Pro-Palestinian voices in the United States are facing censorship, harassment, doxxing, and punitive actions in response to their advocacy against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. These efforts are carried out by public and private institutions, as well as by powerful Israeli lobby groups, with the intention of suppressing those who shed light on the reality in Gaza. This is a coordinated attempt to downplay the plight of Palestinians while portraying the perpetrators as victims.
A viral online statement signed by more than 30 student groups at Harvard University stated that Israel’s decades-long Occupation is responsible for the recent events that took place. Days after the statement was released, members of these various student organizations became victims of doxxing, despite not having their names mentioned in the statement. Their private details were exposed on the internet, and a mobile advertisement truck roamed Harvard Square, displaying the photos and names of these students, with a headline that read: "Harvard's Prominent Anti-Semitic Figures." Clearly, the Israeli lobby has put significant resources into defaming Palestinian activism on college campuses.
At Columbia University, Joseph Massad — a professor of modern Arab politics — has been facing growing calls for his removal after he published an op-ed in The Electronic Intifada discussing the October 7 operation. Not long after the op-ed’s release, a petition – authored by a Columbia student who once worked for the Occupation Forces – started making the rounds, urging Columbia University to terminate Massad's employment.
Maha Dakhil, a top Hollywood agent at Creative Artists Agency who works with A-list celebrities like Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway, resigned from her position following a post she shared to her Instagram story that read: “You’re currently learning who supports genocide.” Hours later, she took down her post and issued an apology. This was then followed by her resignation from the agency’s internal board and her status as the co-head of the motion picture department.
Dozens of legal groups are demanding protection for Palestine advocates in the U.S., stating that they “are fielding hundreds of requests for support and protection from racist attacks and government targeting. These are the direct results of virulent anti-Palestinian rhetoric from Israel, echoed by our own elected officials, as well as institutional and community leaders.” They stated that Palestinians and allies have been bullied in schools, visited by law enforcement, arrested, censored, discriminated against, faced employment consequences, doxxed, and assaulted. While these groups emphasized that this isn’t a new phenomenon by any means, they did say that it’s escalating “at a terrifying speed.”
Despite these attempts to silence any support for Palestinians, various civil society organizations, artists, and scholars in the United States have called out the atrocities that have been taking place in Gaza, committed by the Israeli regime.
The Center for Constitutional Rights — a legal organization that works on”‘advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” — released an emergency legal brief accusing Israel of committing the crime of genocide against Palestinians. In said brief, the CCR affirms that the United States has also been complicit and is contributing to Israel’s acts of genocide.
The CCR’s brief details the current “genocidal moment” that is taking place in Palestine, listing various actions that the apartheid state has taken to advance its genocidal agenda since October 7, 2023. The report was released on Oct. 17.
On Oct. 22, 55 big-name actors and artists in the United States released a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, calling for an “immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel, before another life is lost.” The letter details the atrocities that have been unfolding in Gaza, stating that “more than 6,000 bombs have been dropped on Gaza in the last 12 days, resulting in one child being killed every 15 minutes.” The signatories of the letter include Channing Tatum, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, Mo Amer, Oscar Isaac, Ayo Edebiri, Rosario Dawson, amongst other A-listers.
Over 400 congressional staffers have circulated a letter urging their bosses (U.S. Representatives) at the United States Congress to push for a ceasefire in Gaza. The letter details their disappointment at the reactions of members of Congress to the killings of Palestinians, stating that they are “profoundly disturbed that shows of humanity have barely been extended to the Palestinian people” and that “the Palestinian people deserve to be remembered, mourned, and defended with the same rigor that Jewish Israelis deserve from the U.S. Congress.”
Said letter is anonymously signed, with the phrase “411 staff of the United States Congress” placed at the bottom. The staffers express concerns for their “personal safety, risk of violence, and impact on [their] professional credibility in the Capitol.” They fear losing their jobs for unequivocally speaking out against the genocide of Palestinians. Such is the power of the Israeli lobby in American politics.
On Oct. 15, a public statement signed by over 800 scholars from various fields — including international law, conflict studies, and genocide studies — warned about the “potential” of Israel committing the crime of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The letter affirms that the crime of genocide pre-dates the current situation in Gaza, affirming that “pre-existing conditions in the Gaza Strip had already prompted discussions of genocide prior to the current escalation.” The letter also details the language Israel has been employing, asserting that the language is one of genocidal rhetoric. The scholars detail evidence of Israel’s various genocidal acts and calls on states to take action to prevent the genocide unfolding against Palestinians.
Over 750 artists and authors in North America, the U.S. and the UK have also signed an open letter demanding an end to the destruction and violence against Palestinians. The letter calls the atrocities in Gaza “indiscriminate violence,” which is supported financially and politically by Western powers. The letter calls for the government to demand a ceasefire, allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and end financial and military support for Israeli violence.
Amidst attempts to silence voices of solidarity, these actions by civil society, artists, and scholars signify the persistent commitment to highlighting the plight of Palestinians and advocating for justice against Israel’s acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing. To various degrees, these letters and statements highlight the indiscriminate violence and destruction Palestinians have been facing at the hands of the Israeli regime, as well the responsibilities that governments have in ending this atrocity.
