Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts

Saturday, July 19, 2025

PCOF: Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is free! + ICMLPO condemns the aggression against Iran

From Reuters:  www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-court-rules-release-lebanese-militant-georges-ibrahim-abdallah-bfm-tv-2025-07-17/



Originally posted July 19th at:  www.pcof.net/georges-ibrahim-abdallah-est-libre/ (a machine translated ibelow) –



Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is free!


The oldest political prisoner in France, and even in Europe, the activist who has always advocated communism, internationalism, and the Palestinian cause, will be released from prison after 40 years of confinement. He will return to Lebanon on July 25, where his comrades and friends await him.


This is a victory, the fruit of his unwavering determination, his convictions, his refusal to deny himself. It is a victory for the national and international support movement. It is an example of courage and firmness for young and old anti-imperialist and revolutionary activists.


This time, justice has ignored the pressure from those who wanted to break him: whether it be the US and Israeli authorities, or the French authorities who have succeeded one another for 40 years who have always refused to release him.


We welcome this release, which is an encouragement to continue the fight against reaction, Zionism, the Zionist state, supported by US imperialism and complicit governments, including the French government.






Originally posted June 21st in English, Spanish, and Turkish at www.cipoml.net/ and in French at www.pcof.net/la-cipoml-condamne-lagression-americano-sioniste-contre-liran/ –



ICMLPO condemns the U.S.-Zionist Aggression against Iran
June 27, 2025

On the dawn of June 21, the United States government launched a direct military attack against Iran, which was added to attacks launched earlier through Israel, its "watchdog" in the region.
This barbaric attack confirms the involvement of U.S. imperialism in the aggression that the Zionist State is waging against Iran in the name of the Western imperialist camp, which seeks to remodel the region to reaffirm its control over it, its resources, its markets and its strategic locations. In short, it is to improve their position against their competitors in the inter-imperialist confrontation, particularly against China and Russia, which, on their part, limit themselves to formal protests, while keeping intact their trade and political relations with the Zionist aggressor.
We are therefore witnessing an open confrontation between the imperialist powers, whose cost in human lives, destruction and suffering is being paid by the peoples of the region.
The International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (ICMLPO):
– Condemns this new barbaric aggression against Iran.
– Expresses its full support to the Iranian people and their right to defend themselves and defend their territorial sovereignty against the U.S.-Zionist aggression.
– Reaffirms that “preventing Iran from possessing nuclear weapons” is just a pretext to launch this aggression, whose main goal is to change the regime and replace it, as it was done in Syria, by a puppet regime that obeys its interests, thus completing the reshaping of the geopolitical landscape of the region.
– Emphasizes that the ceasefire achieved does not mean that the conflict is over, as U.S. imperialism and Israeli Zionism have not abandoned their ambitions to achieve total control of the region; that Israel's threats to prevent Iran from continuing with its nuclear program could trigger a new escalation with unpredictable consequences because of the effects it could create.
– Confirms that the real danger to the peoples of the region and the world comes from the real war-makers, led by the U.S.-Western imperialist monster, its Zionist creation and NATO.
– Calls on all the peoples of the world to act with strength and determination to end the aggression against Iran, the war of extermination in Gaza and Palestine and the attacks on Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, and to expel all fleets and dismantle all the military bases in the region.
– Welcomes with satisfaction the firmness of resistance in Gaza and the West Bank.
Coordination Committee of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations
June 25, 2025


Saturday, May 17, 2025

En Marcha on the anniversaries of the defeat of Axis imperialism in '45 and US imperialism in '75

[Commentaries on the shooting of four diplomatic staff from the Israel'embassy in DC, two fatally:


A Maoist neworganization:  theworker.news/2025/05/22/a-just-act-just-not-a-correct-act/  (I wondered that evening ithis event could be used to advance the repressive agenda of Trump-Vance and the supportive Democrats, similar to Bush-Cheney and 9/11, on a smaller scaleor Nazi Germany and the 1933 Reichstag Fire, and according to the article, the PSL is being blamed, though the alleged shooter was only a member briefly, in 2017, and not connected to the party since then, according to Wikipedia.  Federal hate crime and terrorism charges might be applied, in addition to murder.  An alleged manifesto from X/Twitter is online above and at:  www.kenklippenstein.com/p/the-israel-embassy-shooter-manifesto )


On individual violent actions in general, posted before May 21st redphoenixnews.com/2025/05/12/urban-guerilla-theory-the-role-of-violence-in-capitalist-crises/


[ caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/05/23/thoughts-on-the-israeli-embassy-staff-killings/ ]


[ www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2025/05/22/stinking-to-the-high-heavens-of-a-false-flag  [The shooting hacovered up the news thaIsraeshot at diplomatfrom several "Western" countries near Jenin (?) in the West Bank, Palestine and Israel was been threatened with consequences for starving Gaza.  Netanyahu is talking about "babykillers," etc. the evening o the 22nd and there wasomething from him or someone about "incitement" and "bloodlibels," by the EU (?) for daring to criticize Israel's war crimes and atrocities.  In the morning on the 22nd NPR had a headline, something about someone condemning Netanyahu's promise to 'end' the war in Gaza if the prisonerare released, Hamas surrenders (and ...?), and if Trump's "brilliant," revolutionary" plan to depopulate Gaza ifollowed, "tantamount to ethnic cleansing" someone said -- why add "tantamount?"  The liberal Town of Chapel Hill probably stands with the US, EU, UK, Canadian, Israeli, and other war criminals, to a greater extent than the City of Durham.]


[I'm sure there is interesting discussion on www.nakedcapitalism.com under the daily Links, etc.]


On the right:


envisioningtheamericandream.com/2025/05/22/murder-in-the-name-of-palestine/  (supporter of the Democratic Party?)


www.counterextremism.com/press/counter-extremism-project-condemns-murders-israeli-embassy-workers-capital-jewish-museum 


For background:  


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_killing_of_Israeli_embassy_workers_in_Washington,_D.C.  ]



[May 28th Israel claims to have killed Mohammed Sinwar (born September 16, 1975 in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in Gaza), said to be the leader of Hamas in the GazStrip and leader of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades; his older brother YahySinwar (October 29, 1962, also in the Khan Yunis camp – October 16, 2024):  the morning BBC radio newprogram , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Sinwar , and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahya_Sinwar ]


[ samidoun.net/2025/05/77-years-of-ongoing-nakba-the-crumbling-zionist-project-and-the-revolutionary-road-to-liberation-and-return/ ]



There are also articlesuch as (machine translated):  



World Biological Diversity Day [May 22nd in Ecuador;  pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13778 ]

Joseph Stalin, leader of the Great Patriotic War 

Battle of Stalingrad 

Brecht, revolutionary poet and playwright

THE MOTHER, by Maxim Gorky

Dimitrov and the defense of communism in the Leipzig trial

The Fifth Congress of the Communist International 

Engels, thinker 

Dien Bien Phu, an example in the people's liberation struggle 

The PCMLE fights and denounces Chinese revisionism 

The 1970s and the development of the PCMLE 

The PCMLE disputes the political leadership of the masses 

6th Congress of the Tunisian Workers' Party 

Popular First Aid Brigade

May 29 [1969]: Student's Day 

Adolescence 




I received these two translated articles and added introductory parts that are machine translated: 


En Marcha #2136, May 7 to 13, 2025  [ www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13762 ]

Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

80 years since the victory of the epic struggles of the peoples against fascist barbarism

Commemorating the 1945 Victory from a realistic and objective perspective implies understanding that the fight against fascism is part of the broader struggle against the capitalist system that gave rise to it. It implies recognizing that the working class and oppressed peoples were the driving force of resistance and victory, and that we must strive to reclaim their emancipatory role.

[Photo]

On May 9, 1945, Nazi Germany signed its surrender in Berlin, after having provoked the bloody war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. Eighty years have passed since the roar of arms of the armies contending in Europe during the Second World War ceased and the red flag with the hammer and sickle flew over the Reichstag (Parliament) in Berlin. Eighty years since humanity, represented in the heroic struggle of the Soviet Union and the allied coalition, dealt a mortal blow to the bloodiest and most reactionary regime that history had known: Nazi Germany.

Commemorating this historic victory is not a mere exercise in memory, but a political and ethical necessity, especially at times like the present, when the ghosts of the past are trying to return. Analyzing this victory objectively allows us to go beyond the superficial and often distorted narrative, to understand the deep forces, class contradictions and material interests that clashed in the Second World War, revealing its true meaning and the defeat of Nazi-fascism as a victory of working and oppressed humanity against the most brutal expression of capital in crisis.

The Second World War did not come out of nowhere, its roots were sunk in the contradictions inherent in the capitalist system in its imperialist phase, as analyzed by Lenin, Stalin and other Marxist theoreticians. The Great Depression of 1929 exacerbated inter-imperialist tensions, leading to a bitter struggle for markets, resources, and spheres of influence. In this context of structural crisis, the bourgeoisie of some countries, especially in Germany and Italy, resorted to fascism as an extreme form of open terrorist dictatorship of monopoly capital. Fascism was not simply a crazy ideology, as some call it; it was the response of big capital to the revolutionary threat of the organized labor movement and to the very existence of the Soviet Union, the first socialist state in history. Hitler's National Socialism, with its racist delirium, its expansionist pan-Germanism, and rabid anti-communism, represented the culmination of this reactionary degeneration, seeking to annihilate the "inferior race" (Jews, Gypsies, Slavs) and crush any vestige of workers' organization or dissident thought. Its manifest goal was world domination and the enslavement of vast territories and populations for the benefit of German capital.

In the face of this onslaught of barbarism, the Soviet Union emerged as the main bulwark of resistance. Since its birth, the USSR had faced the hostility of the capitalist powers, but the fascist aggression of 1941 placed it at the epicenter of the global struggle. The Great Patriotic War, as this period is known in the countries of the former USSR and progressive sectors, was a feat of epic proportions, a life-and-death struggle for the defense of the first experience of socialist construction. The Soviet people, under the leadership of the Communist Party, led by Stalin, mobilized all their forces and resources to repel the invader. Soviet industry, massively moved eastwards in the face of the enemy advance, showed an astonishing capacity for resilience and war production, surpassing German in many respects, despite the enormous initial territorial losses.

The Red Army, composed of millions of workers, peasants and intellectuals conscious of what they were defending, fought battles of unprecedented courage and ferocity. The defense of Leningrad, subjected to a siege of almost 900 days that cost the lives of more than a million civilians; the bitter and courageous battle of Stalingrad, which marked a strategic and moral turning point in the war, destroying a large part of the German army; the gigantic tank battle at Kursk; and the unstoppable final offensive that culminated in the capture of Berlin, are milestones that testify to the supreme sacrifice of the Soviet people. It was not just a military struggle; It was an all-out war in which the civilian population, the partisans (guerrillas) in the occupied territories, the women who took up the work in the factories and the countryside, all contributed decisively to the victory. It is estimated that the Soviet Union suffered more than 27 million casualties, both military and civilian, a figure that shows the magnitude of its contribution and the price paid for victory. Without Soviet sacrifice, the defeat of Nazism would have been unthinkable or would have required an infinitely greater cost to the rest of the world.

But the victory was the result of a combined effort. The anti-fascist coalition integrated capitalist powers such as the United Kingdom and the United States, despite their contradictions with the USSR and their own imperialist interests. The United Kingdom bravely resisted Nazi bombing during the Battle of Britain and contributed on fronts such as North Africa and the Atlantic. The United States, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, deployed immense industrial and military power that was crucial, especially on the Pacific front against Japan and in the Normandy landings, which opened a second front long desired by the USSR.

It is also essential to recognize the heroism of the resistance movements in the occupied countries. Communist partisans, socialists, democrats, and patriots fought clandestinely against the invader, sabotaged its operations, rescued victims of persecution, and kept the flame of hope alive. The resistance, more often than not led by the communists, played a vital role in weakening the enemy and preparing the ground for liberation. This dimension of popular struggle and resistance from below, often downplayed in official histories, is crucial to a full understanding of victory.

From a Marxist perspective, the anti-fascist alliance was a classic example of a united front, a tactical union of diverse and even contradictory forces in the face of a common enemy. While the USSR was fighting for the survival of its socialist system and the liberation of the peoples, the allied capitalist powers were also defending their own interests: to stop an aggressive imperialist competitor that threatened their possessions and trade routes. The tensions and differences in objectives between the USSR and its capitalist allies were palpable during the war and would become evident immediately afterwards, giving way to the so-called Cold War. However, at the crucial moment of the struggle against fascism, the need for unity prevailed.

The victory of 1945 had consequences of historic scope for the development of the 20th century. Fascism, as a state ideology, was discredited and defeated militarily. A period of decolonization began, as the European imperialist powers, weakened by the war, could no longer maintain their vast colonial empires in the face of the rise of national liberation movements, many of them inspired by the Soviet example and socialist ideas. The world political map changed radically with the formation of the socialist bloc in Eastern Europe and Asia, expanding the field of countries seeking to build alternatives to capitalism. The prestige of socialism and the international communist movement reached very high historical levels.

In addition, awareness of the magnitude of Nazi atrocities, in particular the Holocaust, created an impetus for the development of international humanitarian law and the creation of multilateral bodies such as the United Nations, aimed at preventing future wars and protecting human rights. While these institutions have often been limited and exploited by the interests of the great powers, their creation was, in part, a response to the need to establish safeguards against the barbarism that fascism represented.

Eighty years later, we cannot rest on the laurels of victory. The reactionary winds are blowing again. Capitalism in global crisis creates growing inequalities, social polarization and despair, a breeding ground for the resurgence of ultra-right ideologies, exclusionary nationalism, racism and xenophobia. The denial or minimization of the crimes of fascism, the attempts to equate communism with Nazism, and the glorification of fascist collaborators in some countries are red flags that demand our utmost attention and firm opposition.

Commemorating the 1945 Victory from a real and objective approach implies understanding that the struggle against fascism is part of the broader struggle against the capitalist system that engendered it. It implies recognizing that the working class and oppressed peoples were the driving force of the resistance and victory and that we must strive to salvage their emancipatory role. It reminds us of the importance of organization, unity of action and international solidarity to face the threats of the present. The struggle for historical memory is a political struggle; combating the unconsciousness and distortion of the past is essential to defend the rights and achievements of the present and to build a different future.

The victory over fascism showed humanity's ability to overcome barbarism when united around a common goal. The immense sacrifice made by the Soviet Union and all those who fought against the Fascist Axis, imposes on us the responsibility of not allowing history to repeat itself. The struggle for a world without exploitation, oppression, racism and war, a world of peace, social justice and labor, remains the fundamental task of our time. It is the best way to honor those who gave their lives for freedom.

80 years of the Great Victory over fascism! Honor and eternal glory to the heroes of the Red Army, to the communists, partisans, to the resisters, to all workers and to the peoples who fought and gave their lives! for freedom! Fighting fascism in all its forms is an obligation for the present! For a world without imperialist wars, or capitalist oppression!

[An added photo?]






En Marcha #2136, May 7 to 13, 2025 [ www.pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13768 ]

Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

Vietnam: 50 Years of the Vietnamese People's Victory over U.S. Imperialism

Since the Tet Offensive, launched by the Vietnamese Liberation Front in 1969, the initiative rested with the Vietnamese people. The liberation of Saigon in April 1975 marked the end of a political-military process that defeated US imperialism and its minions.

[Photo]

April 30 marked the 50th anniversary of the defeat of U.S. imperialism in Vietnam. This historic event is of great importance for the anti-imperialist and Marxist-Leninist communist movement internationally; seen in the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese workers and people; it affirmed the solidarity, brotherhood of peoples and the internationalist struggle; it meant the reunification of the country, the victory of its self-determination and independence.

Between March and April 1975, U.S. diplomats and military began fleeing Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. It was clear that the advance of the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam was unstoppable. The withdrawal of most U.S. troops during the previous months evidenced the political-military defeat that the Vietnamese people had already inflicted on the U.S.

The victory was made possible by massive popular support for the troops of the Liberation Front and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army). "We had to use the small against the big, antiquated weapons against modern weapons", "In the end, it is the human factor that determines the victory" the revolutionary and head of the Vietnamese People's Army Vo Nguyen Giap would say. The fundamental element for the victory was the people in arms, the same one that allowed for the annihilation of the military forces of imperialism, thus allowing all its political and military maneuvers to be undone. In this process, the revolutionary forces combined guerrilla warfare, insurrection in the towns and cities, workers' strikes and boycott actions by the masses. The period of simultaneous offensives and insurrections, which began with Tet in 1968 and ended with the liberation of Saigon in 1975, was the result of the coordination of the military and political struggle.

How did this victory come about?

The workers led by the Viet Minh, the League for the Independence of Vietnam founded in 1941, by Ho Chi Minh and by the Communist Party, raised armed resistance to the Japanese and later the French invader. The latter, financed and supplied by the United States, were defeated at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954.

In that same year, negotiators from France and the Viet Minh signed the Geneva Agreement to temporarily establish a territorial demarcation line that would divide Vietnam between French military forces and troops led by Ho Chi Minh.

In 1957, guerrilla forces fighting in South Vietnam and North Vietnamese troops took up arms to reunify the country. By 1963, reunification seemed imminent, so U.S. imperialism organized a provocation in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964 to justify sending massive troops to Vietnam in 1965.

Nearly 600,000 U.S. troops were sent to Vietnam during the conflict to confront Liberation Front guerrillas, while the U.S. Air Force bombed Vietnam in a bloody and disproportionate way. According to some records, the United States dropped 7.5 million tons of bombs on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, a far greater amount than that used during World War II by all sides.

Vietnamese guerrilla tactics, supply routes, tunnels, traps, lightning attacks, etc., proved to be deeply resistant to the enormous technological power of the United States. During nine years of subjugation of the local population, the U.S. military never managed to break the will of the Vietnamese workers and people.

The My Lai massacres, in which U.S. troops murdered more than 700 men, children, and women (who were raped before being massacred), or the agonizing images of children with their skin melted by chemical bombs (white phosphorus, napalm, and Agent Orange), are examples of the criminal U.S. invasion. These actions of the Yankee army led to the indignation of the youth, workers and peoples of the world. Marches, rallies, festivals and other actions for Peace and in solidarity with the Vietnamese people, were generalized world-wide. To cite three examples, in 1968, millions of university and high school students in the United States staged a massive boycott in their schools as a show of opposition to the war; in 1969, thousands of U.S. citizens took the day off from work to participate in local demonstrations across the nation; in 1971, several groups of Vietnam veterans threw more than 700 medals down the steps of the Capitol. This movement in rejection of the Vietnam War was repeated all over the world.

Since the offensive carried out by the Liberation Front in 1969, called the Tet Offensive, the Vietnamese people took the initiative. The liberation of Saigon in April 1975 was the end of a political-military process that defeated US imperialism and its lackeys. This heroic deed of the Vietnamese people headed by their Communist Party shows the certain possibility of the defeat of imperialism.

The heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people had a profound impact on popular culture, with music, film and literature reflecting opposition to the war. "The black eagles break their claws / against the heroic people in Vietnam" Quilapayun sang, and there were the great concerts for peace that would star figures such as Jimmy Hendrix, The Who, the Rolling Stones and John Lennon.

Vietnam was an encouragement for struggles for social and national liberation in the dependent countries. Algeria, Angola, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala were several of the places where the guerrilla struggle would have a great influence of the tactics and strategy of the Vietnamese workers. This victory strengthened the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial movement, which spread throughout the world, promoting the struggle of the peoples for self-determination and independence.

Sunday, May 04, 2025

ADC on House Resolution 867 vote Monday + lawsuits against UT-Austin and the University of Michigan for retaliation over student and worker speech + Joseph Czuba sentenced + repression in France

April 29th it was announced that the French government wants to "dissolve" Urgence Palestine May 7th; there is a rapidly growing petition in opposition at:  agir.urgence-palestine.org/appelsoutiens/12/ ; it doesn't say that it is limited to French citizens; for more information on this and other domestic anti-Palestinian actions by the French government see:  samidoun.net/2025/04/stop-the-dissolution-of-urgence-palestine-take-action-now-to-confront-frances-complicity-in-genocide/  The anti-fascist group Jeunes Gardes also faces dissolution.


From the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network April 30th (linked above):


"Stop the dissolution of Urgence Palestine!

End the genocide in Gaza and throughout Palestine!

Stop the aggression against Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and the people of the region!

Haiti won, Algeria won, Vietnam won, and Palestine will win!

Victory to the Resistance!

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

We urge all in France and around the world to stand with Urgence Palestine.

  • Sign on to the Urgence Palestine collective statement against dissolutions: https://tiny.cc/stopdissolution
  • Demonstrate at a French embassy, consulate, or Alliance Française (official government representative of French cultural activities) in your area against the dissolution and repression — and against France’s ongoing complicity with Zionist genocide throughout occupied Palestine. Use the signs below!"






It is as if the ADC email about House Resolution 867 just vanished from my inbox.  


Contact your members of Congress throughsupport.adc.org/a/hr867 


Stop Congress from Selling Out and Criminalizing Your Individual Freedoms—Oppose H.R. 867


Washington is ready to undermine your First Amendment rights to placate Israel and its leaders. Stand firm against any attempt to strip away our individual freedoms, and to silence Americans. Complete the quick action below and tell your elected officials to oppose HR 867

H.R. 867 Criminalizes Boycotts

Seeks up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines for those participating in boycotts against Israel — even if it's just sharing information online.

Creates a “Blacklist”

Requires an annual roll call of nations and organizations critical of Israel, driving fear into anyone brave enough to speak out.

Grants Washington More Power

Hands Washington bureaucrats with questionable loyalties the authority to further punish students, activists, and nonprofits for free speech—an assault on our individual freedoms and American sovereignty.

Why This Matters—Right Now

H.R. 867 is an insult to everything we believe in. It trades away your right to speak up for what's right—merely to curry favor with foreign leaders. If this bill becomes law, you could be treated like a criminal for exercising the very individual freedoms afforded to you in this country. 

Don't let Congress and foreign interests decide what you can say or do. Defend your freedoms today.







Sent out the evening of May 2nd: 

 

ADC Statement: Killer of Wadee Al-Fayoumi Sentenced to 53 years



[Re-posting:


Washington, D.C. | www.adc.org | May 2, 2025 - Earlier this afternoon Joseph Czuba was sentenced to a 53 year prison [sentence] after being found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of  6 year old Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen. While the sentence will not bring back Wadee, it does bring justice to Hanan, the extended family of Wadee, and the entire community.


ADC National Executive Director Abed Ayoub said, “Today we remember Wadee, and recommit ourselves to honoring his life and legacy. This sentencing brings closure to the case, and a measure of accountability and justice to a tragedy that has shaken our community. We must come together to ensure that tragedies fueled by anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian hate, and Islamophobia are never accepted as the norm in our society. We thank all those involved who worked to bring justice for Wadee. We also thank Hanan for leading and displaying incredible strength, courage, and grace since the tragic incident occurred.”


ADC calls on community members, public officials, and all people of conscience to stand with us in condemning the alarming surge of hatred that resulted in the untimely death of Wadee Al-Fayoumi, and all attempts to erase, censure and dehumanize Arabs and Palestinians here in the U.S. and abroad.  ADC will continue to fight for justice, accountability, and policy changes that protect our community from all threats.


ADC would like to thank the offices and leadership of CAIR Chicago, the Muslim Civic Coalition in IL, Attorneys Johnny Simon, Lana Nasar, and Attorneys Ben Crump and Nabeha Shaer from the Ben Crump Law Office, for their work on behalf of Hanan. ADC also thanks the entire Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim population of Chicagoland for their leadership.  


Our work is far from done, and ADC stands ready to continue this fight until all of us—regardless of religion, race, or national origin—can live free from fear. If you need our assistance, please call the ADC Legal Hotline at 844-ADC-9955 for immediate support and assistance.] 






Originally posted atadc.org/umichigan/


On International Workers’s Day, Former University Employees Sue The University of Michigan For Wrongful Termination & Blacklisting Because They Expressed


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice
May 1, 2025
Contact: Liz Jacob, ljacob[
at sugarlaw org], (313)-993-4505 | John Philo, jphilo[at sugarlaw org] | Valentina Pereda (ADC) vpereda[at adc org] 

ON INTERNATIONAL WORKERS’S DAY, FORMER UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES SUE THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN FOR WRONGFUL TERMINATION AND BLACKLISTING BECAUSE THEY EXPRESSED PRO-PALESTINE SPEECH 

One full-time employee and seven student employees were terminated by the University of Michigan solely for attending pro-Palestine protests on non-work time and outside of their jobs. 

ANN ARBOR – On May Day, The Sugar Law Center and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee filed a federal lawsuit to protect the Constitutional and civil rights of workers whom the University of Michigan terminated and forever barred from future employment because they participated in pro-Palestine protests on the University’s campus. After attending a peaceful on-campus sit-in to call for the University’s divestment from Israel or participating in an impromptu demonstration on public sidewalks to call on Regents to meet with students and support divestment, workers were targeted by the University with adverse employment actions. 

After speaking out in support of Palestinian human rights, eight workers – one full-time employee and seven student workers – were fired from their employment and permanently blacklisted from future employment for the entire University of Michigan system. The lawsuit alleges that the University’s actions violate the student workers’ First Amendment right to Free Speech and their Fourteenth Amendment right to Due Process. Further, the lawsuit states that these adverse employment actions are yet another attempt from the University of Michigan to unconstitutionally punish pro-Palestine protesters at the Ann Arbor campus.  

“On May 3rd, 2024, I joined hands with members of the campus community outside the University of Michigan Art Museum to call on the regents to speak with us about divesting from israel’s genocide on Gaza. After the Regents refused to address the students and community members of the University, University Police pepper sprayed and assaulted us. Then, eleven months later, I and other workers were fired from our university employment and blacklisted as punishment for calling for divestment,” said Eaman Ali, a plaintiff and undergraduate student at University of Michigan. “The University of Michigan Regents are attacking our right to free speech so they can avoid accountability for their complicity in genocide. Despite their attempts to punish workers and paint the pro-Palestine movement as violent, we know that the real violence is the university’s insistence on funding the mass murder of Palestinians.”

“Sadly, the University of Michigan is trying to resurrect an old but previously discarded tactic of firing and blacklisting workers whose viewpoints they don’t agree with. By all accounts, each of our clients was a dedicated employee performing necessary work for the University” said John Philo, Executive and Legal Director of the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. “University officials and Michigan’s Attorney General have taken many seemingly coordinated actions to undermine the free speech of pro-Palestine protesters on campus. It is critical that we fight back against these attacks on our Freedom of Speech. The University’s shameful and unconstitutional attempts to silence viewpoints by firing student workers and forever barring them from any future employment must be reversed.”  

“There is a nationwide assault on freedom of expression if you support the rights of the Palestinian people. The contempt for the constitutional rights of pro-Palestine advocates should be offensive to anyone who values their right to speak” said Chris Godshall-Bennett, National Legal Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “The government, whether federal, state, or a public university, cannot punish you because they don’t agree with you, even if you work for them. We will not cede these rights and those who violate them will be held to account.”

“By firing workers as a means to suppress speech it disagrees with, the University of Michigan violates their rights both as citizens and as employees,” said American Federal of Teachers- Michigan President Terrence Martin. “The Michigan labor movement stands with all workers on campus. We will always fight to uphold free speech and conduct that is protected by the First Amendment, and we’re especially alarmed that the University is prepared to violate state labor law by refusing to bargain the termination of a member of our union.”

“The University of Michigan claims to value activism, political engagement, and dissent. But when that free speech addresses the genocide in Palestine, the University is quick to rewrite its rules,” said attorney Ezra Ritchin. “Much like the Trump administration, the University policed, punished, fired, and blacklisted those who bravely spoke out in support of Palestinian life and freedom.”

The Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys John Philo, Liz Jacob, and Tony Paris at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, Chris Godshall-Bennett at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and attorney Ezra Ritchin. 

About the Sugar Law Center

The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice is a national non-profit, public-interest law center. Sugar Law Center provides legal advocacy, representation, education and technical support to workers and communities seeking systemic change toward economic and social justice. For more information on the Sugar Law Center, visit www.sugarlaw.org






Originally posted at:  adc.org/utaustin/


ADC, MLFA, Webber Law, and Project TAHA File Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Against  UT-Austin, TX Governor Greg Abbott, and Other Officials  Over Arrests of Pro-Palestine Students


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
media[
at adc org]

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Austin, TX — Today, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Texas Governor Greg Abbott, UT Austin President Jay Hartzell, officers of the University of Texas Police Department (“UTPD”), and officers of the Texas Department of Public Safety (“DPS”). Joining ADC as co-counsel are the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), Webber Law, and Project TAHA. The Plaintiffs contend that the defendants orchestrated mass arrests, employed physical intimidation, and imposed punitive disciplinary actions on peaceful pro-Palestine protesters at the University of Texas at Austin on April 24, 2024.

The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, accuses Governor Abbott and UT Austin officials of intentionally suppressing pro-Palestine speech, in violation of the First Amendment and Title VI. Officers enforced an “arrest quota” and arrested peaceful protesters without probable cause, employing excessive crowd-control tactics that included tackling students, zip-tying them so tightly as to cause bruises and numbness, and forcibly removing a Muslim student’s religious head covering. Even after criminal charges were dropped for lack of probable cause, UT Austin administrators imposed retaliatory disciplinary measures—academic holds, suspensions, and threats of harsher sanctions—to deter future demonstrations.

UT Austin violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Palestinian students and those associated with them. The plaintiffs, who include current and former UT Austin students, assert they suffered physical injuries, lived in fear of further punishment, and were directly targeted based on anti-Palestinian bias.

ADC seeks the following relief for the affected students:

  • Declaratory Judgment that officials violated Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.
  • Reversal of Disciplinary Actions against student protesters.
  • Compensatory and Punitive Damages for physical, emotional, and academic harm.
  • Attorneys’ Fees and Costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988.

This lawsuit is about more than a single protest; it’s about safeguarding two of the most sacred rights in our democracy—free speech and peaceful assembly,” said ADC National Executive Director, Abed Ayoub. “Standing beside these courageous students means defending the very pillars of our Constitution and preserving the ideals that define us as Americans. Their bravery in the face of intimidation exemplifies the best of who we are, and this monumental case will help ensure that our fundamental liberties remain strong for generations to come.”

“These plaintiffs demonstrated extraordinary courage by speaking out against the genocide in Palestine—a choice that lies at the heart of our American tradition of dissent. State officials responded by brutalizing and arresting them with the explicit goal of suppressing their speech,” said ADC Legal Director, Chris Godshall-Bennett. “What happened at UT Austin is but one example of the attacks on student activists’ rights that paved the way for the escalation we are seeing today. We have not forgotten what was done to these students and the officials responsible must be held to account.”

Christina Jump, Civil Litigation Department Head, Legal Division of MLFA, said, “Texas’ political leaders claim to support the First Amendment, and even passed a state law mirroring the First Amendment–specifically as to college campuses—in 2019.  But they’ve shown they only uphold that freedom where it applies to viewpoints that align with their own. We proudly join the ADC in representing these students who suffered from that biased application of Texas’ own laws, as well as its outright violations of federal statutes. Free speech rights matter, for all groups and viewpoints, equally. Texas forgot that point.” 

Chelsea Glover, Civil Litigation Senior Staff Attorney, Legal Division of MLFA, said, “We are proud to join ADC in representing students whose rights were violated solely because they spoke out to support Palestinians. UT is a public university bound by the First Amendment and Civil Rights Act, and Greg Abbott cannot commandeer a school to enforce his preferred perspective.”

Maria Kari from Project TAHA added, “This case is about justice—plain and simple. Our plaintiffs represent the best of what our democracy promises. Their courage must be celebrated, and their suffering must be addressed. The harm inflicted on them must be acknowledged, and those who orchestrated this assault on their constitutional rights—especially their First and Fourth Amendment protections—must face the consequences. The law is clear: peaceful protest is not a crime. It is a cornerstone of our democracy.”

Key Allegations

    1. Viewpoint Discrimination
      The lawsuit asserts that Governor Abbott and UT Austin officials intentionally suppressed pro-Palestine speech. Plaintiffs claim that officers operated under an “arrest quota,” as revealed by internal communications and overheard statements.
    2. First Amendment Violations
      Plaintiffs engaged in peaceful, constitutionally protected assembly on campus. According to the lawsuit, officials ordered mass arrests without probable cause, used overzealous crowd-control methods, and imposed disciplinary measures designed to chill future speech.
  • Title VI Violations

The complaint alleges that the defendants’ actions were also motivated by anti-Palestinian animus in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

  1. Unlawful Arrests
    The complaint describes how multiple officers tackled students, tightened zip ties to the point of causing bruises and nerve injuries, and removed religious head coverings from Muslim women. Plaintiffs stated they posed no threat and complied with law enforcement directives.
  2. Retaliatory Campus Discipline
    UT Austin administrators continued to penalize protesters after Travis County dropped criminal charges for lack of probable cause. The lawsuit describes how officials imposed academic holds, suspended students, and threatened harsher sanctions if they appealed these outcomes.

Plaintiffs

  • A second-year UT Austin student. Officers slammed her to the ground and zip-tied her so tightly that she experienced numbness in her hands.
  • A recent UT Austin graduate. Officers tackled her face-down and pressed a knee on her neck, leaving bruises and nerve compression injuries in her wrists.
  • A recent UT Austin graduate. Multiple officers forcibly grabbed and zip-tied her arms after she warned others to clear the area.
  • A third-year UT Austin student who wears a hijab. Officers removed her hijab during arrest and left her with painful welts from tight zip ties.

Legal Claims

  • Count I: Violation of the First Amendment (42 U.S.C. § 1983)
    Officials targeted students for their pro-Palestine views, silencing their speech and arresting them without legal cause.
  • Count II: First Amendment Retaliation (42 U.S.C. § 1983)
  • Officers arrested protestors because they expressed pro-Palestine views.
  • Count III: Fourth Amendment Unlawful Seizure/False Arrest (42 U.S.C. § 1983)
    Officers arrested protesters without probable cause and restrained them with zip ties that caused physical harm.
  • Count IV: Violation of Title VI (42 U.S.C. § 2000d)
    Officials targeted students for their association with Palestinians.

ADC remains committed to ensuring that every person can exercise their rights to free speech and peaceful assembly—the bedrocks of our democracy. This lawsuit reaffirms our dedication to defending the Constitution from any attempt to stifle dissent. We applaud these students’ courage and call on institutions and communities across the country to protect civil liberties. We urge the public to follow this case closely and to join us in championing the principles that strengthen our democracy.






Sent out in afternoon May 1st; slightly edited:

 

Breaking: We are suing Gov. Abbott of Texas for targeting of our students


May 1, 2025

 

Dear [ ], 

 

I am writing to let you know that ADC just filed another case in federal court, this one is against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Police officers who violently targeted and attacked our students at the University of Texas-Austin. This is the third lawsuit filed by ADC within the past few weeks as  part of our continued commitment to protect our community. As an organization that is funded by community and for community, this work is only possible because of support from members like you.

 

The actions taken by Governor Abbot and the defendants pose serious threats and concerns to the rights of all Americans. Make no mistake – Governor Abbott and others value the interests of Israel over the protected constitutional rights of all Americans. We will not sit by idly during this unprecedented attack on our First Amendment rights in this country.

 

One year ago this week, officials ordered a violent crackdown of a planned and peaceful sit-in at the University of Texas. – Austin Police Officers enforcing an “arrest quota” designed for splashy media headlines arrested peaceful protesters without probable cause, employing excessive tactics that included tackling students, zip-tying them so tightly as to cause bruises and numbness, and forcibly removing a Muslim student’s hijab.

 

This lawsuit is a culmination of an extensive and joint effort with our co-counselors, the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), Webber Law, and Project TAHA. We are seeking reversal of any and all disciplinary actions against the students, as well as compensatory and punitive damages for the physical, emotional and academic harm inflicted on the students by the defendants.

 

In mid-March of this year ADC filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of an international student targeted by the U.S. State Department for his pro-Palestine speech, and just last week ADC filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Palestinian American who was brutally tazed and beaten by Los Angeles area police simply for being an Arab American.

 

The work is not done. Our legal department is working on additional lawsuits which will be filed in the coming weeks. None of this can happen without your support. I am asking that you consider making a contribution to these efforts today and help us continue working on your behalf. 

In solidarity,

 

Abed A. Ayoub

National Executive Director

 

More from Reuters:  Students sue Texas university, governor over Gaza protest arrests