US surveillance of pro-Palestinian speech has a direct line to McCarthyism

H

Hume

Verified User
On Monday, 13 May, the Israeli historian and professor Ilan Pappé landed in Detroit, Michigan. Upon his arrival, agents from the US Department of Homeland Security detained and interrogated him for two hours. According to Pappé, DHS asked him whether he was a Hamas supporter, whether he believed Israel was committing genocide and what his “solution” to the Middle East conflict was. Agents also reportedly asked him to identify “his Arab and Muslim friends in America”.

During his interrogation, DHS agents held a long phone conversation, which Pappé speculated may have been with Israeli officials. Pappé was eventually admitted to the US, but only after DHS copied the entire contents of his cellphone.


www.theguardian.com

US surveillance of pro-Palestinian speech has a direct line to the 1960s | Chip Gibbons

The pretext of counter-terrorism as a reason to investigate Americans started with ‘red squads’, Huac and J Edgar Hoover
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
To this day, the US has continued to surveil speech in defense of Palestine using counter-terrorism as a pretext. While there has long been a “Palestine exception to free speech”, since the launch of Israel’s latest war in Gaza the situation has escalated dramatically. Pappé is far from the only critic of Zionism to be stopped at the US border to be asked about their views on Palestine or have their phone searched. Palestine Legal has reported an uptick in FBI questioning of pro-Palestinian activists.
 
Hume said:
On Monday, 13 May, the Israeli historian and professor Ilan Pappé landed in Detroit, Michigan. Upon his arrival, agents from the US Department of Homeland Security detained and interrogated him for two hours. According to Pappé, DHS asked him whether he was a Hamas supporter, whether he believed Israel was committing genocide and what his “solution” to the Middle East conflict was. Agents also reportedly asked him to identify “his Arab and Muslim friends in America”.

During his interrogation, DHS agents held a long phone conversation, which Pappé speculated may have been with Israeli officials. Pappé was eventually admitted to the US, but only after DHS copied the entire contents of his cellphone.


www.theguardian.com

US surveillance of pro-Palestinian speech has a direct line to the 1960s | Chip Gibbons

The pretext of counter-terrorism as a reason to investigate Americans started with ‘red squads’, Huac and J Edgar Hoover
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
Click to expand...
The over-reaction to all things Palestinian by the US security services indicates guilt- and fear of retribution.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top