In April and May 2024 alone, over 3,200 university students, faculty, and staff, as well as journalists, were detained during campus raids in the US.
A new report from the global civil society alliance Civicus Monitor revealed that the Palestinian cause accounted for 10 percent of all global restrictions on free speech in 2024.
Documented violations occurred either in occupied Palestine or targeted individuals and organizations expressing solidarity with Palestine worldwide.
The report also emphasized that restricted civic space arises from broader issues, such as Israel’s war on Gaza, which “have affected millions of people and their livelihoods and created the conditions for state and non-state sources to implement authoritarian policies.”
The report accused authorities in Israel and Jordan of using legal systems to target individuals showing solidarity with Palestinians, particularly through anti-war protests and social media.
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In Israel, journalists and media outlets faced intensified restrictions, such as the military-ordered closure of Al-Jazeera’s West Bank office and the J-Media Agency.
Israeli police brutality and arbitrary detentions were also noted during weekly protests by Israeli citizens demanding the release of Israeli captives since October last year.
The Civicus report highlighted further stark disparities in civic freedoms across the American continent, with only a small number of countries classified as “open.”
Among the region’s largest economies, only Canada and Uruguay maintain “open” civic spaces, along with several smaller island nations in the West Indies. The United States, however, is categorized as “narrowed.”
“Since October 2023, the US has seen one of the largest displays of support for Palestinian people in recent history, expressed through an unprecedented wave of solidarity protests,” the report said.
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“This surge in protests has been met with a heavy-handed and violent response,” it noted.
In April and May 2024 alone, over 3,200 university students, faculty, and staff, as well as journalists, were detained during campus raids.
Many, the report explained, were accused of providing “material support for terrorism, despite a lack of evidence, and have proposed discriminatory actions such as visa cancellations and deportations.”
Additionally, the report found that 71 percent of the global population now lives in societies categorized as “repressed” or “closed,” while only 2.1 percent live in “open” societies.
Civicus called on governments, international organizations, and private sector stakeholders to repeal restrictive laws targeting civil society, journalists, and human rights defenders.
It also urged “adequate consultations” before drafting laws, ensuring free and reliable internet access during crises, and condemned threats, intimidation, and the stigmatization of activists and “members of excluded groups.”
(PC, MEMO)
