By Medea Benjamin, World BEYOND War, December 31, 2025
It’s true — 2025 has been a hard year. It’s easy to focus on the disasters, and there have been many. But we also had real victories that moved us closer to a better world. Here are some of my highlights from 2025:
1. Israel was forced to negotiate a ceasefire
In October, a ceasefire agreement was reached in Gaza, though it would be a lie to call it an end to the genocide we’ve all been witnessing for over two years. Still, the pause matters because it reveals what Israel could not achieve. Israel failed to break the Palestinian people or erase them from their land. It was forced to negotiate. It also gave us one of the rare moments where we saw videos coming out of Gaza with Palestinians celebrating in the streets, and feeling a little bit of relief for the first time in a long time. Yes, the Israelis are violating the ceasefire every day, Palestinians continue to suffer, and the “Peace Plan” passed by the United Nations is a sham. But the fact that Israel was unable to accomplish its goal of defeating and expelling the Palestinians–and instead had to negotiate–is in itself a testament to the power of both the Palestinians and their supporters throughout the world.
2. Mahmoud Khalil is free
In June, after months in ICE detention, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was freed! We got to see him at the People’s Conference for Palestine and he’s been in action ever since. From the moment he was first detained, the Palestine solidarity movement never stopped demanding his freedom. We knew that if we allowed this to happen to Mahmoud, it could happen to any one of us. His freedom is a testament to the power we all have when we stand together and have a clear demand. The same goes for Turkish student Rümeysa Öztürk, Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri, Palestinian student Mohsen Mahdawi and British Journalist Sami Hamdi – all were freed from ICE’s grip due to mounting public pressure.
3. Majority of Americans are against war
Polls came out all year in the U.S. that proved that people inside the belly of the beast are becoming more and more anti-war! Whether the conflicts are in Ukraine, Gaza, or Venezuela, the people of the U.S. are sick and tired of their country going to war. This, if people take action on their beliefs, this will have huge implications for the U.S. war machine! The anti-war movement is growing, and we have the power of the people behind us!
4. People came together to protest ICE raids and support immigrants
From Washington, D.C. to Chicago to Los Angeles, people across the country have been rising up to reject the unjust and illegal ICE raids ripping through our communities. As ICE agents terrorized grocery stores, elementary schools, and neighborhoods, communities responded by forming rapid-response networks to document abuses, provide legal support, and protect those being targeted. This collective resistance has been an inspiring expression of humanity in action — proof that when Trump’s administration pushes fear, racism, and a fascist agenda, people come together in solidarity to defend one another and fight back.
5. Zohran Mamdani will be the mayor of the largest US city
Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the NYC mayoral race was fueled by the Palestine movement and the collective mobilization of hundreds of thousands who are unwilling to be swayed by centrist, big-money interests and are ready for a new system. His win has already inspired others to run for office on a similar platform, showing how campaigns that speak to people’s needs can break through. Mamdani now inherits a seat at the heart of the war economy — presiding over the largest police department in the country and a city with deep political and financial ties to Israel. That reality makes his victory not an endpoint, but an opening: a chance to push demands for divestment and a peace economy to the center of city politics, and to turn the energy of his campaign into sustained, collective action — in the streets, in organizing spaces, and at the ballot box.
6. Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza makes history
For the first time in recent history, the Global Sumud Flotilla sailed into Gaza’s waters and came close to breaking the blockade! I was so inspired by the selfless activists, including my friend Adnaan Stumo and his brother Tor, who set sail to Gaza despite great personal risk. The Global Sumud Flotilla was the largest flotilla in history, and even though Israel arrested and detained dozens of brave humanitarians, their souls weren’t shaken. Another Gaza flotilla will soon set sail again, unintimidated by Israel’s threats!
7. AIPAC is losing power
AIPAC’s grip is starting to crack, with a growing number of candidates openly rejecting its money. Even more striking, some AIPAC-backed members of Congress defied the lobby this year—voting against its positions and infuriating a group long used to unquestioned loyalty. More and more people are waking up to AIPAC’s influence over our government, and are calling for a widespread rejection of it!
8. Mexico’s woman president shows what principled leadership looks like
Overseas, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first woman president, has delivered bold progress at home — expanding public education, investing in clean energy, and strengthening labor rights and social programs that put working families first. When Trump tried to bully Mexico with tariff threats and demanded that Mexico play border cop, Sheinbaum defended Mexico’s sovereignty with competence, dignity, and a refreshing refusal to be intimidated. And when Trump blocked Venezuelan tankers from delivering oil to Cuba, Mexico stepped in to supply its own oil — a clear act of solidarity that showed what principled leadership looks like on the world stage.
9. Ecuador rejects U.S. military base
At a moment when the U.S. is openly reviving the Monroe Doctrine in Latin America, Ecuador held a national referendum — and nearly 60% of voters said no to reopening a U.S. military base on Ecuadorian soil. By rejecting a foreign base, Ecuadorians asserted their sovereignty and made clear they refuse to be a launchpad for U.S. wars. Even amid a rightward political swing across the region, this vote shows that organized people can still block militarization and defend their self-determination.
10. U.S. and Chinese citizens chose connection over fear.
This year offered a rare and hopeful reminder of how quickly walls can fall when people are allowed to meet one another as human beings. From the warmth and curiosity circulating on RedNote to iShowSpeed’s unfiltered encounters, a wave of everyday, people-to-people exchanges cut through political fear-mongering and brought Americans and Chinese together around shared humanity. In these small but powerful connections, the image of China as an “enemy” began to fade, replaced by curiosity and connection — and for the first time in five years, the number of Americans who consider China an enemy has dropped by nearly 10%.
I hope you can look back on 2025 as the year movements for peace and justice freed political prisoners, slowed the war machine, and helped turn the public against endless wars. Even in the hardest moments, that’s how I’ll choose to remember it. And I hope 2026 brings us closer to the world we all want to see.
The post 10 Good Things That Happened in 2025 appeared first on World BEYOND War.
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