Western politicians spent decades lecturing the world about the sanctity of free expression. They championed Voltaire. They rallied behind Charlie Hebdo. They made clear that protecting unpopular speech was the hallmark of liberal democracy. Then Gaza happened, and those same leaders began dismantling the very freedoms they once claimed to revere.
In Britain, the government designated Palestine Action a terrorist organization with parliamentary support spanning all major parties. Police arrested priests, elderly people, and disabled activists for holding signs opposing genocide. Last week, British authorities blocked American commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker from entering the country. The Home Office offered no detailed justification, simply stating their presence was not conducive to public good, though reports suggested concern they could exacerbate antisemitism.
The opacity of such decisions sends a clear message: some political causes the establishment welcomes; others it fears and silences.
The question of whether one agrees with everything Uygur or Piker have said is irrelevant to the principle at stake. Piker made offensive comments about Orthodox Jews and once said America deserved the September 11 attacks, remarks he later regretted. But defending free speech means defending it most fiercely when the speech offends. Protecting only opinions you already share is not defending freedom.
The United States offers an even starker picture of suppression. The Trump administration has targeted pro-Palestinian voices, particularly foreign students, in what constitutes one of the most severe assaults on American free expression in modern history. A Reagan-appointed federal judge described the crackdown on campus protesters as a full-throated attack on the First Amendment, conducted under the guise of an unconstitutionally broad definition of antisemitism.
Foreign students have been investigated, arrested, and detained not for violence but for speech. One Tufts University student, Rumeysa Ozturk, faced detention for co-authoring an op-ed calling for the school to divest from companies connected to Israel. Republican congressman Randy Fine recently declared that American citizen Hasan Piker should not be allowed into the country, labeling him a terrorist.
Congress continuously proposes resolutions designed to restrict criticism of Israel. States are passing laws against boycotts of the country. Universities face pressure to punish pro-Palestine protesters. Careers have been destroyed. Events cancelled. Speakers disinvited. Academics targeted. Journalists smeared.
No foreign government deserves immunity from criticism in a functioning democracy. Yet Israel occupies a uniquely protected status in political discourse. Statements that would be routine elsewhere are rebranded as antisemitism: don't bomb hospitals, don't kill children.
This extends beyond mere censorship. It represents an ongoing assault on liberal democracy itself. A society unable to honestly debate government policy cannot govern itself effectively. Restrictions justified against one group inevitably spread to others. Authoritarian tools deployed for one cause become weapons for all causes.
Some on the left argue that focusing on Gaza distracts from battling domestic authoritarianism in the US and Britain. But opposition to destruction abroad and defense of freedom at home are inseparable. They are the same struggle. A genocide abroad helps usher in fascism at home.
Public opinion has shifted. Polls show majorities in both nations now support Palestinians over Israelis. Having lost the argument on the merits, those in power have chosen to prevent the argument from happening at all.
The question facing Britain and America is no longer whether free speech is under attack. Evidence surrounds us. The question is whether citizens will tolerate the erosion of liberties that previous generations fought to secure.
Author James Rodriguez: "Once you grant governments power to decide which political opinions are acceptable, betting they'll stop anywhere is naive."
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