AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Rights groups say authorities in Europe are clamping down on pro-Palestinian protests.
“We see hate speech laws and counterterrorism laws being instrumentalized, being weaponized to go after what is legitimate speech under international standards,” Amnesty International researcher Julia Hall said.
Hall added that there has been “an avalanche of cancellations and targeting of peaceful protesters, academics, anyone who is out there in solidarity with Palestinian human rights or is criticizing the state of Israel”.
In at least 12 EU member states, authorities have taken “disproportionate measures, including the pre-emptive banning of protests based on apparent risk to ‘public order’ and ‘security'”, the Brussels-based European Civic Forum said in a report published this month.
French authorities have banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations, canceled conferences, and most recently summoned two far-left politicians for police questioning over alleged “support for terrorism” while Germany this month barred entry to former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis “to prevent any anti-Semitic and anti-Israel propaganda”.
Demonstrations in support of Palestine and the people of Gaza started in the United States a long time ago, and after that, Canadian students also protested in universities.
Students in many Iranian universities, including Tehran and Tabriz, have protested in the past few days.
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