Dissent

The historic number of No Kings Day protesters and their expansive geographic spread are signs of a growing and durable pro-democracy movement. Erica Chenoweth, Soha Hammam, Jeremy Pressman, and Christopher Wiley Shay ( Waging Nonviolence ) – No Kings Day on June 14 was one of the largest single days of protest in United States […]

Authoritarianism

Saudi Arabia: Executions Surge in bid to Crush Dissent (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Saudi authorities have been carrying out an unprecedented surge in executions in 2025 without apparent due process, Human Rights Watch and the Middle East Democracy Center said today. The June 14 execution of Turki al-Jasser, a journalist known for exposing corruption within the Saudi royal family, raises concerns that the […]

Authoritarianism

Protesting Georgetown U’s Sanctioning of Prof. Jonathan Brown for Speaking out on Iran War

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association of North America | – Letter to Georgetown University protesting its statements and actions with regard to Professor Jonathan Brown Robert M. Groves Interim President, Georgetown University presidentsoffice@georgetown.edu Dear Interim President Groves, Interim Provost Colbert, Dean Edelstein and Vice President Ferrara: We write on behalf […]

Bill of Rights

Protesting to San Jose State U. for Firing Tenured Professor Sang Hea Kil for Palestine Protest

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Cynthia Teniente-Matson President San José State University sjsupres@sjsu.edu . . . Dear President Teniente-Matson and colleagues: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our grave concern at the […]

Bill of Rights

Mahmoud Khalil, Released on Bail from ICE Detention, says “Justice will Prevail”

Common Dreams

The student organizer condemned the Trump administration’s treatment of “hundreds of men” he met while imprisoned in Louisiana for more than three months. By Julia Conley | – ( Commondreams.org ) – Leaving an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana after being imprisoned for 104 days for protesting Israel’s U.S.-backed bombardment of Gaza, former Columbia […]

Colonialism

Resistance Works: How Small Groups Took on Great Powers and Won a Victory for Decolonization, Africa, Indigenous Peoples, and More

David Vine

David Vine ( Tomdispatch.com ) – At a time when many may feel that good news has gone the way of the dodo, look no further than the homeland of that long-extinct bird — Mauritius — for a dose of encouragement. There, among the islands of the Indian Ocean, news can be found about the […]

Authoritarianism

American Spring? How nonviolent Protest in the US is Accelerating

Waging Nonviolence

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the size and scale of anti-Trump protests this year have dwarfed those in 2017, and they have been extraordinarily peaceful. Erica Chenoweth, Soha Hammam, Jeremy Pressman, and Christopher Wiley Shay June 12, 2025 ( Waging Nonviolence ) – On streets and highway passes, at intersections and in parks, millions of Americans […]

Bill of Rights

From the Chinese Exclusion Act to pro-Palestinian Activists: The Evolution of politically motivated Deportations

The Conversation

By Rick Baldoz, Brown University (The Conversation) – The recent deportation orders targeting foreign students in the U.S. have prompted a heated debate about the legality of these actions. The Trump administration made no secret that many individuals were facing removal because of their pro-Palestinian advocacy. In recent months, the State Department has revoked hundreds […]

Bill of Rights

Deporting Dissent: The dangerous Precedent set by the Persecution of pro-Palestine Activists

Middle East Monitor

( Middle East Monitor ) – “Rights are granted to those who align with power,” Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student, eloquently wrote from his cell. This poignant statement came soon after a judge ruled that the government had met the legal threshold to deport the young activist on the nebulous ground of “foreign […]