Palestinian Solidarity - Freedom of Speech

 

 

Noor Alyacoubi The Electronic Intifada 12 June 2025

Displaced Palestinians have sought refuge at Gaza’s port, where they are enduring harsh conditions in makeshift tents erected along the coastline and public squares in the west of the city, 8 June 2025.

 Omar AshtawyAPAimages

At the beginning of April, I was catching up with my friend Mahmoud who had relocated to Beit Lahiya after Israel bombed and destroyed his home in Jabaliya.

Mahmoud and I spoke over WhatsApp instead of in person, as reaching Beit Lahiya in the north isn’t easy – transportation is scarce and expensive due to Israel’s restrictions on fuel entry, and it’s a long distance from where I live in central Gaza, in al-Daraj neighborhood.

Mahmoud told me about how Israel has made northern Gaza unlivable. The homes have been destroyed, the infrastructure collapsed and the people face severe shortages of water and electricity.

For over a year after 7 October 2023, around 450,000 people refused to relocate to southern Gaza and remained in the northern parts of the Strip, which include the governorates of North Gaza and Gaza City.

The Israeli army continued to force those who remained in the North Gaza governorate – including Jabaliya, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya – to evacuate toward central Gaza City.

Residential areas in the Gaza City governorate – including Tal al-Hawa, al-Rimal, Beach refugee camp, al-Naser, the western part of al-Sheikh Radwan, al-Tuffah, Shujaiya and parts of al-Zaytoon – were largely emptied as the population was pushed inward.

Most of the population was crammed into the central neighborhoods in Gaza City – including al-Sabra, al-Saha in the Old City, al-Daraj and the eastern part of al-Sheikh Radwan.

There was widespread destruction of homes and buildings, and the streets were filled with rubble.

But people could still find a corner inside a bombed-out building or an abandoned house to shelter in until its owners came back.

It was enough at that time. Tents weren’t yet necessary.

But after Israel broke the ceasefire on 18 March, every part of northern Gaza was packed with tents – there was no empty street, no open space, and it remains that way.

Tents are no longer a backup – they are a lifeline. People struggle to find even a small spot to set one up.

A tent on a sewage station

As the conversation between me and Mahmoud went on, he mentioned Wael al-Mashi, 45, and Muhammad Abu Kallousa, 29.

They were his neighbors back in Jabaliya before they were forced to flee in the early days of the war.

Wael took his family and sheltered at a school in Maghazi refugee camp, then moved to a hospital in Deir al-Balah, and later set up a tent along a sidewalk in Rafah.

Muhammad also endured life in tents as he moved from Nuseirat to Rafah and eventually to Khan Younis.

Wael and Muhammad returned to northern Gaza in January when people were allowed, after the ceasefire took effect.

I also reached both Wael and Muhammad by phone to hear their stories.

Wael found his home in Jabaliya reduced to rubble. He set up a tent near his destroyed house in an area called al-Jora, located between Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya.

The name of this place, al-Jora – meaning “the hole” – mirrors its grim reality, as it sits on land that once housed the site of a station used to pump sewage out of the area.

“If the sewage overflows, it will flood the tents,” Wael said.

Despite the danger, Wael refuses to leave. “We want to stay close to what’s left of our home,” he insisted. “We can’t live anywhere else.”

But al-Jora isn’t recognized as an official shelter, neither by local authorities nor international organizations.

“No one even sees us,” Wael said. “This place doesn’t exist to the world.”

Before the war, Wael owned several motorcycles, which he used to operate a small delivery business. He managed the business from his office, while other drivers worked for him. The income was enough to support his family.

“I lost it all – the business, the motorcycles and the money I had invested.”

Like many others, Wael and his family – for months and still – rely entirely on charity.

“If someone donates food, we eat. If not, we go hungry. Drinking water comes from a delivery truck that might arrive every two days, if it comes at all.”

They walk nearly a kilometer every day to Kamal Adwan Hospital to get a few liters of water to bathe, wash their clothes and clean dishes back in their tent.

They also charge their phones – their only source of light at night – for two shekels each (about 55 cents).

“Living in these tents is hell,” Wael said. “Flies bite us during the day. Mosquitos bite us at night. There’s no rest.”

A tent within a house

“After returning to northern Gaza,” Muhammad said, “I stayed in what remained of my house in Jabaliya alongside 11 members of my extended family.”

They covered the destroyed walls with some fabric and sheets. Their house now feels like a tent.

“The heat inside the house during the summer days is unbearable,” he said. “We can’t stay inside.”

“But when it rains, we can’t stay outside, so we have to go inside the house.”

Staying inside the house isn’t any better. Rainwater leaks in from every corner covered with the sheets.

“You’re cold, soaked and trapped. That’s why winter makes life in the house impossible.”

Muhammad, Wael, their families and many of the displaced people rely almost entirely on charity kitchens.

“A kilo of wood would cost almost four shekels ($1.10),” Muhammad said. “How would I afford to buy wood while not working and having no source of income?”

Nowhere to go

On 10 April, I took my 2-year-old daughter Lya to a nutrition center at al-Daraj school, located almost a kilometer away from my home, to receive high-energy biscuits and nutritional supplements.

Since the war erupted, the school has been turned into a shelter by many people who lost their homes.

A place once dedicated to students and learning had become a shelter for countless displaced families.

People were living in tents next to toilets and trash bins.

Clothes hung from every corner – walls, stairs, shattered windows. Women cooked over woodfires beside their makeshift homes. Some people tried to sell basic goods from within their shelters.

I couldn’t identify the place – was it a school, shelter, clinic or market?

After the people returned from the southern parts, I walked several times through al-Wehda Street, near Yarmouk Stadium in the middle of Gaza City.

It used to be empty and spacious.

Yet, with the recent Israeli attack on the Shujaiya neighborhood and the renewed evacuation orders, many have fled their homes once again, seeking shelter in schools or pitching tents directly on sidewalks.

It is nearly impossible to walk now, let alone drive.

When these families are asked why they have settled here, their answer is simple: Where else can we go?

Noor Alyacoubi is a writer in Gaza.

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This Place Doesn't Exist Anymore - This Place Doesn't Exist to the World - June 12, 2025 - Electronic Intifada

I'm crying and I'm told - that I'm too wrapped up in Palestinian Solidarity!    

The Department of Justice - has filed a lawsuit - supporting the lawsuit of an individual.  Details to follow below.  I barely started the story (below) when I was interrupted with (eventually) a parallel – narrative about “Freedom of Speech” – and tied to how the ACLU supports unpopular causes.   I was told that IF we don’t respect “the rights” of All, we can’t expect to have them for ourselves and that oppressed

People rarely have their rights (anyway).   Where there are unwritten rules to be in a public establishment, they should be posted outside.   A Gay/Lesbian bar – can have a sign out front informing potential customers that it is what it is.   The sign can inform everyone that they will be expected to respect those inside verbally.  

Free speech though necessitates that the Words and symbols on one’s clothing be what they are – that is what free speech is about.    Swastikas may be offensive in a restaurant owned or significantly serving Jewish People, but anyone can wear one in this public space (a temple/synagogue is a private space).   A keffiyeh might be viewed by a Jewish Person as being: “Anti-Semitic”, however similarly it’s 100% legal and should be accepted.

I would like to add a little more – before moving on.    When a Jewish Person has their head covered, this may be a religious requirement/choice of theirs.   Similarly, a Muslim Female may cover their head for similar reasons.

Finally, I would like to note that a restaurant chain (McDonalds for example) is different from the Jerusalem Coffee House (discussed below) and both of them are different from The University of California, Berkeley, Brandeis University and Brigham Young University.   “Public” vs. “Private” – noted here (also).

Then verbal conflict I initiated started when I began to try to talk about a lawsuit and The Jerusalem Coffee House in Oakland, California.   What follows is a link to its website and a quote from the site.   I’ve been there a few times and JVP-BA (Jewish Voice for Peace, Bay Area’s) Signal Thread from a subset of the organization had a posting asking us/followers to go there to support it as it is “an ally”.

 

 

https://jerusalemcoffeehouse.com/

 … our story begins particularly in the coffee houses that rulers sought to shutter, not for brewing coffee but fomenting revolution. 

These coffee houses spread throughout Yemen, and people would discuss politics, social issues and frustrations they were experiencing. Seeing that coffee could brew a revolution, local leaders banned the gatherings, and coffee all altogether. Undeterred, people began to turn their family homes into discrete coffee houses.

ROOTED IN REVOLUTION

We aim to bring the spirit and purpose of the traditional coffee house to Oakland, land of the Ohlone, birthplace of the Black Panthers and home to multigenerational communities that continue to seek autonomy and self-determination, directly linked in heart and faith to liberation struggles around the world.    (“Our Story” – from the website noted above)

I disagree with the narrative that was spoken mostly At Me!

The facts that I’ve heard are the following.   A man came into the Jerusalem Coffee House with his (young) child.    One or more customers went to the owner (who was present) and said that they were offended by the Israeli Flag which was part of his attire (and it was a hat or some other piece of clothing that could be easily removed).   The man responded that he had a right to wear what he was wearing and that what had been said to him was Anti-Semitic.  The owner responded that his business had plenty of Jewish Customers who supported his perspective.   The owner also responded (similarly not loudly) that he would be happy to sell him whatever he wanted, but that he requested that the man either take off the piece of clothing or get his order “to go” and then leave the establishment.   The man responded that his child needed to go to the bathroom.   The owner stated that the child could use their restroom (he did not condition the use of the restroom with anything else).

The man left the restaurant.   Subsequently the man filed a lawsuit against the coffee house, claiming that his rights were violated.   The U.S. Department of Justice has joined in support of the lawsuit (or filed a separate lawsuit).

I’m quite upset!    Palestinian-American and Muslim People and others (not Jewish) from the Middle East or ancestrally from the Middle East face clear “blaming” and threats and discrimination on multiple levels from the mainstream media (such as MSNBC and CNN), our politicians, as well as too many people in public spaces including simply being in cars or on the sidewalk.

The Jerusalem Coffee House should not need to be a “private” establishment for it to be a Safer Space.  I don’t say “safe space” because fire bombings and similar happen too frequently!    The Palestinian People and those viewed as Muslim or “Middle Eastern” or similar are commonly Not a Privileged People in Oakland, California, the U.S., or other places including Germany.   I would note that the Palestinian People and those of the Muslim Faith had little or nothing to do with The Holocaust.

I’ve been threatened and denigrated multiple times since October 7^th.   The common facts every single time were that:

1.      I did not initiate the dialogue with the other person,

2.      They reacted almost always if not always related to seeing clothing that I was wearing like my MECA (Middle East Children’s Alliance) t-shirt which I’m wearing now (at home)

3.      In some cases being in a protest brought strongly negative reactions and

4.      Every time – there was any self-identification by the other person – it was made clear by both of us that we were/are Jewish.

I agree that others have a right to denigrate me, as long as they don’t threaten me (one man did threaten to “punch me out”).

At a public university a Keffiyeh or hearing the words: “From the River to the Sea” or similar may trigger someone, particularly if they are Jewish.   The fact that they may “feel unsafe”, does not mean that they are/were unsafe at all.   The Palestinian Person that they may fear is probably in a lot more danger than they could be.   The question is whether the other person has specifically threatened to harm  them!

At Brandeis or Yeshiva University, to the degree that they are “private”, they can “ban” things – such as might be one in requiring “modest” dress in a religious establishment.   For me clearly, an individual doesn’t have right to disrupt or interfere with a religious related event there.   Whether there is a right to “Free Speech” in such a space, seems more nuanced and less complex.

I do NOT agree that – the Lawsuit- filed and the actions taken against this man and his coffee house are justified, regardless of what the law says.   Particularly, with the escalation of DT, I think resistance is important.  Safer spaces are important!

Thanks!   Further explanations are below.

I welcome thoughtful responses!

Addendum: Explanation – (below)

Were I, a Cis-white-Hettish Privileged Male to go to a public establishment such as a bar, that was a place known as a “Lesbian Bar” in the community, or stated on its website to be such,   I would technically “have a right” to be there, because it is a public business.  At the same time, I would say that I have a Responsibility to not go there to hang out or get a drink.    Regardless of my intentions, I would anticipate that my presence might make customers or employees or the owner not feel safe.    If, a regular customer, employee, or the owner invited to come there (with the customer), that would (of course) be different.

Were a Black, visibly appearing Trans or Gay Man to enter an similar establishment, which had signs in the window Strongly Supporting Donald Trump and Denigrating Black People, I’d look at things differently.    If he were to Take Clear Offense at comments made by any of those in the establishment which were Racist or Homophobic, it would be reasonable (perhaps rude – but this is irrelevant here) for a response to be, “This is a public establishment where we have a right to say what we think”.   He could choose to leave then.

If the words in the bar instead were something like:  “You f**kin Faggot, get out now, or I’m going to Kill you”, I’d argue that the: “yelling fire in the movie theater” exception to freedom of speech exists.   The man has a right to be in the bar, without being threatened with death or bodily harm.