Charges against U of M Eight Threaten the Entire Movement for Palestine - Left Voice
www.leftvoice.org
The recent FBI raid and charges against pro-Palestine students in Michigan is a clear attempt to silence the entire movement for Palestine. The whole movement needs to demand that the charges be dropped.

On the morning of June 10 the FBI raided homes and arrested eight activists associated with the pro-Palestine movement. Local police and the University of Michigan aided the FBI with their investigation ahead of the raids. The activists are facing several charges including “conspiracy to transmit a threat,” with some facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

This raid and the extreme charges are a tactic to suppress solidarity with Palestine. A fully armed squad of federal government agents raided the homes of college students who spoke out against a live-streamed genocide. The only “threat” they pose is a political challenge to people who back genocide.

From Biden to Trump the administrations have maintained the use of the police and courts to breakup any resistance to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In fact this raid builds off of the raid conducted last year against the same pro-Palestine activists, showing clearly how Democrats like Dana Nessel, carrying out their own legal attacks on the Palestine movement, lay the groundwork for Trump’s escalating attacks on free speech.

Another factor to highlight is the fact that the University of Michigan, ostensibly a place of education, learning, and expression went as far as to push for the state to investigate their students. Again, we’re talking about students who oppose a genocide carried out by Israel with the full backing of the United States government. This is a reminder that under capitalism, universities are used to reinforce the interests of the state and the capitalist class at the expense, when they should instead serve as institutions by and for the students, workers, and communities who make them run.

Actions like what the FBI conducted sets a very dangerous precedent moving forward as any group, whether it be anti-ICE or a new militant BLM movement could be targeted by the goons of the state if deemed threatening enough to the interests of the state. That is why it’s important for the pro-palestine movement and the broader left to fight against repression and fight to free those eight currently held in federal custody. As an attack against one is an attack against all.

Drop the charges! Free Palestine!

The post Charges against U of M Eight Threaten the Entire Movement for Palestine appeared first on Left Voice.

From Left Voice via This RSS Feed.