Women and girls in Lebanon are paying an increasingly devastating price as violence and displacement continue despite a ceasefire, the UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA) warned on Tuesday.
Oxford Union president vows to platform Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur in defiance of UK ban Submitted by Imran Mulla on Tue, 06/02/2026 - 11:00 'Free speech does not require a visa', said Arwa Elrayess, the Palestinian president of the prestigious student debating society Hasan Piker, a streamer and outspoken critic of Israel, addresses the Oxford Union in 2025 (Screengrab/X) Off The Oxford Union, former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once proclaimed, is "the last bastion of free speech in the western world. " That dramatic assertion has often been questioned, but today Macmillan's quote is proudly displayed outside the prestigious debating society's bar. The president of the Oxford Union this term, Arwa Elrayess, appears determined to live up to the claim.
Al-Aqsa imam warns against Israeli bill to ban Muslim call to prayer Submitted by Mera Aladam on Tue, 06/02/2026 - 08:16 Sheikh Ekrima Sabri says Israel has 'no right' to pass such a bill as an occupying power A Muslim man prays outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during Friday noon prayers in the Old City of Jerusalem, 10 April 2026 (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP) Off The imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque has warned against an Israeli bill that would legalise restrictions on the Muslim call to prayer after it was approved by a ministerial committee on Sunday. Sheikh Ekrima Sabri said efforts to curb the adhan - the Islamic call to prayer - had resurfaced after "repeated failed attempts to ban it or reduce its volume". "The current attempt to ban the Muslim call to prayer has taken a dangerous turn by legalising the banning of the call to prayer through issuing a law to prohibit it," he said on Monday.
Oxford Union raises free speech concerns over speakers' entry restriction Arwa Elrayess, President of the Oxford Union, said she was “deeply concerned” after US political commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker had their authorisation to visit the UK revoked on the grounds that their appearances would not be “conducive to public good”. Both commentators have said they were prevented from entering the UK because of their advocacy for Palestinian rights. In a statement, Elrayess said, “This eleventh-hour call signals much more than democratic decline – it is a direct threat to free expression.
Settler violence is facilitating ‘ethnic cleansing’, UN experts warn Fourteen UN human rights experts, including UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory Francesca Albanese, have issued a “stark warning about surging Israeli settler terror” in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. The experts said the attacks “have become a daily terror in Palestinian lives, sowing fear, uncertainty, and profound insecurity that inevitably compels the forcible displacement of the indigenous population”. They added that the “relentless attacks by the settler-colonial movement” were being carried out “with the support and acquiescence” of Israel, warning that “full impunity” for the escalating violence was “facilitating ethnic cleansing”.
In response to the announcement of the death of Brooklyn Rivera, Miskitu Indigenous leader and prisoner of conscience, Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International, said: “Brooklyn Rivera should not have died in the custody of the Nicaraguan state. His death followed the deterioration of his health while he was being arbitrarily detained. During this […] The post Nicaragua: Brooklyn Rivera’s death in state custody must be promptly, effectively and independently investigated appeared first on Amnesty International .
'Ridiculous': Social media reacts as Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur denied entry to UK Submitted by Hannah. Smith on Mon, 06/01/2026 - 15:04 Home Office's decision to deny the pair's ETAs generated widespread backlash, with users accusing the government of cracking down on criticism of Israel Hasan Piker speaks onstage during Politicon 2018 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California on 20 October 2018 (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Politicon/AFP) Off After American political commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker confirmed on Monday that the UK government had blocked their entry into the country, social media was flooded with reactions debating restrictions on free speech in Britain and accusing the government of clamping down on the right to express criticism of the Israeli government. The pair were due to attend the SXSW festival in London and had been scheduled to speak at the Oxford Union, a prestigious debating society, where Piker had previously delivered a speech criticising America’s support for Israel and arguing that the media played a key role in manufacturing consent for Israeli violations of international law.
Leen Ezzeddine, the US-Lebanese graduate at Harvard Medical School who chose to speak out Submitted by Adam Chamseddine on Mon, 06/01/2026 - 15:30 At its core, her message was simple: medicine is not only about treating the body in front of you. It is about refusing the systems that decide some bodies are less worthy of care Harvard Medical School graduate Leen Ezzeddine dedicates her commencement speech to Lebanon and Palestine, in Boston, US, on 28 May 2026 (screengrab) Off When Leen Ezzeddine stood before her classmates at Harvard Medical School, the moment could have been framed as a familiar story of immigrant success: a Lebanese woman graduating as a doctor from one of the world’s most prestigious institutions. But Ezzeddine chose to tell a different story.
As a result of Venezuelan victims’ fight for justice under universal jurisdiction in Argentina, manifested by filing complaints before Argentine courts, and responding to recent reports of an extradition request from Argentine to Spanish authorities, Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International, stated today: “Crimes against humanity, such as those committed in Venezuela, must stir […] The post International: Spanish and Argentinian authorities must support justice for Venezuelan victims of crimes against humanity appeared first on Amnesty International .
New posts 10:20 Iran Executes Two Men Over January Anti-Government Protests By RFE/RL's Radio Farda Iran says it has executed two men accused of setting fire to a mosque, destroying public property, and blocking streets during nation-wide antigovernment protests that took place in December and Janua
UK: Shabana Mahmood blocks entry for podcasters Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker over Israel criticism Submitted by MEE staff on Mon, 06/01/2026 - 06:18 The Times reported that UK home secretary Shabana Mahmood cancelled Uygur's Electronic Travel Authorisation prior to his departure Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood at a Community Security Trust event in London, 16 October 2025. (Carlos Jasso/AFP) Off Turkish-American political commentator Cenk Uygur said he has been barred from entering the United Kingdom after authorities revoked his travel authorisation ahead of planned events in London and Oxford this week. Uygur, founder and host of the online news and commentary network The Young Turks, said on social media that he was prevented from boarding a flight to London and accused British authorities of acting because of his criticism of Israel .
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Palestinian group representing prisoners accused the Israeli regime of carrying out widespread sexual violence and torture against Palestinian detainees, demanding that Israel be held accountable under international law.
Why 'freedom of speech' has never applied to Muslims Submitted by Shaheen Kattiparambil on Fri, 05/29/2026 - 19:45 Across Europe, this principle is invoked as a defence for far-right hostility, and cast aside in the context of anti-racist critiques Participants and supporters of the far-right Unite the Kingdom march are pictured in London on 16 May 2026 (Justin Tallis/AFP) On As thousands of people gathered in London under the banner of " Unite the Kingdom " last month, much of the public defence of the march rested not on denying its Islamophobic or anti-immigrant rhetoric, but on invoking the language of free speech . Supporters and commentators framed the march as an expression of patriotic concern, democratic dissent and the right to speak openly about immigration, Islam and national identity. Criticism, meanwhile, was frequently dismissed as an attempt to silence ordinary people or suppress uncomfortable truths.
Australian flotilla activists join ICC submission against Israel, provide testimony Submitted by MEE staff on Mon, 06/01/2026 - 04:29 Submission to The Hague includes survivor testimony and medical records, organisers say Member of Global Sumud Flotilla arrives on stretcher at Istanbul Airport after deportation from Israel, 21 May 2026 (Ozan Kose/AFP) Off Australian participants in the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla have joined a submission to the International Criminal Court, reporting being subjected to sexual abuse and torture while in Israeli captivity. The submission, lodged in The Hague by organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla, includes survivor testimony, medical examinations and sworn legal affidavits gathered after Israeli authorities blocked flotilla missions attempting to deliver aid to Gaza during the spring of 2026, according to a statement issued by the group. Flotilla activists were abducted and jailed by Israeli authorities while in international waters.
The Russian authorities are denying children their right to quality education by using propaganda-filled textbooks and lectures to indoctrinate children and justify Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, while suppressing free expression, independent thinking and access to information, Amnesty International said today. A new briefing, “Only Official Sources”: Indoctrination in the Russian Educational System, documents […] The post Russia: Schools have turned into “factories of compliance” through state indoctrination and surveillance of children appeared first on Amnesty International .
Authorities across Gulf states have arrested more than 1,000 people in a sweeping, war-related crackdown on expression, including for sharing online content or expressing views related to the US-Israeli war with Iran and Iran’s attacks on the Gulf, Amnesty International said today. In Kuwait and Bahrain, authorities have also stripped citizens of their nationality, including […] The post Gulf states: More than 1,000 arrested in sweeping war-related crackdown on expression appeared first on Amnesty International .
Israeli ministers who backed ethnic cleansing of Palestinians join New York parade Submitted by Elis Gjevori on Sun, 05/31/2026 - 22:35 New York's pro-Israel parade hosted ministers who called for starving Palestinians and the use of nuclear weapons on Gaza Thousands of Jewish and Israeli Americans participate in the annual Israeli Day Parade on May 31, 2026, in New York City. (Spence Platt/Getty Images via AFP) Off Israeli ministers who have called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the use of nuclear weapons against Gaza took part in New York's annual pro-Israel parade on Sunday, as Israel faces growing isolation abroad over the genocide in Gaza and its wars across the Middle East. Among the delegation was Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, alongside Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and 13 members of the Knesset.
Israel kills Palestinian worker as he climbed West Bank separation wall The Israeli army on Sunday shot dead a Palestinian worker as he climbed the separation wall in the occupied West Bank in an attempt to enter Jerusalem in search of work. The Palestinian health ministry said Imad Haroun Ishtayeh, 27, was killed after being shot in the thigh, severing a main artery, near the town of al-Ram, north of Jerusalem. Ishtayeh was from the village of Salem near Nablus in the northern West Bank.
Syria says missing chess champion’s six children likely killed under Assad Submitted by Reem Aouir on Sun, 05/31/2026 - 11:11 Preliminary findings implicate ex-intelligence officer Amjad Youssef in deaths of the children missing since 2013 Rania al-Abbasi and her family became a symbol of Syria's thousands of missing persons cases (media outlets/social media) Off Syria's commission for missing persons said on Saturday that the six children of chess champion and dentist Rania al-Abbasi were killed after disappearing with their parents more than a decade ago under former President Bashar al-Assad. In a post on X, the interior ministry said: “Through investigations conducted with several detainees, information and evidence indicate that the children were killed by groups and militias affiliated with the former regime. ” It added that “efforts to find the remains...
Why European enemies of Jews and Palestinians embraced Zionism Submitted by Joseph Massad on Sat, 05/30/2026 - 17:08 Protestant imperialists, antisemitic governments and Zionist settlers all sought to rob Palestinians of their homeland. Two centuries on, they have not succeeded A boy waves a Palestinian flag during a solidarity rally in support of the Global Sumud Flotilla in Gaza City on 30 April 2026 (Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP) Off Following the expulsion of the Catholic Crusaders and the dismantlement of their "Latinate Kingdom" settler-colony in the 12th and 13th centuries, Palestine remained in the crosshairs of Europe's fanatical Christians. The followers of Christianity's new iteration, Protestantism, were then joined by Europe's fanatical imperialists in the late 18th century.
