
As colleges hold graduation ceremonies across the country, many schools are attempting to silence pro-Palestine speech at the commemorations, including canceling speakers and eliminating live speeches by students altogether. There will be no live student speakers at the City University of New York’s School of Law or at New York University’s school-specific ceremonies after former students gave speeches that included expressing support for Palestine and criticism of Israel. Rutgers University canceled biotech CEO Rami Elghandour’s commencement speech at its School of Engineering’s convocation, citing complaints about his social media posts on Israel and Palestine. And the University of Michigan’s president issued a public apology after professor Derek Peterson praised pro-Palestine students during his commencement address. “Our students are being told that your families, your Palestinian families, are expected to suffer and die, and you should be OK with it,” says Noura Erakat, a Palestinian human rights attorney and professor at Rutgers University. Erakat adds that Rutgers professors have been asked not to teach about the conditions in Gaza. “We are asked to betray the empirical record, including the one on genocide and apartheid, and we refuse to do that.” “This will be the third graduation and commencement ceremony in a row where we do not have a student speaker, we do not have a faculty speaker and we do not have a live-stream commencement,” says Shivani Desai, a member of CUNY Law Students for Justice in Palestine. “They took all of that away from us, and they took that away specifically because of Palestine repression.”
The Royal Commission on antisemitism is rapidly becoming a mechanism to police dissent, shield Israel from criticism, and redefine the limits of political speech in Australia.
EDDY JOKOVICH AND NEW POLITICS
#RoyalCommission #royalcommissiononantisemitismandsocialcohesion #antisemitism #FreeSpeech #israel #terroriststate #zionism #illegaloccupation @genocide #crimesagainsthumanity #Palestine #auspol #politicalexpression #criticism #propalestine #war #dissent
Just when you think #Starmer has realised the need to take on the #FarRight rather than fawn to them…he includes the kind of caveat that he never seems to apply to #ProPalestine protests in that he:
“made clear he recognises that the majority expected to attend are law-abiding citizens, who want to protest peacefully, and urged everyone attending a protest to act with decency and respect”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/15/far-right-activists-barred-uk-tommy-robinson-rally
Fortunately #USCPRAction has a good list of #ProPalestine federal candidate endorsements:
https://www.uscpraction.org/endorsements
#SaikatChakrabarti is on my ballot and I look forward to voting for him.

As a national organization led by Palestinians, it is our duty and responsibility to ensure that the horrors of the genocide are not forgotten, and that new political leadership that believes in Palestinian autonomy and liberation is ushered in.