Global Pulse

分类： politics

  • Taxpayers potentially on the hook after government case dismissed in High Court immigration ruling

    Taxpayers potentially on the hook after government case dismissed in High Court immigration ruling

    Australia’s federal Albanese government has suffered another costly legal defeat over its immigration detention policies, opening the door for Australian taxpayers to face compensation payouts that could reach tens of millions of dollars. The full bench of the High Court of Australia based in Canberra delivered its ruling on Wednesday in favor of Safwat Abdel-Hady, an Austrian national who has been in the country since he first arrived in 1997.

    Abdel-Hady’s visa was canceled by former Immigration Minister Peter Dutton back in March 2017. Court documents confirmed that he lives with an aggressive form of thrombophilia, a blood clotting condition that makes air travel medically unsafe for him, leaving the Commonwealth government with no reasonable path to deport him from Australian territory. The executive branch already conceded that Abdel-Hady was unlawfully held in immigration detention between July 2022 and February 2024, but attempted to avoid civil liability for damages by claiming government immunity.

    Commonwealth lawyers argued that the officers who detained Abdel-Hady acted in accordance with the Migration Act and legal precedents that were in place before the landmark 2023 NZYQ ruling, which first established that detaining any person with no reasonably foreseeable prospect of deportation is illegal under Australian law. They also maintained that officers had acted in compliance with all applicable Australian legislation.

    However, High Court Justice James Edelman rejected the government’s immunity claim in his ruling, warning that granting immunity would create unequal treatment under the law between the Commonwealth, its executive officers involved in immigration detention, and all other Australian residents.

    “If the Commonwealth were granted immunity, public officials would be protected from liability for false imprisonment when acting on a mistaken understanding of the law, while ordinary citizens would face no such protection,” Edelman wrote. “This unequal treatment directly contradicts the Diceyan principle of legal equality that requires all people to be held equally accountable under the law. All persons, regardless of their position, must comply with the law as properly applied to their conduct, and abide by court orders. Without explicit statutory authorization, there is no justification for treating the Commonwealth or its executive officers differently from any other person.”

    Abdel-Hady had argued that his entire period of detention between 2022 and 2024 was unauthorized under the Migration Act, and sought full damages for unlawful false imprisonment, arguing the Commonwealth was vicariously liable as the employer of the detaining officer. Justice Edelman ultimately ruled that the Commonwealth is liable both directly and vicariously for the unlawful detention.

    The ruling marks the latest major setback for the Albanese government’s immigration framework in the wake of the NZYQ decision. Opposition home affairs spokesperson Jonno Duniam slammed the government for failing to act after repeated warnings, calling the outcome “another NZYQ disaster for the Albanese Government.”

    Duniam argued that the government’s mismanagement of the legal and practical fallout from the original NZYQ ruling has left taxpayers on the hook for potentially tens of millions in additional compensation claims. “Since the original NZYQ decision, Australians have been forced to watch dangerous non-citizens released into their communities, repeated legal setbacks, and a government constantly caught flat footed,” he said. “The Albanese government should be responsibly protecting the community, sensibly managing the immigration system, and ensuring the Commonwealth acts lawfully.”

    This defeat is not the first for the Albanese government following the NZYQ ruling. The government previously attempted to implement ankle monitoring for detainees released after the decision, but that policy was also struck down as unconstitutional by the High Court in March 2024. It also negotiated a multi-billion dollar agreement with the Pacific island nation of Nauru to resettle a group of detainees, a program that has been mired in ongoing controversy.

    In response to Wednesday’s ruling, a government spokesperson stated only that officials are “carefully considering the judgment and its implications.”

    The decision has been broadly welcomed by refugee and migrant advocacy groups, who describe it as a critical step toward accountability for unlawful indefinite detention. Jana Favero, Deputy CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, called the ruling a significant outcome that paves the way for other wrongfully detained people to finally access justice.

    “We have always said that indefinite detention is harmful and comes at a devastating cost to people’s physical health, their mental health, and their overall wellbeing,” Favero said. “Families have been separated and people are still living with the consequences of having years of their lives stolen from them. The lesson from this case is clear – this harm should never have been inflicted, and the government must ensure it never happens again.”

    Legal analysts note that the ruling sets a binding precedent that could open the door to dozens more compensation claims from other people who were held in unlawful indefinite immigration detention, driving the total cost to taxpayers well into the tens of millions of dollars.

  • Former Liberal deputy leader Julie Bishop’s explosive ANU resignation letter revealed

    Former Liberal deputy leader Julie Bishop’s explosive ANU resignation letter revealed

    A bombshell resignation letter from Julie Bishop, Australia’s former foreign minister and ex-chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU), has pulled back the curtain on a bitter regulatory conflict that has plunged the country’s top national research institution into deep governance turmoil. Bishop stepped down from the university’s highest ceremonial and governance post last month, capping a six-year tenure defined by growing friction and widespread backlash over a controversial $250 million austerity program. The text of her May 7 resignation letter, submitted to ANU Pro-Chancellor Larry Marshall and tabled before a recent Senate estimates hearing, pulls no punches in its criticism of external overreach.

    At the heart of Bishop’s anger is what she describes as repeated, unlawful interference by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) in core ANU Council functions, including the appointment of senior leadership, the selection of a new chancellor, and the confirmation of ministerially appointed council members. In the letter, Bishop argues that TEQSA’s regulatory overreach has severely undermined her ability to carry out her legal and statutory responsibilities to the university. She accuses the regulator of effectively seizing control of ANU’s governing structures under what she calls coercive threats to impose legally invalid new conditions on the university’s operating registration.

    Bishop’s frustration boiled over after the full ANU Council refused to take coordinated action to push back against TEQSA’s encroachment. She writes that the regulator’s repeated interventions have fractured both the council and the wider ANU community, creating a regulatory regime that is disproportionate, unnecessary, and entirely without legal grounding, with ramifications that stretch across Australia’s entire higher education sector. Even amid her scathing rebuke, Bishop closed her letter with a note of encouragement for ANU students, affirming her belief that the institution has the potential to rank among the world’s top universities and urging students to seize the opportunities an ANU education provides.

    The crisis extends far beyond Bishop’s departure, with multiple other ANU Council members having resigned in recent months over overlapping governance concerns, and senior opposition figures are now demanding full transparency from both the ANU leadership and the federal government. Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic has called for rigorous scrutiny of the allegations, noting that multiple high-profile, experienced figures including a former state supreme court chief justice have felt forced to step down over governance failures. Kovacic also pointed to troubling inconsistencies between the claims laid out in the resignation letters and testimony ANU representatives gave during the Senate estimates hearing, saying these contradictions demand clear, public answers. She added that blame for the institution’s cultural and governance problems should not be unfairly shifted onto any single individual.

    Bishop’s letter also details the sharp escalation of TEQSA engagement that coincided with ANU Council’s controversial cost-cutting push. Bishop notes that in her first four years as chancellor, she received just one formal communication from TEQSA. But between late 2024 and early 2025, that number jumped to nearly 60 separate requests for input, which Bishop describes as persistent, unreasonable, and arguably vexatious. She also criticized the independent legal counsel ANU Council obtained to assess TEQSA’s authority, noting that the advice itself confirmed that acquiescing to TEQSA’s demands would amount to handing over core council functions in a direct violation of the ANU Act, the federal legislation that governs the institution’s operation. Andrew Metcalfe, ANU’s acting chancellor, defended the council’s actions during his own Senate estimates testimony, acknowledging that grave governance concerns exist but insisting all decisions were made lawfully and in the best interests of the university.

    The other released resignation letters lay bare the depth of dysfunction at the highest levels of ANU leadership. Tanya Hosch, an Indigenous business leader and activist who stepped down from the council, apologized to ANU staff and students for the harm caused by months of sustained controversy. She also cited a persistent failure by the council to prioritize Indigenous voices in institutional decision-making, writing that she cannot accept that non-Indigenous leaders should have full control over setting the rules for Indigenous participation in governance. “I had hoped my departure from ANU could be under far more respectful terms,” she added.

    Wayne Martin, a former Supreme Court chief justice and retired council member, described the council’s dealings with TEQSA as farcical, echoing Bishop’s accusation that the regulator has usurped the council’s core governance role and been allowed to take complete control of the institution’s leadership. Senior former public servant Padma Raman, another resigning member, wrote that trust within the council had withered completely over the past 18 months, and constant unapproved leaks had created an unsustainable working environment that made it impossible to commit sufficient time to council duties. Raman called for the entire remaining ANU Council to resign or be removed to clear the way for a fresh start for the iconic Australian institution.

  • Platner wins Maine primary to challenge Collins

    Platner wins Maine primary to challenge Collins

    A series of high-stakes U.S. Senate and congressional primary elections across four states have wrapped up, reshaping the battlefield for November’s critical midterm contests that will ultimately decide partisan control of Congress for the final stretch of Donald Trump’s presidential term. In the most closely watched upset, political novice Graham Platner – an oyster farmer and retired combat Marine who has never held public office – secured the Democratic Party’s Senate nomination in Maine, overcoming a string of damaging scandals to set up a generational showdown against long-serving Republican incumbent Susan Collins this fall.

    Endorsed by high-profile independent Senator Bernie Sanders, Platner’s path to the nomination was far from smooth. His campaign was nearly derailed early on when reports emerged of a tattoo bearing a striking resemblance to a Nazi symbol. Platner quickly issued a public apology, claiming he had no knowledge of the symbol’s hateful origins, but the controversy still sparked widespread accusations of antisemitism, even from his own former political director. Later, additional scandals emerged: old online comments dismissing sexual assault were unearthed by media outlets, and reports detailed allegations of marital infidelity. Despite these headwinds, Platner’s campaign received a pivotal boost when popular Democratic Governor Janet Mills opted to exit the primary race, clearing a path for the non-traditional candidate to consolidate support from progressive and working-class voters. Platner’s candid, down-to-earth messaging – which centered on his lived experience with post-traumatic stress disorder from his military service and the economic challenges facing small business owners – resonated with a Democratic electorate increasingly open to backing outsiders over establishment politicians.

    Come November, Platner will face off against Collins, who has represented Maine in the U.S. Senate for nearly 30 years. Collins has carved out a reputation as a moderate Republican over her career, drawing the ire of Trump’s conservative base in 2021 when she voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial. In recent years, however, she has shifted closer to the former president, playing a key role in advancing his judicial and executive nominee confirmations.

    Meanwhile, in South Carolina’s Republican Senate primary, veteran incumbent Lindsey Graham fended off a hardline primary challenge from wealthy businessman Mark Lynch, who self-funded his campaign and attacked Graham for insufficient loyalty to Trump’s policy agenda. Lynch leaned on old 2016 footage of Graham praising President Joe Biden and criticizing Trump to bolster his case, and received backing from former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, the ex-Georgia congresswoman who split with Trump over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and disputes over his commitment to the America First movement. Graham’s longstanding hawkish stance on Iran – a position that has seen him call for U.S. military intervention in the country for years – also made him a target of anti-interventionist America First critics, as tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain heightened. Still, Graham held onto his nomination, extending his decades-long career in Washington.

    In Nevada, Republicans are locked in a competitive primary race for an open congressional seat that has not been vacant in 15 years, following the retirement of the district’s long-serving incumbent. The contest has come down to two candidates: a political novice endorsed by Trump, and former state senator James Settelmeyer, with both candidates spending months competing to prove their unwavering loyalty to Trump’s policy agenda. Primary contests also concluded in North Dakota, where voters finalized their respective party nominees for November’s general election. Across all four states, the outcomes have set the stage for a fiercely contested midterm cycle, with control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives hanging in the balance, and the balance of power during Trump’s remaining term in office on the line for voters.

  • Iran shot down ‘highly sophisticated’ attack helicopter, Trump says

    Iran shot down ‘highly sophisticated’ attack helicopter, Trump says

    On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed via social media that Iranian air defense forces shot down a cutting-edge U.S. Apache attack helicopter conducting patrol operations over the Strait of Hormuz, a revelation that directly undermines his earlier public statements declaring Iran’s air defense capabilities fully eliminated.

    In his public post on the social platform, Trump noted that two pilots were aboard the downed aircraft, and both escaped the incident without injury. Despite no casualties being reported, the president stressed that the United States has no choice but to launch a response to the attack.

    This incident comes at a moment of fragile détente between Washington and Tehran, just days after Trump intervened to de-escalate cross-border fighting between Israel and Iran. Just hours before he shared news of the helicopter downing on social media, Trump once again claimed that a comprehensive deal to end the ongoing regional conflict could be finalized within just two to three days — a repeated promise he has made dozens of times over recent months that has yet to produce any tangible progress.

    The downing of the Apache is not an isolated event, and it is the latest in a string of military confrontations that have completely discredited Trump’s repeated assertions that Iran’s entire military infrastructure has been decimated. Back in April, Trump publicly claimed that the Islamic Republic’s navy and air force had both been completely destroyed, and that the vast majority of Iran’s missile stockpiles had either been expended or neutralized by coalition strikes. He went even further, stating that Iran no longer retained any functional anti-aircraft equipment, and that all of its radar systems had been 100 percent destroyed.

    Recent Iranian military actions have directly contradicted these sweeping claims. Earlier this week, Tehran launched a wave of missile strikes targeting northern Israel, carried out as retaliation for Israeli airstrikes that hit Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Just last week, Iran responded to U.S. military strikes by launching a coordinated attack of drones and missiles against targets in Kuwait and Bahrain, which host major U.S. military bases.

    While it remains true that the United States holds overwhelming conventional military superiority over Iran, allowing U.S. forces to strike most targets in the region at will using a combination of air, sea, and ground-launched weapons systems, Iran has repeatedly demonstrated that it retains the capacity to disrupt U.S. military operations in its airspace. This latest helicopter downing adds to a growing list of successful Iranian strikes on U.S. military aircraft: in April, Iran downed a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, forcing U.S. forces to launch a large-scale urgent search and rescue operation to prevent Iranian forces from capturing one of the downed airmen. To date, Iran has also shot down approximately 30 U.S. MQ-9 Reaper surveillance and combat drones.

    This report is part of independent coverage from Middle East Eye, which provides unrivaled on-the-ground reporting and analysis of developments across the Middle East, North Africa, and surrounding regions.

  • Fuel tax cut to end despite Middle East conflict, minister warns

    Fuel tax cut to end despite Middle East conflict, minister warns

    As resurgent military clashes between Iran and Israel roil global energy markets once again, the Australian government has laid out its clearest signal yet that a three-month temporary fuel tax cut, scheduled to expire on June 30, will not be extended.

    The policy, which halved the national fuel excise starting April 1, was rolled out as an emergency relief measure to shield Australian households and businesses from skyrocketing fuel prices. It cuts fuel costs by 26.3 cents per liter, at a total projected cost of $2.9 billion to Australia’s federal budget.

    The tax cut was originally crafted in response to a major global energy shock sparked by conflict that led to Tehran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical maritime chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s global oil supply passes. Its closure triggered a full-scale global energy crisis earlier this year, and while an April ceasefire paused open hostilities, tensions have erupted violently once more in recent days, with direct cross-border fire exchanges between Iranian and Israeli forces. Overnight, the United States launched strikes on Iranian port facilities along the Strait of Hormuz, in retaliation for the downing of an American Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman.

    Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday, Transport Minister Catherine King acknowledged the ongoing instability but urged Australian residents to prepare for the tax cut’s expiration. “Obviously, we are doing everything we can to shield Australians from this conflict in the Middle East, but people should, at this stage, expect that it’s coming off at the end of June,” King said, while also calling for a diplomatic resolution to the escalating regional conflict.

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese offered a slightly more ambiguous stance shortly after, noting that no final formal decision on an extension has been finalized. “We’ll make the assessment … This is a volatile global environment,” Albanese told the same public broadcaster.

    Despite the ongoing unrest, the Prime Minister defended the government’s handling of the energy crisis, arguing the administration has outperformed early expectations. He pointed to the government’s underwriting scheme for fuel imports administered through Export Finance Australia, which has carried a heavy price tag but proven effective at stabilizing domestic fuel supplies.

    Albanese confirmed that domestic fuel stockpiles are currently higher than they were on February 28, before the full outbreak of the current crisis, crediting diplomatic partnerships and the government’s emergency policy structures for the improvement. “We have more fuel in Australia today than we had on February 28 and that’s a direct result of the relationships that we’ve built but also the structures that we’ve put in place as well,” he said.

    The Prime Minister added that the import underwriting program, which supports spot market fuel purchases, has been critical to keeping key sectors of the Australian economy operating. “That’s been very effective in making sure our farmers can continue to plant with confidence and making sure that people can go around and diesel can be used to deliver groceries on the supermarket shelves,” he said.

  • Trump-endorsed Brit Steve Hilton advances in California governor’s race

    Trump-endorsed Brit Steve Hilton advances in California governor’s race

    After seven days of ongoing ballot counting from California’s June 2 gubernatorial primary, US media projections have confirmed that Steve Hilton, a former senior advisor to ex-United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron and one-time Fox News host, will advance to the November general election as one of the two remaining candidates.

    Hilton narrowly bested Democratic billionaire climate campaigner Tom Steyer to claim his place on the general election ballot. He will now face off against Xavier Becerra, who served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Biden administration, for California’s top executive office this fall.

    The candidacy has earned the public backing of former President Donald Trump. Should Hilton claim victory in November, he will become the first Republican governor to lead the heavily Democratic-leaning state in 15 years, marking a major political shift for California.

    The primary race drew an unprecedentedly large field of more than 60 candidates, the vast majority of whom were Democrats vying to replace incumbent Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who is barred from seeking re-election due to state term limits. Newsom, who has long been named as a potential Democratic contender for future presidential campaigns, built a high-profile profile as one of the most prominent critics of Trump’s policy agenda during his tenure. California repeatedly clashed with the Trump White House over a sweeping range of policy issues, from immigration regulation to environmental and climate action.

    Over the coming months, Hilton and Becerra will campaign across the state, competing to win the governorship — a role that carries responsibility for managing a state budget worth hundreds of billions of dollars, supervising a workforce of tens of thousands of public employees, and overseeing hundreds of separate state agencies that touch nearly every aspect of life for California’s 39 million residents.

  • Will this scandal-plagued outsider help save or sink the Democrats?

    Will this scandal-plagued outsider help save or sink the Democrats?

    On the eve of Maine’s critical Democratic Senate primary, first-time candidate Graham Platner stood before hundreds of supporters at a Portland town hall, visibly emotional after receiving a handcrafted card emblazoned with the message “We are your Graham-ily, and we’ve got your back.” The moment capped a turbulent week for the political outsider, who had been hit by a string of damaging national investigative reports exposing a pattern of controversial behavior that would have ended the campaigns of most conventional politicians. Yet for the loyal base that has propelled his unlikely rise, none of the scandals have shaken their commitment.

    Platner’s path to the primary has been anything but smooth. Over the past several months, controversies have mounted: a chest tattoo resembling a Nazi-era Totenkopf symbol, unearthed 14-year-old online comments dismissing personal responsibility for rape survivors, leaked allegations of infidelity during his early marriage, and most recently, accusations from three former girlfriends of violent, erratic emotional abuse. His former campaign chief of staff penned a scathing Washington Post op-ed warning that Platner “exhibits a pattern of dishonest behavior that is impossible to ignore,” and a recent poll from the opposing campaign shows his unfavorable rating among Maine voters has jumped 20 points to 49% following the latest allegations.

    But what has made Platner’s campaign a political phenomenon is his ability to retain support despite the growing baggage, a reflection of both Maine’s unique political culture and the deep anger of rank-and-file Democratic voters toward the national establishment. A former Marine Corps combat veteran turned oyster farmer and small business owner, Platner has cut a relatable figure, touring the state in jeans and a baseball cap, speaking openly about his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and his family’s journey with infertility. By his own count, he has hosted more than 80 town halls across the sparsely populated state, where face-to-face retail politics still holds enormous sway. His anti-elite, anti-lobbyist message and left-leaning policy platform — which echoes progressives like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, calling for universal healthcare, free college, and a wealth tax on the ultra-wealthy — has tapped into a deep well of frustration with business-as-usual Washington politics.

    His rise has already upended the state’s Democratic race: party establishment favorite Governor Janet Mills was pressured by national leaders to enter the race, but she dropped out earlier this spring after falling far behind in fundraising and polling, stunned by Platner’s early viral momentum. Even some voters who acknowledge discomfort with Platner’s past say they have no choice but to back him to defeat long-serving Republican incumbent Susan Collins, who has held the seat for three decades. “I would vote for him exclusively to keep Susan Collins from winning,” explained Portland voter Ann Oliver, echoing a sentiment shared by many anti-Collins Democrats who prioritize party control over candidate perfection.

    The outcome of Tuesday’s primary carries national stakes. A Platner victory would leave the pivotal general election race in play, with control of the U.S. Senate hanging in the balance. National Democrats fear a repeat of the Tea Party era, where grassroots enthusiasm elevated unelectable candidates that cost the party winnable seats. If Platner wins, he will face off against Collins, a formidable moderate Republican with deep Maine roots, a $20 million campaign war chest, and a history of winning over cross-party voters in a state that has not backed a Republican presidential candidate since 1988. Collins’ operation is already preparing to flood the airwaves with negative ads focusing on Platner’s scandals, while national Republicans have already called his candidacy a gift that could help them hold the seat.

    Yet for his supporters, Platner’s authenticity outweighs any past missteps. “He’s got a little bit of baggage, but who gives a shit? He is a saint here to me,” said Kevin Claik, a retiree who drove 48 kilometers to attend Sunday’s town hall. Autumn Crisovan, a Portland recreational sports worker who opposes lobbyist influence in politics, said Platner’s grassroots campaign signals a much-needed shift for the country: “It’s nice to see there are people who are trying to fight and that it gets the ball rolling for everyone else.”

    Platner has leaned into the anti-establishment framing, echoing the scandal-resilience playbook that worked for Donald Trump, framing the attacks as a coordinated effort by elite media and party insiders to defeat the people’s candidate. “What everybody fails to understand is they think this is a race about me,” he told supporters Sunday night. “What they don’t understand is this is a race about us. It’s about the people of Maine. It’s about the recognition that only in each other, only in our communities, do we find the power necessary to take back our politics.”

    Political analysts note that Platner’s working-class, rugged nonconformist image resonates deeply with rural Maine voters, a demographic that has drifted toward Republicans in recent presidential elections that Platner could potentially flip. “He is straight out of central casting for a firebrand politician who doesn’t take any bullshit,” noted Colby College political science professor Nick Jacobs. “There is a deep connection to place that seems genuine, because it is quite pervasive throughout his style and substance.”

    Platner has attempted to frame past controversies as stories of redemption, apologizing for each misstep: he removed the Nazi-resembling tattoo, explaining he got it drunk on vacation with fellow Marines without knowing its meaning; he asked voters to forgive his old rape comments as the words of a younger man on his worst day; and he acknowledged his past infidelity, saying he and his wife have worked through the issue and strengthened their marriage. Even some national progressives have stood by him, though with caveats: California Congressman Ro Khanna, who campaigned with Platner last week, acknowledged the abuse allegations were “wrong, was misogynistic, was toxic or volatile” but said Platner has expressed shame for his actions.

    As Maine voters head to the polls Tuesday, the race remains unresolved, with national political observers watching closely to see if a political novice with a long list of scandals can pull off an upset that would reshape the balance of power in Washington for years to come.

  • Meet the Mamdani-endorsed candidate that could become the first Palestinian in New York Senate

    Meet the Mamdani-endorsed candidate that could become the first Palestinian in New York Senate

    Fewer than 10 Palestinian Americans have ever secured statewide elected office in the United States, and now 30-something Palestinian-American progressive organizer Aber Kawas is aiming to break that barrier and join their ranks this election cycle.

    On June 23, the Queens-based Democratic socialist will face off against Filipino-American state assemblyman Steven Raga in the Democratic primary for New York’s 12th Senate District. The winner of the primary will advance to the November general midterm election, with the victorious candidate set to take office in January at New York’s state capital in Albany.

    The race has already drawn notable political endorsements that tie it to a growing left-wing progressive wave reshaping New York politics: after Raga backed Zohran Mamdani’s historic 2025 New York City mayoral campaign, Mamdani threw his support behind Kawas in the 12th District primary just one week after his own primary win last year.

    Kawas told Middle East Eye in an interview that Mamdani’s grassroots movement re-energized young, left-leaning New Yorkers who had grown disillusioned with mainstream politics. “The Mamdani movement gave so many young people, so many people who were leftist progressives, something to do, something to lean into, something to hope for, something to channel their despair into, and they worked to knock on those doors,” she said. “What we’re trying to capitalise on is that momentum and sustain it.”

    Mamdani, once written off as a fringe outsider candidate, pulled off a shocking primary win last year running on an unapologetically left-wing platform that included expanded rent control and free public bus transit. What made national headlines, however, was his open, unflinching support for Palestinian rights amid Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which a growing number of scholars and international bodies have labeled a genocide. Despite widespread smears accusing him of antisemitism over his stance, post-election analysis confirmed his pro-Palestine position was a key factor that drove turnout and secured his victory.

    For Kawas, support for Palestinian rights is not just a campaign position—it is personal. A Palestinian immigrant displaced from her ancestral homeland, she has spent decades organizing in Queens’ diverse communities, and her own family’s experience with U.S. immigration policy shaped her path into politics. In the years following the September 11, 2001 attacks, her undocumented father was swept up in a nationwide, aggressive crackdown on Muslim communities that included FBI raids, enforced disappearances, and mass surveillance of mosques and Muslim community institutions. He was detained for nearly three years in a mixed-use detention center that also held individuals accused of violent crimes, before being deported to Jordan.

    Kawas grew up raising alongside her siblings in a single-parent household, a reality she says thousands of American families face today as the second Trump administration pursues an aggressive goal of carrying out one million deportations annually. “I never want this to happen to anyone else,” she said. “We used to fight for comprehensive immigration reform as a pathway to citizenship. Now we are just fighting against all of these [Trump-era] policies – the Muslim ban, visas being taken away. So I think it tells us, as the left movement…you need to be bold, you need to fight for your communities, you need to show up.”

    Senate District 12, which covers the diverse western quadrant of Queens—one of the most demographically varied counties in the United States, home to New York City’s largest concentration of immigrant communities spanning dozens of national and ethnic backgrounds—includes neighborhoods such as Astoria, Long Island City, and Sunnyside. As a hijab-wearing Muslim Palestinian woman, Kawas is a familiar presence in the multicultural district, but she has already become a target of right-wing U.S. media outlets that have attacked her for past work with two national advocacy organizations: the Council on American Islamic Relations and the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. Both are registered, legally operating U.S. non-profits, but have faced repeated criticism from pro-Israel groups that falsely claim they contradict American values.

    Kawas pushed back on these attacks, pointing to her decades of grassroots community organizing rooted in Queens’ Muslim and Arab communities. “I started organising in my mosque. I used to organise around mutual aid [and] drug addiction issues in the mosque, domestic violence issues in the mosque. That’s what I started doing as a young person,” she said. “I’ve organised in community-based organisations like the Arab American Association around immigrant rights, language accessibility, police reform. That’s my whole background. We need people who are going to go into the state legislature and challenge the status quo, create a political atmosphere that leadership needs to react to, that is going to move the Democratic party to act, that is going to show that we’re formidable.”

    Kawas is well aware of the risks of running for office as a high-profile Palestinian Muslim in the current political climate. Data from the Muslim Public Affairs Council, released in April 2025, shows that anti-Muslim attacks on individuals and institutions across the U.S. have reached a 15-month high under the second Trump administration, with an 11-fold increase in targeted incidents recorded in the first three months of 2025 alone. Just months ago, a New York man was arrested on federal charges for plotting to firebomb the home of prominent Palestinian-American New York activist Nerdeen Kiswani. Around the same time, Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian activist from neighboring New Jersey and the longest-detained pro-Palestine protestor held by the Trump administration, was released after posting $100,000 bond.

    Despite these risks, Kawas says two competing impulses pushed her to enter the race. On one hand, she shares a widespread sense of urgency and exhaustion among progressive organizers amid the current administration’s hardline policies. “One is because I just feel like we’re at our wits end as a movement…I’m in my mid-30s. I have conversations with my friends about whether or not to have children, right? Are children going to be able to survive the future politically?” she said. “Will they be able to afford the future or survive today’s political climate?”

    On the other hand, she says the moment also brings unprecedented opportunity for progressive, pro-Palestine candidates to win office across the country, a shift she has watched unfold in recent primary contests. Earlier in June, Egyptian-American surgeon Adam Hamawy—who earned national attention for his life-saving 2024 medical mission to Gaza—handily won the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, all but guaranteeing he will take a seat in Congress next year. In May, progressive pro-Palestine Democrat Chris Rabb won his Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, and with no Republican candidate filed for the November general election, he is all but assured to win a seat in Congress.

    Kawas is convinced the open pro-Palestine stances of these candidates were key to their recent primary victories. “When you express your support for Palestine, really, what that is signalling is that you are willing to speak out and speak truth to power, and I think that’s what people want out of their local politicians,” she said. “What you are saying is, I’m going to fight for the most marginalised, forgotten communities that so many politicians don’t centre.”

    To date, Kawas has raised roughly $60,000, mostly from small individual grassroots donations, and trails Raga in total campaign fundraising. Even with the fundraising gap, she has earned high-profile endorsements from leading national progressive figures, including independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and the only Palestinian-American member of Congress, Representative Rashida Tlaib.

  • UK: Sally Rooney and 100 others warn against ‘cruel’ terror sentences for Palestine activists

    UK: Sally Rooney and 100 others warn against ‘cruel’ terror sentences for Palestine activists

    Nearly 100 high-profile cultural, political and activist figures from across the globe have signed an open letter calling on a UK senior judge to abandon plans to apply a special terrorism designation to four climate and pro-Palestine activists ahead of their sentencing next week. The activists, already convicted of non-terrorism criminal damage charges for their action against an Israeli arms manufacturer’s UK facility, face drastically harsHER sentences if the terrorism connection is officially added to their charges.

    The four defendants – Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema Zainab Rajwani – are part of the grassroots activist collective known as the Filton 25. Their protest action dates back to August 2024, when they entered the Bristol-based UK branch of Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense contractor that produces military technology for the Israeli military. Following their entry to the site, the group was charged with a series of offenses, including criminal damage; two additional co-defendants, Jordan Devlin and Zoe Rogers, were ultimately cleared of all charges in court proceedings.

    Last month, independent regional outlet Middle East Eye revealed a pivotal detail that had been kept hidden from the jury during the trial: prosecutors intend to request that Judge Jeremy Johnson, the presiding justice in the case, formally attach a “terrorism connection” to the activists’ convictions during the sentencing hearing scheduled for June 12. In a preliminary ruling issued in March 2025, Johnson already indicated he saw a plausible basis for the designation, arguing that the activists carried out their action to influence Israeli government policy by limiting its access to weaponry.

    Crucially, the four activists were never formally charged with terrorism offenses, nor were they tried under UK counterterrorism legislation. The jury that convicted them of criminal damage was never informed of the prosecution’s plan to seek a terrorism connection, and never delivered any guilty verdict related to terror activity. This procedural irregularity is at the heart of the signatories’ criticism.

    Prominent signatories to the letter span multiple creative and public fields: best-selling novelist Sally Rooney, climate activist Greta Thunberg, veteran actor Brian Cox, comedian Steve Coogan, actors Miriam Margolyes, Zoe Wanamaker and Zawe Ashton, musicians Charlotte Church and Kate Nash, and award-winning film directors Yorgos Lanthimos, Terry Gilliam and Ken Loach are among the high-profile backers of the plea.

    The open letter argues that adding the terrorism designation at the sentencing stage, after the jury has already ruled on the actual charges brought against the activists, amounts to a deliberate bypass of the jury system that would constitute a severe miscarriage of justice with long-reaching ripple effects across UK law. It notes that this would be the first time a terrorism link has ever been applied in a UK criminal damage case, and that the risks to basic civil liberties and the right to peaceful protest in the country cannot be overstated.

    The letter also contextualizes the activists’ action, explaining that the group exhausted all standard advocacy channels to push for an end to UK arms exports to Israel before taking direct action to disable equipment at the Elbit facility. “The Filton activists acted to uphold international law and defend human life,” the letter reads. “To sentence them on the basis of a ‘terrorism connection’ would not only be unjust and cruel: it would gravely undermine the right to protest and the impartiality of the judicial system itself.”

    Most of the four defendants have already spent 18 months in pre-sentencing remand. In an independent comment released alongside the letter, Sally Rooney expanded on the gravity of the case, noting that “Protest that poses no threat to the public simply is not terrorism. These activists may have knowingly risked their freedom in taking action, but they now face the prospect of punishment for crimes they were never convicted of and did not commit. This is an obvious effort to undermine solidarity with Palestine, but what it really undermines is UK law.”

    The case comes after a series of prior legal proceedings: the four activists are facing retrial after the original jury threw out aggravated burglary charges, and the previous jury delivered not guilty verdicts for violent disorder against Rajwani, Devlin and Rogers, while failing to reach a verdict on the same charge for the other three defendants. All eyes now turn to the June 12 sentencing hearing, as the public figures’ intervention has drawn broad attention to what campaigners call a landmark test for UK protest rights.

  • ‘There is no one else’ – Platner voters on backing the controversial Democrat

    ‘There is no one else’ – Platner voters on backing the controversial Democrat

    On a crisp Election Day across the pine-tree lined districts of Maine, BBC reporters sat down with Democratic voters to unpack the driving forces behind their support for their party’s controversial U.S. Senate candidate, who is set to take on longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins this election cycle.

    Across multiple conversations, a consistent theme emerged: even with the well-documented controversy surrounding Platner, the vast majority of Democratic voters interviewed made clear they see no better alternative to unseat Collins. Many respondents framed their choice not as an enthusiastic endorsement of every position Platner has taken over his career, but as a strategic and ideological commitment to flipping the Senate seat held by Collins, a figure who has become a polarizing force in Maine politics over her decades in Washington.

    Several voters acknowledged the criticisms that have dogged Platner’s campaign, from past policy stances that have angered some progressive factions of the party to ethical questions raised by opposing groups. Yet even with these concerns top of mind, nearly all interviewees reiterated the phrase echoed across the state: ‘There is no one else.’

    Background context for this race: Collins, first elected to the Senate in 1996, has long held a reputation as a moderate Republican willing to cross party lines. But in recent years, shifting national political dynamics have made her seat a top target for national Democrats, who have poured resources into flipping it to help maintain or gain partisan control of the upper chamber. Platner, the Democratic nominee, emerged from a crowded primary field, but his nomination left some factions of the state party dissatisfied, leading to ongoing questions about whether rank-and-file Democratic voters would turn out to support him in the general election.

    The on-the-ground interviews from Election Day, however, suggest that concerns about voter apathy around Platner’s controversial candidacy may be overstated. Voters repeatedly emphasized that their top priority is replacing Collins, and that even with his flaws, Platner is the only candidate who can deliver that outcome for Maine. Many noted that they have supported Democratic candidates for statewide and national office for years, and that defeating what they frame as extreme GOP leadership in Washington is the defining issue of this election for them, outweighing any concerns they hold about their own party’s nominee.