#PortlandME - '#DisruptBusinessAsUsual': 20 #ProPalestinian protesters arrested after blocking traffic

Anna Coon, WGME
Thu, May 22nd 2025 at 4:39 PM

PORTLAND (WGME) – "Portland police arrested 20 people Wednesday during a protest in support of #Palestine.

"The protesters were blocking traffic on Commercial Street before police removed them from the area and opened the road back up to traffic.

" 'Free, free, free Palestine,' people chanted as a handcuffed protester was escorted away by police.

"But arrested protesters say it was their intention to be booked in jail Wednesday, and they say being taken away in handcuffs brings more attention to their cause.

" 'We have written our congressional representatives, we've called them, we've held rallies in the streets, we've done all kinds of things -- everything we can think of,' #MaineVoicesForPalestinianRights Chair #AbbyFuller said. 'And our government has not changed its policy of support for Israel.'

"Fuller helped organize Wednesday’s protest.

" 'Our intention yesterday was to disrupt business as usual,' Fuller said.

"Fuller and 19 others were arrested by Portland police Wednesday afternoon and brought to the Cumberland County Jail. All were charged with obstructing a public way after police gave multiple warnings that arrests were coming.

" 'If you refuse to move or leave you will be arrested, you may also be exposed to chemical agents,' police told protesters over a loudspeaker during Wednesday's protest.

"Two of the people taken into handcuffs are in their 80s, including #BobSchaible.

" 'I've never been arrested before,' Schaible said. 'I've never been put in the back of a police cruiser.'

"But Schaible and Fuller both say they'd do it all over again and want their arrests to inspire action to get #HumanitarianAid into #Gaza.

"This week, the Associated Press reported that expected aid was halted as Israeli strikes killed 86 people in Gaza. Aid groups warn that without supplies, tens of thousands of people, including children, could starve.

" 'Congress has to take a stand,' Schaible said. 'We want the Portland people, more of them, to know what is happening.'

"Fuller says protesters spent several hours in jail before they were released and says the group works with a pro bono lawyer who will represent them in court, for free."

https://wgme.com/news/local/arrested-portland-protesters-hope-their-demonstration-brings-awareness

#MaineResists #FreePalestine #Activism #Resistance #PortlandMaine #MainePol #MaineNews #USPol #WorldPol #BibiIsAWarCriminal #IsraeliWarCrimes #Gaza #GazaGenocide #TrafficInterference #DieIn

So, allegedly, #EliasRodriguez had been involved in social justice causes for years and felt the need to take action. I know folks are angry and fed up, but acts like this are going to be the excuse that #Trump and #KristiNoem need to declare #ProPalestinian protestors to be labeled as "terrorism" -- with subsequent crackdowns on peaceful protest. We can't give them excuses to enforce crackdowns. Those may be coming, so save the ammo for when it's really needed. Seriously...

https://apnews.com/article/israel-embassy-jewish-museum-shooting-10307b3b1a2a337e76730736b12ebbcb

Video: Inside a Plan to Shut Down Pro-Palestinian Activism

What is Project Esther? Katie J.M. Baker, a national investigative correspondent for The New York Times, explores the Heritage Foundation’s plan to shut down pro-Palestinian activism, as well as actions taken by the Trump administration that appear to mirror its goals. #Video #Plan #Shut #ProPalestinian #Activism

https://10bmnews.com/2025/05/video-inside-a-plan-to-shut-down-pro-palestinian-activism/

Remember how #AlJazeera claimed to be an empathetic, #ProPalestinian news agency? Remember how they viciously attacked Biden for supporting a two-state solution? Remember how they wailed that since Palestinians wanted peace and the two-state solution was "dead," Biden was blocking peace?

Ever stop to think that giving up on the 2-state solution actually meant just handing #Palestine over to #Netanyahu?

#Qatar funds #AlJazeera. The point was always to pull votes from Biden, cozy up to Trump.

HT @RealJournalism

#Columbia suspends over 65 students following #ProPalestinian protest in library

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/columbia-suspends-65-students-pro-palestinian-protest-library-121660701

#Fascism #NewYork #NewYorkCity #Palestine #FreePalestine #ColumbiaUniversity

Mob chased Brooklyn woman after mistaking her for protester at speech by Israeli security minister

by JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Updated 9:34 AM EDT, April 28, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — "A Brooklyn woman said she feared for her life as she was chased, kicked, spit at and pelted with objects by a mob of Orthodox Jewish men who mistook her as a participant in a protest against Israel’s far-right security minister.

"The assault, recorded by a bystander, unfolded Thursday near the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Crown Heights, where an appearance by Itamar Ben-Gvir set off clashes between #ProPalestinian activists and members of the neighborhood’s large Orthodox Jewish community.

"The woman, a neighborhood resident in her 30s, told The Associated Press she learned of the protest after hearing police helicopters over her apartment. She walked over to investigate around 10:30 p.m. but by then the protest had mostly dispersed. Not wanting to be filmed, she covered her face with a scarf.

" 'As soon as I pulled up my scarf, a group of 100 men came over immediately and encircled me,' said the woman, who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because she feared for her safety.

"‘I had nowhere to go’

" 'They were shouting at me, threatening to rape me, chanting ‘death to Arabs.’ I thought the police would protect me from the mob, but they did nothing to intervene,' she said.

"As the chants grew in intensity, a lone police officer tried to escort her to safety. They were followed for blocks by hundreds of men and boys jeering in Hebrew and English.

"Video shows two of the men kicking her in the back, another hurling a traffic cone into her head and a fourth pushing a trash can into her.

" 'This is America,' one of the men can be heard saying. 'We got Israel. We got an Army now.'

"At one point, she and the police officer were nearly cornered against a building, the video shows.

" 'I felt sheer terror,' the woman recalled. 'I realized at that point that I couldn’t lead this mob of men to my home. I had nowhere to go. I didn’t know what to do. I was just terrified.'"

https://apnews.com/article/itamar-bengvir-brooklyn-mob-woman-chased-090da170e8800307c54e2520320f6a2c

#Zionists #ChristoFascism #BibiIsAWarCriminal #TrumpIsAWarCriminal #FreePalestine

Cornell University Drops Kehlani From Slope Day Over Her Pro-Palestinian Advocacy https://shinemycrown.com/cornell-university-drops-kehlani-from-slope-day-over-her-pro-palestinian-advocacy/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #CornellUniversity #Kehlani #SlopeDay #ProPalestinian #CancelCulture

#Harvard professors sue #Trump administration over funding cut threats

by Katie Cole, April 14, 2025, #WBUR

"The Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors sued the Trump administration Friday over what they call an 'unlawful and unprecedented' attempt to use federal funding cuts to restrict #FreeSpeech.

"The #DepartmentOfEducation announced in late March that it would review $8.7 billion in federal grants and contacts given to Harvard, alleging that the school failed to prevent #antisemitic discrimination on campus.

"The Trump administration then unveiled a broad set of demands on April 4 the university must agree to in order to keep getting federal funding, including cutting all diversity, equity and inclusion programming, and modifying any programming and departments that 'fuel antisemitic harassment.' The administration gave Columbia University a similar set of demands in March, which the school agreed to.

"The lawsuit by the professors' group, filed in #Massachusetts federal court, alleges that the administration's federal funding review violates the #TitleVI of the #CivilRightsAct, which prohibits discrimination in programs that receive federal funds. The court filing says the law requires specific procedures to cut federal funds and that the Trump administration has not taken any of those steps.

"The group said in a press release that the administration's actions are in effort to create a chilling effect among universities and faculty to stop speech that the president does not like.

" 'Eliminating discrimination and protecting all students is important,' said Nikolas Bowie, a Harvard law professor and the secretary-treasurer of the school's #AAUP chapter, in a statement. 'But Trump is defying the Civil Rights Act, terrifying students, and illegally holding hostage grants for hospitals and scientific research so he can accomplish his real goal of punishing academics for our politics.'

"The lawsuit says that the actions by the administration have 'already caused severe and irreparable harm by halting #academic #research and #inquiry at Harvard.'

"This is the second suit that the Harvard AAUP chapter has filed against the Trump administration this year. The first was a joint suit with other chapters, including one from Columbia, over federal efforts to deport #MahmoudKhalil and students that engaged in #ProPalestinian #activism."

https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/04/14/harvard-aaup-trump-funding-cuts-lawsuit

#SilencingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #Authoritarian #Authoritarianism #BibiIsAWarCriminal #FreeMahmoudKhalil #FreePalestine #AcademicFreedom #FreeSpeech #TrumpIsABully #DEI #Erasure #Censorship

Team Trump Is Gaming Out How to Ship #USCitizens to #ElSalvador

Trump officials are talking internally about #denaturalizing #AmericanCitizens — and potentially sending some to #ElSalvador

By Nikki McCann Ramirez, Asawin Suebsaeng, Andrew Perez - April 12, 2025

"Donald #Trump and his White House have moved to deport #GreenCard holders for espousing #ProPalestinian views, shipped hundreds of #migrants to a notorious #Salvadoran #MegaPrison without due process (in defiance of a judge’s order), and are now publicly musing about sending United States citizens to prison in El Salvador.

"Trump said last weekend he would 'love' to send American criminals there — and would even be 'honored' to, depending on 'what the law says.' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed this week that the president has discussed this idea privately, too, adding he would only do this 'if it’s legal.'

"El Salvador’s president, #Nayi Bukele, has for months been offering to hold U.S. citizens in his country’s prison system, which he has turned into 'a judicial black hole' rife with 'systematic #torture,' as one #HumanRights advocate recently told Rolling Stone.

"Legal experts agree that sending American citizens to prison in El Salvador would be flagrantly illegal under both U.S. and international law — and that the idea itself is shockingly #authoritarian, with few parallels in our nation’s history.

"The Trump administration is indeed discussing this idea behind the scenes, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Rolling Stone. In their most serious form, these conversations have revolved around attempting to denaturalize American citizens and deport them to other countries, including El Salvador.

" 'You can’t deport U.S. citizens. There’s no emergency exception, there’s no special wartime authority, there’s no secret clause. You just can’t deport citizens,' says Steve Vladeck, a legal commentator and law professor at Georgetown.

" 'Whatever grounds they try to come up with for denaturalization or #expatriation, the one thing that is absolutely undeniable is that people are entitled to individualized processes, before that process can be effectuated.'

"In the United States, the grounds to strip a naturalized individual of their citizenship encompass serious material offenses. They include: committing #treason or #terrorism, enlisting in a foreign military engaged in opposition to the United States, or lying in applications for citizenship or as part of the naturalization process."

Read more:
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-el-salvador-us-citizens-denaturalization-1235315975/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/xliRd

#Orwellian #Authorianism #Fascism #ICEDetention #Deportations #USPol #SilencingDissent #MemoryHoled #Disappeared

#Germany seeks to #deport #protesters

Submitted by webadmin on 9 April, 2025

"The German state has issued deportation orders for three #EUCitizens and one #American who have attended #ProPalestinian protests.

"Berlin immigration authorities issued the orders on 31 March, demanding that the four individuals leave Germany within one month or else face deportation. Their orders cite a protest in October 2024 in which masked individuals caused 'significant property damage, including #graffiti', as well as resisting arrest and calling a #police officer a '#fascist'.

"Unusually, three of the four orders also invoke the German principle of #Staatsräson, (“#StateReason”). This term originates from a speech #AngelaMerkel gave to the #IsraeliKnesset in 2008, asserting that #Israeli security was fundamental to the purpose of the German state.

"Staatsräson is not an officially defined term or codified anywhere in the German constitution or by German courts. At least two of the protestors are appealing the decision, with their lawyer telling Al-Monitor that it is a 'political concept, not a legal concept, and therefore unlawful'.

"In any case, the #deportation of #activists for #protesting should be opposed.

#Khalil

"The activists’ lawyer has drawn parallels to the case of #MahmoudKhalil in the US. 'I see similarities… It is weaponization of #ImmigrationLaw as a tool to silence #PoliticalDissent'. Khalil’s case may also lead to a debate on interpretations of the US constitution’s #FirstAmendment.

"Back in February, #Berlin police broke up a protest, citing a ban on '#ArabicChanting', the playing of #ArabicMusic, or giving a speech in #Arabic. In October 2024, police raided the homes of five men, four of whom were being investigated over 'authorship of #antisemitic social media posts'.

Clapping

"And after the joint Israeli-Palestinian documentary #NoOtherLand won an Academy Award, German culture minister Claudia Roth insisted that she was only clapping for Israeli director Yuval Abraham, not Palestinian director #BaselAdra. Several politicians, including the mayor of Berlin, called for her resignation. A torrent of public criticism was aimed at #YuvalAbraham for his acceptance speech, to which he responded: 'To stand on German soil as the son of Holocaust survivors and call for a ceasefire — and to then be labelled as antisemitic is not only outrageous, it is also literally putting Jewish lives in danger.'

"Israeli politicians cited German politicians when attacking the filmmakers themselves, and only weeks later, co-director #HamdanBallal was attacked by #IsraeliSettlers in the #WestBank, and removed from an ambulance by #IDF soldiers.

"German Staatsräson is less about assuring Israel’s right to exist, and more about giving a free hand to the #repressive policies of the Israeli right."

Source:
https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2025-04-09/germany-seeks-deport-protesters

#CriminalizingDissent #ProPalestineActivists #ProPalestine
#CriminalizingProtest #AntiProtestLaws
#GermanyPol #GermanAntiProtestLaws
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #RightWing #StudentProtesters #Zionism #BibiIsAWarCriminal #Enablers

Since 'renewed' attacks on #Gaza, 100 plus children have been martyred or injured every day.

But, yeah, let there be outrage towards #actors, #students, #faculty, #immigrant #proPalestinian protesters, #artists, #writers, good politicians, #antiZionistJews, #musicians, #filmmakers, #athletes, etc. for being decent human beings by standing up for #Palestine! 😡 Right...

#FreePalestineNOW 🇵🇸

Private groups work to identify and report #StudentProtesters for possible #deportation

“Now they’re using tools of the state to actually go after people,” said a Columbia graduate student from South Asia who has been active in protests and spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns about losing her visa. “We suddenly feel like we’re being forced to think about our survival.”

By ADAM GELLER, March 29, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — "When a protester was caught on video in January at a New York rally against Israel, only her eyes were visible between a mask and headscarf. But days later, photos of her entire face, along with her name and employer, were circulated online.

"'Months of them hiding their faces went down the drain!' a fledgling technology company boasted in a social media post, claiming its #FacialRecognition tool had identified the woman despite the coverings.

"She was anything but a lone target. The same software was also used to review images taken during months of #ProPalestinian marches at U.S. colleges. A #RightWingJewish group said some people identified with the tool were on a list of names it submitted to President Donald #Trump’s administration, urging that they be deported in accordance with his call for the expulsion of foreign students who participated in 'pro-jihadist' protests.

"Other #ProIsrael groups have enlisted help from supporters on campuses, urging them to report foreign students who participated in protests against the war in #Gaza to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency."

Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-foreign-students-campus-gaza-protests-deportation-9e2d4abc1c158454da1f68c01062c9ef
#ICERaids #ICEDetentions #ICEArrests #SilencingDissent #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #MahmoudKhalil #RumeysaOzturk, #YunseoChung #BadarKhunSuri #MomodouTaal #ResistICE #Fascism #Project2025 #ProjectEsther #Authoritarianism #TurdReich

Dropped charges, police overreach: How the ‘Indigo 11’ case fell apart #Canada #Crime #World #Antisemitism #Indigo 11 #ProPalestinian Protests

https://globalnews.ca/news/11103069/indigo-11-charges-dropped//612

#CanaryMission are another pack of wankers targeting #proPalestinian students and activists

#FreePalestineNOW 🇵🇸

American Association of University Professors [#AAUP] v. #Rubio

A case challenging the #Trump administration’s policy of ideological deportation.

"On March 25, 2025, the Knight Institute filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participate in pro-Palestinian activism. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), AAUP’s #Harvard, #NYU, and #Rutgers campus chapters, and the #MiddleEastStudies Association, argues that the policy chills noncitizens from speaking and, by extension, robs these organizations and their U.S. citizen members of noncitizens’ perspectives on a matter of significant public debate.

"The lawsuit responds to a climate of repression and fear on university campuses. Federal agencies are attempting to deport multiple individuals for their #ProPalestinian advocacy, including #MahmoudKhalil, a leader of protests at Columbia University. These actions have sent chills through the community of noncitizen students and faculty on campuses around the country, causing some to pull out of academic conferences, stay home from #protests, and withdraw from other forms of public advocacy and engagement.

"The lawsuit alleges that the administration’s policy of ideological deportation violates the First Amendment right of the plaintiffs to hear from and associate with noncitizen students and faculty, that it is unconstitutionally vague, and that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act. The suit seeks a court order declaring that the policy is unlawful and enjoining the federal government from enforcing it."

Status: Complaint filed on March 25, 2025.

Case Information: American Association of University Professors v. Rubio, No. 1:25-cv-10685 (D.Mass).

https://knightcolumbia.org/cases/aaup-v-rubio
#YunseoChung #RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #law
#immigration #FreeSpeech #MarcoRubio #Trump #FreedomOfAssembly #Authoritarianism #Palestine #CriminalizingDissent #HigherEducation

Looks like the American Association of University Professors agrees with me!

#AAUP, Allies Sue over #Trump Policy of Arresting and Threatening to Deport #Students and #Faculty for #LawfulSpeech

"The national AAUP; chapters at #Harvard, #Rutgers, and #NYU; and the #MiddleEastStudies Association today filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in #ProPalestinian #protests and other protected #FirstAmendment activities.

"We believe that the administration’s ideological-deportation policy violates the First Amendment by targeting constitutionally protected speech that Americans have a right to hear and engage with. The policy has created a climate of fear and repression on campuses around the country. We are represented in the case by the #KnightFirstAmendmentInstitute at #ColumbiaUniversity, #AhilanArulanantham, and Zimmer, Citron & Clarke LLP.

"Following executive orders issued by President Trump in January, the federal agencies that enforce immigration laws have arrested and detained several people associated with U.S. colleges and universities, including a legal permanent resident, on the basis of constitutionally protected speech and association.

"Today’s filing argues that the ideological-deportation policy has created a climate of #repression and intense fear on university #campuses, 'terrorizing students and faculty for their exercise of First Amendment rights in the past, intimidating them from exercising those rights now, and silencing political viewpoints that the government disfavors.'

"'The Trump administration is going after international #scholars and students who speak their minds about #Palestine, but make no mistake: they won't stop there. They'll come next for those who teach the history of #slavery or who provide #GenderAffirming health care or who research #ClimateChange or who counsel students about their reproductive choices. We all have to draw a line together—as the old labor movement slogan says: an injury to one is an injury to all,' says AAUP President Todd Wolfson.

"'The First Amendment means the government can’t arrest, detain, or deport people for lawful political expression—it’s as simple as that. This practice is one we’d ordinarily associate with the most repressive political regimes, and it should have no place in our democracy,' says #JameelJaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute."

Source:
https://www.aaup.org/news/aaup-allies-sue-over-trump-policy-arresting-and-threatening-deport-students-and-faculty-lawful
#RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #law
#immigration #FreeSpeech #MarcoRubio #Trump #FreedomOfAssembly #Authoritarianism #Palestine #CriminalizingDissent #HigherEducation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxqTPNHwKOM

#DemocracyNow 🚨 🚨 #ALERT 🚨 🚨

#ProPalestinian #Cornell Student #MomodouTaal Ordered to Surrender to #ICE , Faces Possible #Deportation

#StopDeportations #FascistUSA #FreePalestineNOW 🇵🇸

Mahmoud Khalil says he’s a ‘political prisoner’ in 1st statement since arrest #Trending #US News #World #Columbia protests #israel hamas conflict #Mahmoud Khalil #ProPalestinian

https://globalnews.ca/news/11088255/mahmoud-khalil-arrest-us-detention-louisiana//612

FULL ON NAZI MODE!!!

Immigration officials arrest second person who participated in #ProPalestinian protests at Columbia

By Larry Neumeister
Updated 5:50 PM EDT, March 14, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — "The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether #ColumbiaUniversity concealed 'illegal aliens' on its campus, one of its top officials said Friday, as the Trump administration intensified its campaign to deport foreigners who participated in pro-#Palestinian demonstrations at the school last year.

"Agents with the Department of Homeland Security searched two university residences with a warrant Thursday evening. No one was arrested and it was unclear whom the authorities were searching for, but by Friday afternoon U.S. officials had announced developments related to two people they had pursued in connection with the demonstrations.

"A Columbia doctoral student from #India whose visa was revoked by the Trump administration fled the U.S. on an airliner. And a Palestinian woman who had been arrested during the protests at the university last April was arrested by federal immigration authorities in Newark, New Jersey, on charges that she overstayed an expired visa."

https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-arrests-3a8db6e646b786a721089a6f0bc8d9fc
#ICE #ICEDetention #DHS #Fascism #Authoritarianism #FreeMahmoudKhalil #DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity #CharacteristicsOfFascism #ResistFascism #USPol

Columbia University suspends, expels pro-Palestinian students who occupied building #Trending #US News #Columbia University #Mahmoud Khalil #New York City #ProPalestinian Protests

https://globalnews.ca/news/11082164/columbia-university-pro-palestinian-protests-new-york//612