
As the movement for Palestinian rights grows in size and diversity in the US, individuals speaking out against Israeli human rights violations and American involvement in Israel’s discriminatory policies are increasingly facing intense backlash, smear campaigns, threats to their employment and reputation, legal bullying, censorship and punishment. The panelists discuss the criminalization of Palestinian advocacy and the targeting of individual Palestine activists for surveillance, investigation, and criminal prosecution, referencing the cases against longtime Chicago activist Rasmea Odeh, the so-called Holy Land Five (Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu-Baker, Mufid Abdulqader, Abdulrahman Odeh, and Mohammad El-Mezain), and former University of South Florida Professor Sami al-Arian.