Tag Archives: Protests

Calls to Boycott Netanyahu Speech Grow as Israeli PM Heads to DC

A new coalition of advocacy groups—some of them Jewish-led—are urging lawmakers to “amplify the voices of those in Israel, Palestine, and around the world who reject Netanyahu’s failed leadership.”

By Brett Wilkins. Published 7-22-2024 by Common Dreams

Members of the peace group CodePink hold a demonstration calling for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, D.C. on July 22, 2024. (Photo: CodePink/X)

Pressure is mounting on U.S. lawmakers to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled address to Congress later this week, as a newly formed coalition of civil society groups announced a protest against the far-right leader—whose policies and actions in Gaza are on trial for genocide at the World Court.

As Netanyahu “brings to Congress his message of extending and expanding the devastating war in Gaza, neglecting the safety of Israeli hostages, and ensuring impunity for the actions of his government, an alternative message must be heard,” the new coalition said in a statement Monday. “To amplify a message of safety, freedom, just peace, collective liberation, and human rights for ALL Palestinians and Israelis, nine diverse groups have come together to form the Peace and Justice Protest Bloc.”

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Brazilian rape victims who have abortions may face longer in jail than rapists

Proposed law would further limit access to abortion for the 75% of reported rape victims in Brazil who are under 18

By Diana Cariboni. Published 6-20-2024 by openDemocracy

Demonstrators gathered in front of Brazil’s National Congress in Brasilia on Wednesday to protest a bill that would further criminalise abortions. Screenshot: Euronews

Abortion is illegal in Brazil with only three exceptions: risk to the life of the pregnant person, fetus anencephaly (a condition in which parts of the fetus’ skull and brain don’t develop) and rape. In these cases, people can seek an abortion with no time limits.

But a new bill that Brazilian conservatives are attempting to push through seeks to declare all abortions performed after week 22 of the pregnancy as homicide – and punishable with prison terms of up to 20 years.

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China turns to private hackers as it cracks down on online activists on Tiananmen Square anniversary

By Christopher K. Tong, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Published 5-31-2024 by The Conversation.

Image: ideogram

Every year ahead of the June 4 commemoration of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Chinese government tightens online censorship to suppress domestic discussion of the event.

Critics, dissidents and international groups anticipate an uptick in cyber activity ranging from emails with malicious links to network attacks in the days and weeks leading up to the anniversary.

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Solidarity Marches Held Across Globe to Demand Cease-Fire in Gaza

Organizers held rallies in the U.S., Europe, and Asia to mark Nakba Day and condemn Israel’s bombing and starvation of Palestinian civilians.

By Julia Conley. Published 5-19-2024 by Common Dreams

The London march. Photo:: PSC/X

As one United Nations official on Saturday said that “brand new words” are needed to adequately describe the devastation Israel has wrought across Gaza in its U.S.-backed military assault, tens of thousands of people across the globe marched in solidarity with Palestinians to demand an end to the “ongoing Nakba.”

The marches were held to honor Nakba Day, which was marked on May 15—the 76th anniversary of the mass displacement of 700,000 Palestinians who were forced from their homes when Israel declared statehood in 1948. The protesters demanded a cease-fire in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed at least 35,456 people since October, the majority of them women and children.

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‘Alliance With White Nationalists’: Texas Gov Rebuked for Pardoning Shooter of BLM Protester

“This pardon not only undermines the justice system but also sends a chilling message that politically motivated violence is acceptable,” said Democratic Texas state Rep. Ron Reynolds.

By Olivia Rosane. Published 5-17-2024 by Common Dreams

Garrett Foster and his fiancée. Photo: Anna Mayo

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a pardon on Thursday for Daniel Perry, who was convicted of fatally shooting Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster in 2020.

Abbott’s pardon came less than an hour after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended it, Austin-based investigative journalist Tony Plohetski noted on social media. In addition to releasing him from prison, the pardon grants Perry “restoration of full civil rights of citizenship,” including the right to own a gun.

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‘Families’ Needs Over Corporate Greed’: US Childcare Providers, Parents Hold Day of Action

“If our leaders don’t step up and legislate a solution to this crisis, we all will pay the price of an underfunded system,” said organizers.

By Julia Conley. Published 5-13-2024 by Common Dreams

Renee Edwards conducts early literacy outreach at a childcare center in Fairfax County, VA. Photo: Fairfax Library Foundation/flickr/CC

Flanked by her fellow childcare providers from Minnesota’s Iron Range region at a press conference in St. Paul, Shawntel Gruba on Monday explained that the childcare center she runs had shut its doors for the day to “demonstrate how vitally important childcare is to our community.”

“We are the workforce behind the workforce,” said Gruba, CEO of Iron Range Tykes in Mountain Iron. “Without us, no one goes to work.”

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Israel’s war on Gaza could spark protests that shape entire region

While media focus is on pro-Palestine protests in the US, anger in North Africa and Western Asia could boil over

By Paul Rogers. Published 5-8-2024 by openDemocracy

Iraqi cleric Sadr mobilizes thousands at Baghdad pro-Palestinian rally. Screenshot: YouTube

Though many analysts feared an uncontrolled military escalation between Israel and Iran last month, this seems to have been avoided for now at least. Many states across the world are, however, witnessing a political escalation – not least those in North Africa and West Asia, which are often overlooked in conversations about protest.

The United States is the most obvious example of state-level controversy. Pro-Palestine protests and occupations are taking place at university campuses across the country – many of which have been met by violent police-led actions – as people take issue with Joe Biden’s enabling Israel in its horrific seven-month assault on Gaza.

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‘Argentina Stopped’: Unions Hold Second General Strike Over Milei Austerity

“It is a day of resistance and demand,” said trade groups that organized the action “in defense of democracy, labor rights, and the living wage.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 5-10-2024 by Common Dreams

Photo: vijay banga/X

Argentina’s primary trade union federation on Thursday held another nationwide general strike, the second called since President Javier Milei, a far-right economist, took office in December and began pursuing sweeping austerity and deregulation.

The South American nation’s unions organized the strike “in defense of democracy, labor rights, and the living wage,” according to a statement from the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), the Argentine Workers’ Central Union (CTA), and the Autonomous CTA.

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TikTok Sues US Government Over ‘Unconstitutional’ Potential Ban

One expert said legislators’ admissions “that the ban was motivated by a desire to suppress content about the Israel-Gaza conflict will make the law especially difficult for the government to defend,” said one First Amendment expert.

By Julia Conley. Published 5-7-2024 by Common Dreams

Creators, lawmakers oppose ban of TikTok at Capitol rally on Mar 22, 2023. Screenshot: NBC News via YouTube

A top First Amendment expert on Tuesday said TikTok has a strong case against the U.S. government as the social media platform filed a federal lawsuit against a potential ban—particularly since proponents of the law have admitted it is aimed at blocking Americans’ access to news out of Gaza.

The platform filed the lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit nearly two weeks after President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversaries Act into law as part of a larger foreign aid package.

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‘Unprecedented’: Belgian Police Blast Climate Defenders With Water Cannon

“The fact that national governments are subsidizing fossil fuels is akin to a crime against humanity,” said one Extinction Rebellion organizer.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 5-5-2024 by Common Dreams

Extinction Rebellion-led climate protesters block the Rue Belliard in Brussels, Belgium on May 4, 2024. (Photo: Wouter van Leeuwen/Extinction Rebellion Belgium/X)

The climate action group Extinction Rebellion Belgium on Saturday decried what it called “disproportionate police violence” against nonviolent demonstrators who were blasted with a water cannon during a protest in Brussels demanding an end to fossil fuel subsidies.

Hundreds of Extinction Rebellion-led climate defenders blocked Rue Belliard in the European Quarter, the de facto European Union capital, during EU Open Day, when agencies of the 27-nation bloc open their doors to the public. In what Extinction Rebellion called an “unprecedented police response,” officers used a truck-mounted water cannon on the protesters, some of whom were also allegedly struck with batons.

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