The Latest Casualty of War: Free Speech

In which we continue to learn nothing from wartime propaganda

by Rozali Telbis

Regardless of where you stand on the Israel-Gaza conflict, the following developments should be concerning for everyone.

Western governments are already curbing pro-Palestinian speech and ramping up censorship under the guise of security. The clamp down of civil liberties is reminiscent of the immediate post-9/11 world, and this is quite fitting considering pro-Israel news outlets and commentators are already calling Hamas’s attack “Israel’s 9/11” as pretext for Israel to bomb Gaza to bits. In contrast, there have been no restrictions for pro-Israel demonstrations, chants, or symbols that I’ve seen.

Governments are taking advantage of the flurry of mis/disinformation being spread and in this highly charged environment, it’s much easier to whip up support for authoritarianism now than in non-war time.

France has banned all pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the country. Macron’s interior minister cited the protests were “likely to generate disturbances to public order.” Demonstrations have already taken place with reports of police using tear gas to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters.

While pro-Palestinian protests are banned, Macron said he is increasing police protection of Jewish sites, including schools and synagogues. Evidently he believes that Jews are the only ones who need protecting and that Palestinians are the ones singularly responsible for “inciting hate.”

Berlin has also banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations claiming there is a risk of “antisemitic statements” and “glorification of violence” though the government fails to define what may be construed as ‘antisemitic’. As we’ve seen, highly politicized terms quickly get muddied depending on who’s saying it. They can mean one thing to one person, and something else entirely to someone else. It’s highly subjective, and is one of the reasons why we should not curb speech on the basis of these contentious concepts.

As I wrote here, UK Secretary of State Suella Braverman is looking into criminalizing Palestinian chants, flags, and other ‘racially aggravated’ Palestinian symbols.

In a letter to chief constables in England and Wales, Braverman wrote,

“It is not just explicit pro-Hamas symbols and chants that are cause for concern. I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ should be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world, and whether its use in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence.

In response, Palestine solidarity groups told openDemocracy they will “fly their flags high” regardless of whether Braverman moves ahead with criminalizing pro-Palestine sentiment.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands, activists were forced to change the location of a pro-Palestinian march due to political pressure.

None of these actions are new. These exact same countries were at the centre of banning pro-Palestinian messaging a mere couple years earlier. It’s the same playbook being played over again. But this time, the world is paying attention.

Additionally, the criminalization of pro-Palestinian rallies coincides with attempts to cancel, deplatform, and fire people who have expressed support for Palestine.

In Montreal, Canada, a driver told a Tunisian woman that she “should be raped in front of her kids” for having a Palestinian flag on her car. The Tunisian woman on the receiving end of the verbal attack had her daughter with her in the car. The driver also allegedly rammed the woman’s car.

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Days later, radio show ‘By Any Means Necessary’ was abruptly taken off the air and the hosts have been fired because of their position in support of Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, a Change.org petition is circulating calling for Yale University to fire professor Zareena Grewal for expressing her opinion (as everyone seems to be doing) and sympathizing with Palestinians.

One supporter of the petition commented:

This comment bears repeating: ‘she has a right to her opinion, but it is the wrong one’. This commenter admits this isn’t about fears for safety, it’s about conforming to the right opinion—whichever one has been deemed appropriate by the mainstream consensus.

Two simultaneous things are happening here: You have a concerted effort by governments to ramp up censorship, and then you have ordinary people doing the elite’s bidding for them and trying to cause further suffering for one another. But the blame should be directed towards corrupt, psychopathic leaders who fund terrorists, spread propaganda, and attempt to further divide us.

We need more information to combat the onslaught of propaganda, not less. And we need more unwavering support for democracy—and yes, protests are the direct manifestation of democracy in action.

Banning demonstrations sets a dangerous precedent and is fundamentally anti-democratic.

Curious what others predict will happen? Are we headed for more speech crackdowns?

Note: I originally posted this piece to my Substack: