for humanity.
· FOOD NOT BOMBS! DEMILITARIZE NOW!
· FOOD to GAZA, not Weapons to Israel.
· NO TAX $$ for GENOCIDE
· Not Another Nickel, Not Another Dime, No more Money for Israel’s Crimes.
· Diplomacy Not War!
Let’s again pay tribute to the original meaning of “Mother’s Day,” a global call to ABOLISH WAR:
We’ll read: Julia Ward Howe’s (1870) Mother’s Day Proclamation
Bring your mamas and grandmamas, sons, daughters, and grandchildren—the entire family, and friends too! War is not healthy for children and other living things!
Bring your Kaffiyeh’s, Palestinian Flags, and signs that speak for you.
(Note: Authorities may restrict you from taking flags on the bridge—wear it as a cape!)
Signs larger than 2x3 ft. may also be restricted.
Bring a simple treat to share to celebrate 18 years of CODEPINK bridge walks, and our Bay Area community’s commitment to peace and justice.
We’ll sing John Lennon’s Imagine, one of Bay Area Troubadour Francis Collin’s favorite songs!
Francis Collins Presente!
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** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.”
*** The death toll in West Bank and Jerusalem is not updated regularly. According to PA’s Ministry of Health on April 22, this is the latest figure.
Source: mondoweiss.net
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Boris Kagarlitsky is in Prison!
On February 13, the court overturned the previous decision on release and sent Boris Kagarlitsky to prison for five years.
Petition in Support of Boris Kagarlitsky
We, the undersigned, were deeply shocked to learn that on February 13 the leading Russian socialist intellectual and antiwar activist Dr. Boris Kagarlitsky (65) was sentenced to five years in prison.
Dr. Kagarlitsky was arrested on the absurd charge of 'justifying terrorism' in July last year. After a global campaign reflecting his worldwide reputation as a writer and critic of capitalism and imperialism, his trial ended on December 12 with a guilty verdict and a fine of 609,000 roubles.
The prosecution then appealed against the fine as 'unjust due to its excessive leniency' and claimed falsely that Dr. Kagarlitsky was unable to pay the fine and had failed to cooperate with the court. In fact, he had paid the fine in full and provided the court with everything it requested.
On February 13 a military court of appeal sent him to prison for five years and banned him from running a website for two years after his release.
The reversal of the original court decision is a deliberate insult to the many thousands of activists, academics, and artists around the world who respect Dr. Kagarlitsky and took part in the global campaign for his release. The section of Russian law used against Dr. Kagarlitsky effectively prohibits free expression. The decision to replace the fine with imprisonment was made under a completely trumped-up pretext. Undoubtedly, the court's action represents an attempt to silence criticism in the Russian Federation of the government's war in Ukraine, which is turning the country into a prison.
The sham trial of Dr. Kagarlitsky is the latest in a wave of brutal repression against the left-wing movements in Russia. Organizations that have consistently criticized imperialism, Western and otherwise, are now under direct attack, many of them banned. Dozens of activists are already serving long terms simply because they disagree with the policies of the Russian government and have the courage to speak up. Many of them are tortured and subjected to life-threatening conditions in Russian penal colonies, deprived of basic medical care. Left-wing politicians are forced to flee Russia, facing criminal charges. International trade unions such as IndustriALL and the International Transport Federation are banned and any contact with them will result in long prison sentences.
There is a clear reason for this crackdown on the Russian left. The heavy toll of the war gives rise to growing discontent among the mass of working people. The poor pay for this massacre with their lives and wellbeing, and opposition to war is consistently highest among the poorest. The left has the message and resolve to expose the connection between imperialist war and human suffering.
Dr. Kagarlitsky has responded to the court's outrageous decision with calm and dignity: “We just need to live a little longer and survive this dark period for our country,” he said. Russia is nearing a period of radical change and upheaval, and freedom for Dr. Kagarlitsky and other activists is a condition for these changes to take a progressive course.
We demand that Boris Kagarlitsky and all other antiwar prisoners be released immediately and unconditionally.
We also call on the authorities of the Russian Federation to reverse their growing repression of dissent and respect their citizens' freedom of speech and right to protest.
Sign to Demand the Release of Boris Kagarlitsky
https://freeboris.info
The petition is also available on Change.org
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*Major Announcement*
Claudia De la Cruz wins
Peace and Freedom Party primary in California!
We have an exciting announcement. The votes are still being counted in California, but the Claudia-Karina “Vote Socialist” campaign has achieved a clear and irreversible lead in the Peace and Freedom Party primary. Based on the current count, Claudia has 46% of the vote compared to 40% for Cornel West. A significant majority of PFP’s newly elected Central Committee, which will formally choose the nominee at its August convention, have also pledged their support to the Claudia-Karina campaign.
We are excited to campaign in California now and expect Claudia De la Cruz to be the candidate on the ballot of the Peace and Freedom Party in November.
We achieved another big accomplishment this week - we’re officially on the ballot in Hawai’i! This comes after also petitioning to successfully gain ballot access in Utah. We are already petitioning in many other states. Each of these achievements is powered by the tremendous effort of our volunteers and grassroots organizers across the country. When we’re organized, people power can move mountains!
We need your help to keep the momentum going. Building a campaign like this takes time, energy, and money. We know that our class enemies — the billionaires, bankers, and CEO’s — put huge sums toward loyal politicians and other henchmen who defend their interests. They will use all the money and power at their disposal to stop movements like ours. As an independent, socialist party, our campaign is relying on contributions from the working class and people like you.
We call on each and every one of our supporters to set up a monthly or one-time donation to support this campaign to help it keep growing and reaching more people. A new socialist movement, independent of the Democrats and Republicans, is being built but it will only happen when we all pitch in.
The Claudia-Karina campaign calls to end all U.S. aid to Israel. End this government’s endless wars. We want jobs for all, with union representation and wages that let us live with dignity. Housing, healthcare, and education for all - without the lifelong debt. End the ruthless attacks on women, Black people, immigrants, and LGBTQ people. These are just some of the demands that are resonating across the country. Help us take the next step:
Volunteer: https://votesocialist2024.com/volunteer
Donate: https://votesocialist2024.com/donate
See you in the streets,
Claudia & Karina
Don't Forget! Join our telegram channel for regular updates: https://t.me/+KtYBAKgX51JhNjMx
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We are all Palestinian
Listen and view this beautiful, powerful, song by Mistahi Corkill on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQwuhbLczgI
Greetings,
Here is my new song and music video, We are all Palestinian, linked below. If you find it inspiring, please feel free to share with others. All the best!
Mistahi
We are all Palestinian
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Labor for Palestine
Thousands of labor representatives marched Saturday, December 16, in Oakland, California. —Photo by Leon Kunstenaar
Video of December 16th Labor rally for Palestine.
Bay Area Unions and Workers Rally and March For Palestine In Oakland
https://youtu.be/L9k79honqIA
For More Information:
bayarealabor4palestine@gmail.com
Production of Labor Video Project
www.labormedia.net
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Just Like The Nazis Did
By David Rovics
After so many decades of patronage
By the world’s greatest empire
So many potential agreements
Were rejected by opening fire
After crushing so many uprisings
Now they’re making their ultimate bid
Pursuing their Final Solution
Just like the Nazis did
They forced refugees into ghettos
Then set the ghettos aflame
Murdering writers and poets
And so no one remember their names
Killing their entire families
The grandparents, women and kids
The uncles and cousins and babies
Just like the Nazis did
They’re bombing all means of sustaining
Human life at all
See the few shelters remaining
Watch as the tower blocks fall
They’re bombing museums and libraries
In order to get rid
Of any memory of the people who lived here
Just like the Nazis did
They’re saying these people are animals
And they should all end up dead
They’re sending soldiers into schools
And shooting children in the head
The rhetoric is identical
And with Gaza off the grid
They’ve already said what happens next
Just like the Nazis did
Words of war for domestic consumption
And lies for all the rest
To try to distract our attention
Among their enablers in the West
Because Israel needs their imports
To keep those pallets on the skids
They need fuel and they need missiles
Just like the Nazis did
They’re using food as a weapon
They’re using water that way, too
They’re trying to kill everyone in Gaza
Or make them flee, it’s true
As the pundits talk of “after the war”
Like with the Fall of Madrid
The victors are preparing for more
Just like the Nazis did
But it’s after the conquest’s complete
If history is any guide
When the occupying army
Is positioned to decide
When disease and famine kills
Whoever may have hid
Behind the ghetto walls
Just like the Nazis did
All around the world
People are trying to tell
There's a genocide unfolding
Ringing alarm bells
But with such a powerful axis
And so many lucrative bids
They know who wants their money
Just like the Nazis did
There's so many decades of patronage
For the world's greatest empire
So many potential agreements
Were rejected by opening fire
They're crushing so many uprisings
Now they're making their ultimate bid
Pursuing their final solution
Just like the Nazis did
Just like the Nazis did
Just like the Nazis did
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Free Julian Assange
Immediate Repeated Action Needed to Free Assange
Please call your Congressional Representatives, the White House, and the DOJ. Calls are tallied—they do count. We are to believe we are represented in this country. This is a political case, so our efforts can change things politically as well. Please take this action as often as you can:
Find your representatives:
https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
Leave each of your representatives a message individually to:
· Drop the charges against Julian Assange
· Speak out publicly against the indictment and
· Sign on to Rashida Tlaib's letter to the DOJ to drop the charges:
202-224-3121—Capitol Main Switchboard
Leave a message on the White House comment line to
Demand Julian Assange be pardoned:
202-456-1111
Tuesday–Thursday, 11:00 A.M.–3:00 P.M. EST
Call the DOJ and demand they drop the charges against Julian Assange:
202-353-1555—DOJ Comment Line
202-514-2000 Main Switchboard
Sign the petition:
https://dontextraditeassange.com/petition/
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Mumia Abu-Jamal is Innocent!
FREE HIM NOW!
Write to Mumia at:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM-8335
SCI Mahanoy
P.O. Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
Join the Fight for Mumia's Life
Since September, Mumia Abu-Jamal's health has been declining at a concerning rate. He has lost weight, is anemic, has high blood pressure and an extreme flair up of his psoriasis, and his hair has fallen out. In April 2021 Mumia underwent open heart surgery. Since then, he has been denied cardiac rehabilitation care including a healthy diet and exercise.
Donate to Mumia Abu-Jamal's Emergency Legal and Medical Defense Fund, Official 2024
Mumia has instructed PrisonRadio to set up this fund. Gifts donated here are designated for the Mumia Abu-Jamal Medical and Legal Defense Fund. If you are writing a check or making a donation in another way, note this in the memo line.
Send to:
Mumia Medical and Legal Fund c/o Prison Radio
P.O. Box 411074, San Francisco, CA 94103
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Leonard Peltier Update - Not One More Year
Coleman 1 has gone on permanent lockdown.
The inmates are supposed to be allowed out two hours a day. I have not heard from Leonard since the 18th.
The last time I talked to Leonard, he asked where his supporters were. He asked me if anyone cared about these lockdowns.
Leonard lives in a filthy, cold cell 22 to 24 hours a day. He has not seen a dentist in ten years. I asked him, “On a scale of 1 to 10, is your pain level at 13?” He said, “Something like that.” Leonard is a relentless truth-teller. He does not like it when I say things that do not make sense mathematically.
That is why Leonard remains imprisoned. He will not lie. He will not beg, grovel, or denounce his beliefs.
Please raise your voice. Ask your representatives why they have abdicated their responsibility to oversee the Bureau of Prisons and ensure they adhere to Constitutional law.
Uhuru, The African People’s Socialist Party, has stepped up for Leonard. NOT ONE MORE YEAR.
Fight for Free Speech – YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM8GDeGv90E
Leonard should not have spent a day in prison. Click “LEARN” on our website to find out what really happened on that reservation:
www.freeleonardpeltiernow.org
Write to:
Leonard Peltier 89637-132
USP Coleman 1
P.O. Box 1033
Coleman, FL 33521
Note: Letters, address and return address must be in writing—no stickers—and on plain white paper.
Sign our petition urging President Biden to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier:
https://www.freeleonardpeltier.com/petition
Email: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info
Address: 116 W. Osborne Ave. Tampa, Florida 33603
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Updates From Kevin Cooper
A Never-ending Constitutional Violation
A summary of the current status of Kevin Cooper’s case by the Kevin Cooper Defense Committee
On October 26, 2023, the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP wrote a rebuttal in response to the Special Counsel's January 13, 2023 report upholding the conviction of their client Kevin Cooper. A focus of the rebuttal was that all law enforcement files were not turned over to the Special Counsel during their investigation, despite a request for them to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office.
On October 29, 2023, Law Professors Lara Bazelon and Charlie Nelson Keever, who run the six member panel that reviews wrongful convictions for the San Francisco County District Attorney's office, published an OpEd in the San Francisco Chronicle calling the "Innocence Investigation” done by the Special Counsel in the Cooper case a “Sham Investigation” largely because Cooper has unsuccessfully fought for years to obtain the police and prosecutor files in his case. This is a Brady claim, named for the U.S. Supreme court’s 1963 case establishing the Constitutional rule that defendants are entitled to any information in police and prosecutor's possession that could weaken the state's case or point to innocence. Brady violations are a leading cause of wrongful convictions. The Special Counsel's report faults Cooper for not offering up evidence of his own despite the fact that the best evidence to prove or disprove Brady violations or other misconduct claims are in those files that the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office will not turn over to the Special Counsel or to Cooper's attorneys.
On December 14, 2023, the president of the American Bar Association (ABA), Mary Smith, sent Governor Gavin Newsom a three page letter on behalf of the ABA stating in part that Mr.Cooper's counsel objected to the state's failure to provide Special Counsel all documents in their possession relating to Mr.Cooper's conviction, and that concerns about missing information are not new. For nearly 40 years Mr.Cooper's attorneys have sought this same information from the state.
On December 19, 2023, Bob Egelko, a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an article about the ABA letter to the Governor that the prosecutors apparently withheld evidence from the Governor's legal team in the Cooper case.
These are just a few recent examples concerning the ongoing failure of the San Bernardino County District Attorney to turn over to Cooper's attorney's the files that have been requested, even though under the law and especially the U.S. Constitution, the District Attorney of San Bernardino county is required to turn over to the defendant any and all material and or exculpatory evidence that they have in their files. Apparently, they must have something in their files because they refuse to turn them over to anyone.
The last time Cooper's attorney's received files from the state, in 2004, it wasn't from the D.A. but a Deputy Attorney General named Holly Wilkens in Judge Huff's courtroom. Cooper's attorneys discovered a never before revealed police report showing that a shirt was discovered that had blood on it and was connected to the murders for which Cooper was convicted, and that the shirt had disappeared. It had never been tested for blood. It was never turned over to Cooper's trial attorney, and no one knows where it is or what happened to it. Cooper's attorneys located the woman who found that shirt on the side of the road and reported it to the Sheriff's Department. She was called to Judge Huff's court to testify about finding and reporting that shirt to law enforcement. That shirt was the second shirt found that had blood on it that was not the victims’ blood. This was in 2004, 19 years after Cooper's conviction.
It appears that this ongoing constitutional violation that everyone—from the Special Counsel to the Governor's legal team to the Governor himself—seems to know about, but won't do anything about, is acceptable in order to uphold Cooper's conviction.
But this type of thing is supposed to be unacceptable in the United States of America where the Constitution is supposed to stand for something other than a piece of paper with writing on it. How can a Governor, his legal team, people who support and believe in him ignore a United States citizen’s Constitutional Rights being violated for 40 years in order to uphold a conviction?
This silence is betrayal of the Constitution. This permission and complicity by the Governor and his team is against everything that he and they claim to stand for as progressive politicians. They have accepted the Special Counsel's report even though the Special Counsel did not receive the files from the district attorney that may not only prove that Cooper is innocent, but that he was indeed framed by the Sheriff’s Department; and that evidence was purposely destroyed and tampered with, that certain witnesses were tampered with, or ignored if they had information that would have helped Cooper at trial, that evidence that the missing shirt was withheld from Cooper's trial attorney, and so much more.
Is the Governor going to get away with turning a blind eye to this injustice under his watch?
Are progressive people going to stay silent and turn their eyes blind in order to hopefully get him to end the death penalty for some while using Cooper as a sacrificial lamb?
An immediate act of solidarity we can all do right now is to write to Kevin and assure him of our continuing support in his fight for justice. Here’s his address:
Mr. Kevin Cooper
C-65304. 4-EB-82
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin, CA 94974
Call California Governor Newsom:
1-(916) 445-2841
Press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish,
press 6 to speak with a representative and
wait for someone to answer
(Monday-Friday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. PST—12:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. EST)
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The writers' organization PEN America is circulating this petition on behalf of Jason Renard Walker, a Texas prisoner whose life is being threatened because of his exposés of the Texas prison system.
See his book, Reports from within the Belly of the Beast; available on Amazon at:
https://www.amazon.com/Reports-Within-Belly-Beast-Department-ebook/dp/B084656JDZ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/protect-whistleblowers-in-carceral-settings
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Daniel Hale UPDATE:
In February Drone Whistleblower Daniel Hale was transferred from the oppressive maximum-security prison in Marion, Illinois to house confinement. We celebrate his release from Marion. He is laying low right now, recovering from nearly 3 years in prison. Thank goodness he is now being held under much more humane conditions and expected to complete his sentence in July of this year. www.StandWithDaniel Hale.org
More Info about Daniel:
“Drone Whistleblower Subjected To Harsh Confinement Finally Released From Prison”
https://thedissenter.org/drone-whistleblower-cmu-finally-released-from-prison/
“I was punished under the Espionage Act. Why wasn’t Joe Biden?” by Daniel Hale
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Resources for Resisting Federal Repression
https://www.nlg.org/federalrepressionresources/
Since June of 2020, activists have been subjected to an increasingly aggressive crackdown on protests by federal law enforcement. The federal response to the movement for Black Lives has included federal criminal charges for activists, door knocks by federal law enforcement agents, and increased use of federal troops to violently police protests.
The NLG National Office is releasing this resource page for activists who are resisting federal repression. It includes a link to our emergency hotline numbers, as well as our library of Know-Your-Rights materials, our recent federal repression webinar, and a list of some of our recommended resources for activists. We will continue to update this page.
Please visit the NLG Mass Defense Program page for general protest-related legal support hotlines run by NLG chapters.
Emergency Hotlines
If you are contacted by federal law enforcement, you should exercise all of your rights. It is always advisable to speak to an attorney before responding to federal authorities.
State and Local Hotlines
If you have been contacted by the FBI or other federal law enforcement, in one of the following areas, you may be able to get help or information from one of these local NLG hotlines for:
Portland, Oregon: (833) 680-1312
San Francisco, California: (415) 285-1041 or fbi_hotline@nlgsf.org
Seattle, Washington: (206) 658-7963
National Hotline
If you are located in an area with no hotline, you can call the following number:
National NLG Federal Defense Hotline: (212) 679-2811
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1) Live Updates: 300 Arrested in N.Y., Mayor Says, as Police Called to Other U.S. Campuses
U.C.L.A. asked for officers after a clash between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counterprotesters grew heated overnight, and tensions continued to rise at universities across the country.
By Mike Ives, Yan Zhuang and John Yoon, May 1, 2024
Here is the latest on campus protests.
American universities were on edge Wednesday after police officers from New York to Los Angeles entered campuses where pro-Palestinian demonstrators had erected encampments and seized academic buildings.
Mayor Eric Adams of New York said that about 300 protesters had been arrested on Tuesday night at City College of New York and at Columbia University, where police officers in riot gear cleared a building that had been occupied for nearly a day to protest Israel’s war in Gaza.
At the University of California, Los Angeles, police officers intervened before dawn Wednesday to break up violent clashes between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counterprotesters, hours after administrators declared an encampment on campus illegal.
At Tulane University in New Orleans, 14 people had been arrested, administrators said, as state and local forces helped campus police disperse protesters. At the University of Arizona, campus police sprayed chemicals as they broke up a demonstration.
Other protest encampments around the country were still standing. Some demonstrators have said that they will not back down, posing a challenge for university administrators who want to protect free speech rights while minimizing campus disruption.
Here’s what else to know:
· Columbia’s campus remained closed early Wednesday to everyone but students who live there and employees who provide essential services. The university’s president, Nemat Shafik, asked the New York Police Department to maintain a presence there through at least May 17.
· Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested at City College of New York in Harlem on Tuesday night after some of them tried to take over an administrative building.
· Earlier on Tuesday, officials at Portland State University in Oregon urged protesters to leave a library that they had occupied on campus. The police also moved into an encampment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, arresting about 30 people, but protesters returned later in the day.
· There were signs of de-escalation on some campuses. In Rhode Island, students at Brown University dismantled their encampment on Tuesday. On the West Coast, the police ended the eight-day occupation of an administration building at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.
· More than 1,000 protesters have been taken into custody on U.S. campuses since the original roundup at Columbia on April 18, according to a tally by The New York Times. Here’s where the arrests have happened.
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2) At Tulane, 14 people are arrested after police clear an encampment.
By Ali Watkins, May 1, 2024
Demonstrators at Tulane University on Monday. Credit...Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, via Associated Press
An encampment of protesters at Tulane University in New Orleans was cleared and at least 14 people were arrested early on Wednesday, the university said, after officers from three law enforcement agencies ordered the group to disperse.
The campus police, the Louisiana State Police and the New Orleans Police forcibly removed the demonstrators. It was not immediately clear how many protesters were present, but two of the demonstrators who were arrested were students, the university said in a statement, adding that the encampment was an “unlawful demonstration.” Tulane is also investigating reports that faculty members participated in the protest.
The university said the encampment was formed on Monday, and campus police officers also made arrests that evening. Six people, including one student, were taken into custody that night under charges that included trespassing, battery on an officer and resisting arrest, according to the university, which also issued seven suspensions.
According to the student newspaper, The Tulane Hullabaloo, the campus police cordoned off the encampment on Tuesday, but did not try to disband it until early Wednesday.
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3) ‘Thank you, American universities’: Gazans express gratitude for campus protesters.
By Hiba Yazbekreporting from Jerusalem, May 1, 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/05/01/nyregion/columbia-university-protests
Thousands of miles away from the campus protests that have divided Americans, some displaced Palestinians are expressing solidarity with the antiwar demonstrators and gratitude for their efforts.
Message of support were written on some tents in the southern city of Rafah, where roughly a million displaced people have sought shelter from the Israeli bombardment and ground fighting that Gazan health officials say have killed more than 34,000 people.
“Thank you, American universities,” read one message captured on video by the Reuters news agency. “Thank you, students in solidarity with Gaza your message has reached” us, read another nearby.
Tensions have risen at campuses across the United States, with police in riot gear arresting dozens of people at Columbia University on Tuesday night and officers across the country clashing with pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had erected encampments and seized academic buildings at other institutions. The protesters have been calling for universities to divest from companies with ties to Israel, and some have vowed not to back down.
The protests have come at a particularly fearful time in Rafah, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel vowing to launch a ground invasion of the city to root out Hamas battalions there despite glimmers of hope for a temporary cease-fire.
Palestinians “are very happy that there are still people standing with us,” said Mohammed al-Baradei, a 24-year-old recent graduate from the dentistry program at Al-Azhar University who spoke by phone from Rafah.
“The special thing is that this is happening in America and that people there are still aware and the awareness is growing every day for the Palestinian cause,” he added.
Akram al-Satri, a 47-year-old freelance journalist sheltering in Rafah, said Gazans are “watching with hope and gratitude the student movement in the United States.”
“For us this is a glimmer of hope on a national level,” he added in a voice message on Wednesday.
Bisan Owda, a 25-year-old Palestinian who has been documenting the war on social media, said in a video posted to her more than 4.5 million Instagram followers that the campus protests had brought her a new sense of possibility.
“I’ve lived my whole life in Gaza Strip and I’ve never felt hope like now,” said Ms. Owda.
Nader Ibrahim contributed reporting and video production from London.
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4) U.C.L.A. officials ask police to help after clashes at a protest encampment.
By John Yoon, Yan Zhuang and Jonathan Wolfe, May 1. 2024
Counter protesters confronted [WERE VIOLENTLY ATTACKED BY PRO-ISRAEL MOB AT] a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the U.C.L.A. campus on Wednesday. Credit...Etienne Laurent/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Administrators at the University of California, Los Angeles, called in law enforcement officers on Wednesday after violent clashes broke out at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment, a university official said.
The Los Angeles police were “responding immediately” to a request for support from the university, according to the office of the Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass. The police had arrived at the campus by about 1:50 a.m., local time, Ms. Bass said on social media.
Late Tuesday, a group of about 200 counterprotesters began storming the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus and tried to pull apart its wooden pallets and metal barricades. The two sides threw objects, got into fistfights and sprayed chemicals in clashes that went on for several hours, according to a New York Times journalist who was there.
Police officers arrived to chants of “Back the blue” from counterprotesters and “Free Palestine” from the encampment. At around 3:30 a.m., officers wedged themselves between the groups, quieting the unrest.
The clashes followed several violent confrontations between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters on the campus in recent days. Dueling protests have been particularly intense at U.C.L.A., where Jewish activists have had a larger presence than at other campus demonstrations. On Monday night, a fight broke out between two groups of protesters after about 60 pro-Israel demonstrators attempted to enter the pro-Palestinian encampment.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the violence on Wednesday morning.
The university had been among the most tolerant as pro-Palestinian protests and encampments grew at universities nationwide. But in a sharp turn on Tuesday, U.C.L.A. administrators declared that the encampment there was unlawful and threatened to suspend or expel any protesters who were students.
Videos posted to social media show clashes on Wednesday involving protesters, firecrackers exploding near groups of demonstrators and people spraying what appeared to be chemical irritants at one another. Some people were also seen tearing down metal barricades surrounding the encampment.
The U.C. Divest Coalition at U.C.L.A., which has been organizing pro-Palestinian protests at the university, said on social media on Wednesday that students at its encampment had been attacked by “fireworks, tear-gas, pepper spray and more.”
“Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight, and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support,” Mary Osako, a vice chancellor at the university, said in an emailed statement early Wednesday.
“The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene,” she added. “We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end.”
The Los Angeles Police Department said that there had been “multiple acts of violence within the large encampment” on the campus. In response to a request from the university, the police officers were assisting campus police and other agencies “to restore order and maintain public safety.”
Ms. Bass had spoken to both Gene Block, the university chancellor, and Dominic Choi, the Los Angeles chief of police, according to a social media post by Zach Seidl, Ms. Bass’s chief spokesman. Ms. Bass said in a later post that “the violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable.”
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5) The N.Y.P.D. arrests protesters at City College’s campus in Harlem.
By Liset Cruz, Erin Nolan and Bernard Mokam, May 1, 2024
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators climbing a fence at City College of New York on Tuesday. Credit...Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Police officers arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at City College of New York in Harlem late Tuesday night, as clashes over the war in Gaza continued to escalate on campuses across the country.
Earlier in the evening, protesters tried to take over an administrative building at City College. Police officers chased the crowd, which had been running toward the Howard E. Wille Administration Building just after 7:30 p.m. Most of the demonstrators returned to their nearby encampment.
The police first made arrests at near West 139th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Harlem. Demonstrators could be heard screaming and cursing at the police, and an officer could be heard ordering the crowd to back away as protesters were arrested. Moments later the police warned everyone to leave the area. They then moved onto the campus and arrested people in the encampments.
The arrests came as officials at nearby Columbia University asked the New York Police Department to clear a building that had been occupied.
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6) Columbia’s president asks the police to stay on campus through mid-May.
By Anna Betts, May 1, 2024
New York Police officers entered Columbia’s campus to clear the encampments on Tuesday. Credit...Bing Guan for The New York Times
Columbia University asked the New York Police Department in a letter on Tuesday to clear a building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters and encampments, and asked that the police remain on campus until at least May 17, after commencement.
President Nemak Shafik requested the N.Y.P.D.’s assistance in a letter that was released after police entered Hamilton Hall and arrested protesters that had occupied the building on early Tuesday. Columbia’s commencement is currently scheduled for May 15.
By late evening, dozens of police officers had arrived, climbed through windows on campus and arrested protesters who had occupied a building since early Tuesday. Much of the campus had been cleared of people, although dozens of protesters still chanted outside of its gates.
Dr. Shafik said in the letter that “the takeover of Hamilton Hall and the continued encampments raise serious safety concerns for the individuals involved and the entire community,” adding that “these activities have become a magnet for protesters outside our gates which creates significant risk to our campus and disrupts the ability of the University to continue normal operations.”
A decision earlier this month to bring police onto campus to clear a tent protest led to sharp criticism from some students and faculty. But Dr. Shafik said on Tuesday that she was left with “no choice.”
“With the support of the University’s Trustees, I have determined that the building occupation, the encampments, and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to persons, property, and the substantial functioning of the University and require the use of emergency authority to protect persons and property,” she wrote.
She continued: “With the utmost regret, we request the NYPD’s help to clear all individuals from Hamilton Hall and all campus encampments.”
In the letter, Dr. Shafik stated that in the early morning of April 30, a group of individuals entered Hamilton Hall “for the purpose of occupying the building,” and though the building was closed at the time the students entered, an individual hid in the building until after it closed and let the others in.
“We believe that while the group who broke into the building includes students, it is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University,” the university president said. “The individuals who have occupied Hamilton Hall have vandalized University property and are trespassing.”
Dr. Shafik also mentioned the continuing encampment on the West Lawn of the Morningside Heights campus that has been there since April 19, as well as an additional encampment that appeared on Monday night.
“After more than a week of discussions with representatives of the group engaged in the West Lawn encampment, we reached an impasse on Sunday, April 28,” she said. “The group was informed that they are not permitted to occupy spaces on campus, are in violation of the University’s rules and policies and must disperse.”
She said that all University students in the West Lawn encampment were informed Monday morning that they would be suspended if they did not disperse by 2 p.m. that day and that participation in other campus encampments was prohibited. The students still in the encampments are suspended, she said.
In the letter, Dr. Shafik added that she requested that the Police Department “retain a presence on campus through at least May 17, 2024 to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished.”
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7) Brown students end their encampment as the university agrees to talk divestment.
By Jacey Fortin, May 1, 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/05/01/nyregion/columbia-university-protests
Students embracing as they begin to dissolve the encampment on the Main Green at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Tuesday. Credit...C.J. Gunther/EPA, via Shutterstock
As pro-Palestinian protests continued to escalate across the country, officials and students at Brown University set a rare example on Tuesday: They made a deal.
Demonstrators agreed to dismantle their encampment at Brown, which had been removed by Tuesday evening, and university leaders said they would discuss, and later vote on, divesting funds from companies connected to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
The agreement came even as scenes of chaos continued to overtake U.S. universities, with protesters at Columbia in New York and Portland State in Oregon occupying buildings, and demonstrators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill replacing an American flag at the center of campus with a Palestinian one.
More than a thousand people have been arrested over the past two weeks after a crackdown on a pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia in New York resulted in a cascade of student activism across the country.
At Brown, in Providence, R.I., students began pitching tents on the main campus lawn on Wednesday. Many said they would stay until they were forced out, adding that they were concerned about trying to end the violence in Gaza — not about violating university policies.
After discussions with administrators, Brown Divest Coalition and Jewish Voice for Peace said in a joint post on Instagram that they had reached an agreement with the university, which “would not have been possible without the hard work of university encampments across the country, whose collective power has forced university administrators to acknowledge the overwhelming support for Palestine on their campuses.”
The agreement lays out a series of steps for the months ahead:
In May, five students will meet with five members of the Corporation of Brown University to argue for divesting funds from companies connected to the Israeli military.
In September, Brown’s advisory committee on resource management will be expected to advise the university on the same issue.
In October, the committee’s recommendation will be brought to the corporation for a vote.
“Although the encampment will end, organizing to ensure that the Brown administration fulfills our calls to act on divestment will continue until the corporation vote in October,” the Brown Divest Coalition said in a statement on Tuesday.
“This feels like a real moment of realizing our collective power,” said Rafi Ash, a sophomore at Brown who participated in the protests. “This is something that demonstrates that the mobilization of the student body can force the university to listen.”
A spokesman for Brown, Brian Clark, said that divestment was not as simple as some students might perceive, though. The university doesn’t invest its endowment directly, he said. Instead, it relies on “external specialist investment managers, all with the highest level of ethics and all whom we believe share the values of the Brown community.”
Administrators said in a statement that it would still hold disciplinary proceedings related to the encampment, which broke the university’s rules. Reports of harassment and discrimination will also be investigated, the statement said.
“The devastation and loss of life in the Middle East has prompted many to call for meaningful change, while also raising real issues about how best to accomplish this,” Christina H. Paxson, Brown’s president, said in the statement, adding that she did not condone the encampment and had been concerned about inflammatory rhetoric.
“I appreciate the sincere efforts on the part of our students to take steps to prevent further escalation,” she said.
Gaya Gupta contributed reporting.
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8) Tensions rise at U.N.C. Chapel Hill after dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators are detained.
By Bryan Anderson Reporting from Chapel Hill, N.C., April 30, 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/05/01/nyregion/columbia-university-protests
Protesters at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, clashed with police officers working to restore an American flag that the demonstrators had replaced with a Palestinian one. Credit...Bryan Anderson (Screenshot)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill turned chaotic on Tuesday, hours after dozens of students were detained for refusing to leave an encampment they had set up over the weekend outside Wilson Library on campus.
By the afternoon, several hundred students had broken through the barriers keeping them out of the encampment, erupting in chants of “Free Palestine” and calling on the university to divest from investments that support Israel.
The scene escalated when protesters replaced an American flag in the center of campus with a Palestinian one, and demonstrators reportedly threw water on law enforcement officers and school officials as they tried to restore the U.S. flag back onto the pole.
“It’s clear that the university has chosen its side,” said Shahad Mustafa, a 21-year-old senior who began to flee as officers approached the flagpole. “They are choosing to still support Israel regardless of what their students are saying. They are showing us that they are willing to use violence and willing to lie.”
School officials said 36 protesters had been detained after they were given until 6 a.m. on Tuesday to clear out from the encampment or face possible arrest, suspension or expulsion. Of those, 30 people, including 10 university students, were cited for trespassing and released. Six more, including three students, were booked on trespassing charges at the county jail.
On the other end of the quad on Tuesday afternoon, a handful of students held Israeli flags. Trevor Lan, a Jewish student who stood with the group, told The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., that the encampment and recent protests marked the first time he felt “threatened” on campus.
“They took down the U.S. flag,” Mr. Lan told the news outlet. “For those of you who didn’t care about Israel and didn’t care about the Jewish people, look at it now. This is what this evolves into.”
The clashes at U.N.C. Chapel Hill came as North Carolina was still mourning the death of four officers who were killed a day earlier trying to serve arrests warrants to a man in Charlotte, about two hours away, in what was one of the deadliest shootouts for American law enforcement in recent years.
Four other officers were also wounded. Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina had ordered all flags at half-staff to honor the slain officers.
On Tuesday, the lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, criticized the U.N.C. Chapel Hill protesters and their actions as “nonsense” that “should never have happened to begin with.”
“Especially after what we saw last night in Charlotte, our police officers need to be treated with respect, and lawlessness needs to end,” said Mr. Robinson, a Republican who is running for North Carolina governor.
More than 1,000 demonstrators have been arrested on campuses across the country after a crackdown on demonstrators at Columbia University in New York this month spawned a wave of activism at universities.
Anna Betts contributed reporting.
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9) Biden Condemns Campus Violence After More Than 130 Arrests at U.C.L.A.
By Jonathan Wolfe and Mike IvesJonathan Wolfe reported from the University of California, Los Angeles., May 2, 2024
Greetings to U.S. students from Gaza: "Thank you students in Solidarity with Gaza, your message has reached.” May 1, 2024 (Screenshot)
President Biden condemned the unrest disrupting campuses across the United States, saying in a televised address on Thursday that Americans have “the right to protest, but not a right to cause chaos.” But Mr. Biden rejected Republican calls for National Guard intervention and added that the protests had not influenced his Mideast policies.
The president spoke as authorities across the United States stepped up efforts to dismantle pro-Palestinian protests at universities nationwide. Police officers in riot gear clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Before dawn in California, police officers in riot gear tore through barricades, pulled up tents and corralled protesters at U.C.L.A., leading some away with their wrists zip-tied. The California Highway Patrol said that at least 132 people had been arrested. As the sun rose, the encampment was a field of ruin, littered with sleeping bags, tents, pizza boxes and pieces of furniture.
The confrontation at one of California’s largest campuses came after a tense 24 hours during which police officers made arrests at Fordham University’s campus in Manhattan, the University of Texas at Dallas, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and Tulane University in New Orleans, among other places.
Here’s what else to know:
· Tensions at U.C.L.A. had been brewing since Tuesday night, when university officials, who had initially adopted a tolerant approach to the encampment, declared it illegal for the first time. Then, counterprotesters attempted to breach the encampment, and some of them attacked pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
· Students at other universities across the United States remained in protest encampments early Thursday. Many have resisted official attempts to force them out. That poses a challenge for administrators who want to protect free speech rights while minimizing campus disruption.
· More than 1,300 protesters have been taken into custody on U.S. campuses over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times tally.
· A deal that Northwestern University officials and pro-Palestinian demonstrators struck on Wednesday brought an end to a protest encampment on campus. It also drew harsh criticism from Jewish leaders.
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10) Biden denounces violence on campuses, breaking his silence after a rash of arrests.
By Peter Baker, Reporting from Washington, May 2, 2024
(Screenshot of Biden's rant against students this morning, May 2, 2024)
President Biden broke days of silence on Thursday to finally speak out on the wave of anti-Israel protests on American college campuses that have inflamed much of the country, denouncing violence and antisemitism even as he defended the right to peaceful dissent.
In an unscheduled televised statement from the White House, Mr. Biden offered a forceful condemnation of students and other protesters who in his view have taken their grievances over Israel’s war against Hamas too far. But he rejected Republican calls to deploy the National Guard to rein in the campuses.
“Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law,” Mr. Biden said. “Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest. Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law. Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education.”
The president’s statement came after some Democrats frustrated by his reluctance to speak out pressed him to publicly address the campus uprisings. Until now, Mr. Biden had offered only a couple of sentences in response to reporter questions 10 days ago that even Democrats considered too equivocal and otherwise left it to his spokespeople to express his views. Republicans have castigated him for not weighing in himself.
Mr. Biden implied that his critics were simply being opportunistic. “In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points. But this isn’t a moment for politics. It’s a moment for clarity. So let me be clear: Peaceful protest in America. Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is.”
He emphasized that he would always defend free speech, even for those protesting his own support for Israel’s war. But he made clear that he thought too many of the demonstrations had gone beyond the bounds of simple speech.
“There’s the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos,” he said. “People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked.”
“Let’s be clear about this as well,” he added. “There should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind.”
Answering questions by reporters, Mr. Biden said he would not change his Middle East policy in response to the protests. Asked as he left the room if the National Guard should intervene, he said simply, “No.”
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11) The Cruel Spectacle of British Asylum Policy
By Daniel Trilling, May 2, 2024
Mr. Trilling is the author, most recently, of “Lights in the Distance: Exile and Refuge at the Borders of Europe.” He wrote from London.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/02/opinion/immigration-britain-rwanda.html
Migrants wade out to board a boat on a beach near Dunkirk, in northern France. Credit...Sameer Al-Doumy/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Last week Britain’s Parliament passed a law that seeks to redefine reality.
The Safety of Rwanda Act declares Rwanda a “safe” country, regardless of the evidence to the contrary — and orders British courts to do the same. Its purpose is to allow the British government to finally, after two years, enact its policy to permanently deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Some of the most vulnerable people in Britain will be rounded up, detained and then — in theory — flown some 4,000 miles to Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. What to do about people seeking asylum is one of the most complex policy issues facing governments around the world, and the British government insists it has the answer: promise cartoonish cruelty.
In April 2022, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a multimillion-pound deal with Rwanda that would allow the British government to put “tens of thousands” of asylum seekers on one-way flights to Kigali.
Asylum seekers have been crossing to Britain from France for decades, often hiding in trucks going through the Channel Tunnel. But increased security checks on those routes, and a temporary fall in traffic during Covid lockdowns, had led to a sharp rise in the proportion of people crossing the English Channel in boats. This highly visible and dangerous method has caused much controversy in Britain. The Rwanda policy would help, the government claimed, because deporting some of those who succeeded in reaching Britain would deter others from trying.
The deal was condemned by human rights groups and the United Nations’ refugee agency, which urged both countries to rethink the plans, and then it was delayed by legal challenges. In November last year, Britain’s highest court found the policy unlawful on the grounds that Rwanda — where police shot dead 12 Congolese refugees during a protest in 2018 — was not a safe place to send asylum seekers. Rwanda, the court said, might send them back to countries where their lives could be at risk.
That might have spelled an end to the policy. But Rishi Sunak, who had become prime minister in October 2022, vowed to revive it. The law that passed last week aims to override that court ruling by declaring that Rwanda is safe. As one former senior government lawyer observed last week, “What the Act is doing is making it lawful to send people to Rwanda whether it is safe or not.” More legal challenges may follow.
Legality aside, it has never been clear that the policy is even capable of working. In a 2022 letter to Priti Patel, then the home secretary and in charge of immigration, the most senior civil servant in her department wrote that “evidence of a deterrent effect is highly uncertain.” It’s also not clear that Rwanda has the facilities to accommodate people at scale — 70 percent of the homes in a Kigali housing development the British government said was being prepared to accommodate deportees have reportedly been sold to local buyers.
So what is the point of the Rwanda policy? Mr. Sunak’s government appears to see it as politically useful. The Conservative Party, in power for 14 years, is polling some 20 points behind Labour, and a general election must be held by January. Mr. Sunak is a former investment banker who is seen as coming from the Conservative Party’s center, and he has tried hard to project an image of competence since taking over from his predecessor, Liz Truss — she of the disastrous “mini-budget.” Mr. Sunak made stopping small boats one of his key priorities for 2023 and told voters that they could and should judge him on whether he achieved those priorities.
He’s had mixed success on some others: Inflation has gone down, and the economy is barely growing. But Mr. Sunak — under pressure from his party’s right to accede to their demands on immigration — needs an emphatic win, or at least something that looks like one.
Indeed, the news, first reported in The Sun, a tabloid known for its conservative politics, that a failed asylum seeker had been given more than $3,000 to fly to Rwanda under an entirely different policy seemed cynically timed to coincide with local elections in England on Thursday. As did a government news release on Wednesday announcing that some migrants had already been detained ahead of flights that won’t depart for at least two months, if ever, along with video of dawn raids released by the Home Office.
The news and the video are a stark reminder that there are real people at the sharp end of this policy. Nearly 30,000 people made small-boat journeys to Britain last year alone, and deaths have become more common. Five people, including a child, died making the crossing last week, hours after the bill passed.
Few, if anyone, think this is an acceptable state of affairs. It is one facet of a global problem — an international failure to provide displaced people with the safety and security that would remove the need for such journeys. More safe routes to asylum, along with greater international cooperation to support refugees, are an essential part of the solution, yet governments in many parts of the world are instead choosing deterrence.
Britain, however, stands out not just for doubling down on punishment, but for making a spectacle of it. The government has also banned refugees who enter Britain without permission from ever claiming asylum here, putting tens of thousands of people who are already here in legal limbo, many of whom are already on the edge of destitution.
According to polling last week, 41 percent of Britons support the Rwanda policy in principle, but 50 percent think it’s unlikely anyone will actually be deported there. The British public’s reaction to seeing people actually rounded up and put on flights may not be the reaction Mr. Sunak is counting on.
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