Unsealed court documents suggest Trump admin detained Tufts student for writing op-ed critical of Israel

Newly unsealed court documents show the Trump administration did not have evidence that Tufts University PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk was supporting terrorist activity when she was arrested and her visa was revoked, and the action was taken because of an opinion article she wrote that contained criticisms of Israel.

The documents, related to legal cases of students whose visas were revoked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and who were threatened with deportation last year, also show the administration found it difficult to find evidence to support the revocation of Öztürk’s visa.

In most of the cases, including that of student activist Mahmoud Khalil, the documents show the administration made its recommendations to revoke visas based on the students’ involvement in protests criticizing Israel’s war in Gaza, despite arguments from the administration of antisemitism and support for terrorism. The administration also acknowledged it would likely face scrutiny in court given the protections granted by the First Amendment.

The New York Times was first to report on the unsealed documents.

Last March, Rubio posted on X that they “will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

That same month, Öztürk was detained by a plain-clothed police officer outside her home. The administration sought to deport her after revoking her student visa. The Tufts PhD student had written an opinion piece, along with three other students, criticizing the university’s response to student activists who demanded that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/23/politics/court-documents-student-israel-op-ed




All this is only making (real) anti-semitism worse. 

My wife got targeted last night. She's an antique reseller with an online store and was updating prices of old inventory. She had a couple of Star of David jewelry pieces listed from around the turn of the 19th century and updating the prices (since sterling silver prices are skyrocketing along with gold) bumped them back into search algorithms I guess. Not an hour later she was receiving threatening messages including nonsense like go to Epstein island among slurs and other foul language.

She reported the hate messages, blocked the idiots, and delisted the items. They were listed since 2013, not worth making a stand for. But she rightly said, Jewish people just can't catch a break. Either prosecuted or indoctrinated / conflated with the actions of Zionist fanatics. Judiasm != Zionism. Definitely not what Zionism has turned into.

She can't list some native American jewelry either since they contain the Swastika ("whirling log" (tsil no'oli) by the Navajo or a symbol for the "four winds") as well as Hindu pieces containing the Swastika (Surya) meaning "conducive to well-being" or "good fortune", and the left facing version "sauvastika" (卍) is better avoided as well thanks to the Nazi party's Hakenkreuz. And now it looks like the Star of David is facing the same cultural appropriation by the the Neo Zionists of Israel and of course the Israeli flag.

It seems Christian jewelry is still safe, for now. At least no genocidal country has put the catholic cross on their flag. The Dominican Republic has a small cross on their flag but not known for colonial genocide (although Haitians probably disagree, see Trujillo) 

At least the Russians were original with the Hammer and Sickle design.

Gaza: Palestinians living along the 'Yellow Line' endure daily Israeli attacks

Every night, Hamed drifts off to sleep knowing the explosions and gunfire from Israeli forces will likely jolt him awake several times. He lives along the Israeli-imposed demarcation zone known as the "Yellow Line", where Israeli ceasefire violations have become routine.

"The explosions wake people up every day," the Palestinian man, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, told Middle East Eye. "We also hear bullets whistling overhead. The shooting doesn't stop all night".

Hamed, from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said the gunfire usually begins in the evening and continues until dawn, punctuated by the deafening blasts of homes being demolished beyond the line.

On one occasion, he narrowly escaped death when a bullet struck his home. "Thankfully, it hit the wall. If it had gone through the plastic tarp, one of us would certainly have been hit".

Since the ceasefire was signed in October, Israeli forces have repeatedly violated it through numerous air strikes, shootings, home demolitions and detentions.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces have killed at least 591 people since the truce began four months ago. Many of the killings have occurred near the so-called Yellow Line.

The line stretches across northern, eastern and southern Gaza. It was established under the ceasefire agreement as a temporary withdrawal boundary. Israeli troops remain stationed behind it, controlling up to 58 percent of the territory, pending the next phase of the US-brokered ceasefire, which envisages further Israeli withdrawal.

On the ground, however, residents say the line has been pushed deeper into Gaza, limiting Palestinians’ access to their homes and vital agricultural lands. The shifting boundary has also triggered repeated displacement, leaving families without a stable shelter.

For Hamed, the danger has been drawing closer in recent weeks. What was once nearly two kilometres away is now less than one. With that shift, the intensity of the fire has increased. "Now we see the tank when it approaches, opens fire and pulls back. It's extremely scary," the 25-year-old said.

The threat, he said, is both physical and psychological. With several of his neighbours having been wounded by gunfire while inside their homes, this has created panic in his family.

"My nieces and nephews always run to my father and mother's lap to hide," he said. "We don't dare go up to the roof to light a fire for cooking or hang out the laundry. We gather in a room that faces west, because the army is to the east, to protect ourselves from the shooting".

'No ceasefire here'

Israeli actions along the Yellow Line and in surrounding areas have been condemned by rights groups.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has said Israel’s approach amounts to the "illegal seizure and systematic plundering of the resources" of occupied territory, in violation of international law.

Hamed's experience is echoed across Gaza, not only in Khan Younis. In al-Bureij in central Gaza, the shifting of the Yellow Line recently triggered a fresh wave of displacement.

Khaled, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, has survived multiple attacks, including the bombing of his home. He regularly visits his uncles, who live close to the boundary. Many residents have already left because of what he described as indiscriminate shooting in the area.

"My uncles had to leave their house. It's now right next to the Yellow Line. The gunfire doesn’t stop in the evening or at night," he said.

He recalled a recent visit to check on the property when shooting suddenly erupted. "We hid in a room facing away from the army’s position, then ran when we had the chance. "It happens regularly. Whenever the shooting starts, people wait for a moment to escape".

In the neighbouring al-Maghazi refugee camp, Houida Salim, a mother of six, says gunfire passes over her home almost daily. "The war never finished," she said. "Whenever we hear the roar of tanks, we feel like we're imprisoned in the house. We can't leave. Their bullets hit the house regularly. There is no ceasefire here".

In her area, the Yellow Line has advanced to less than a kilometre away. "We don't hang clothes out to dry on the roof for fear of being targeted by tanks," Salim said. "Sometimes they use silenced gunfire, which is even worse. The children can't play outside safely".

For Salim, there is nowhere left to seek refuge. Her extended family's home in eastern Deir al-Balah is, she says, even more dangerous. "We have been displaced five times during the war. I don’t have anywhere left to go".

How The Media Helped Mandelson, Epstein & Mossad

This Palestine Report was BLOCKED by Human Rights Watch

In this episode of Mehdi Unfiltered, Mehdi interviews Omar Shakir, the author of a Human Rights Watch report on the right of return for Palestinian refugees — a report the organization declined to publish. Shakir recently resigned from his role as HRW’s Israel and Palestine Director after nearly a decade leading the team.

Watch Shakir and Mehdi discuss changes under Human Rights Watch’s leadership, why the report was shelved leaving Shakir with no choice but to resign, the findings of the report, the reluctance of progressive institutions to endorse Palestinians’ right to return, and ultimately why he believes Israel’s denying of Palestinians’ right of return is, “simply locking in the prior ethnic cleansing of 1948.”

Trump-Netanyahu differences on Iran out in open; meeting ends without agreement



In a dramatic development, US President Donald Trump has publicly acknowledged that he had failed to reach a consensus with Benjamin Netanyahu on the conflict with Iran. This, as Rifat Jawaid explains, is a significant development and shows Trump's unease over future military strikes against Iran.

“Beyond the Pale” – Protesters Slam Albanese for Hosting “War Criminal”

Pro-Palestinian protesters rally in Melbourne as Israeli President Isaac Herzog concludes his Australia visit. Demonstrators gathered outside Flinders Street Station, voicing opposition to the invitation extended after the Bondi attack. Protesters cite Gaza civilian deaths and UN findings, while Herzog warns of rising antisemitism in Australia. For more details, watch our story and subscribe to our channel, DRM News.

Corbyn alleges UK ‘complicity’ after Streeting’s admission of Gaza abuses

British legislator Jeremy Corbyn has called on Health Secretary Wes Streeting to cooperate in exposing the United Kingdom’s “complicity in genocide” in Gaza, after the release of Streeting’s private messages in which he acknowledged Israel committed war crimes in the Palestinian territory.

Corbyn, a former Labour leader, sent a letter to Streeting on Thursday rebuking him for the UK government’s continued support for Israel despite the abuses that the health secretary himself had recognised in a private correspondence.

“The publication of these messages reveals a shameful failure to publicly say something you knew privately to be true: that this government was complicit in war crimes,” Corbyn’s letter said. “It is now a matter of public record that you decided to serve in the cabinet of a government that was providing military, economic and diplomatic support to a state that was breaching international law.”

Streeting, who has been a vocal critic of Corbyn and a staunch supporter of Israel, had voluntarily released text messages between himself and the UK’s former ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, an associate of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In the trove of messages published by Sky News on Monday – meant to show transparency over Streeting’s own ties to Mandelson – the health secretary argued last year in favour of recognising Palestine as a state.

“Morally and politically, I think we need to join France,” Streeting wrote in July 2025.

“Morally, because Israel is committing war crimes before our eyes. Their government talks the language of ethnic cleansing and I have met with our own medics out there who describe the most chilling and distressing scenes of calculated brutality against women and children.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/12/corbyn-alleges-uk-complicity-after-streetings-admission-of-gaza-abuses

2,000 British Soldiers Serving In Israel’s Army During Gaza GENOCIDE

Trump’s big U-turn on Iran, US to deploy another aircraft carrier near Iran



US President Donald Trump has decided to send more warships, including another aircraft carrier, near Iran immediately after meeting Benjamin Netanyahu. This, Rifat Jawaid argues, marks a dramatic shift in stance towards Iran amidst ongoing talks between the US and the Islamic Republic. In another development, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has faced intense grilling on her government's decision to welcome Isaac Herzog.

UK decision to ban Palestine Action as ‘terror group’ unlawful

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/13/uk-decision-to-ban-palestine-action-as-terror-group-unlawful-court-says

The High Court in the UK has ruled that the government’s ban on the pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a “terror group” was unlawful.

In a statement responding to the landmark ruling on Friday, Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori, who had challenged the government’s ban, said the ruling was a huge win for the group.

“This is a monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people, striking down a decision that will forever be remembered as one of the most extreme attacks on free speech in recent British history,” she said, labelling the ban “a Trumpian abuse of power”.

The British government said it intended to appeal the court’s ruling.

“I am disappointed by ⁠the court’s decision ⁠and disagree with the notion that banning ⁠this terrorist organisation ⁠is disproportionate,” ⁠Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood ⁠said in a statement. “I intend to fight this ‌judgment in the Court of ‌Appeal.”

The court said the ban would remain in place pending another hearing, while the government prepares its appeal. But while it remains a criminal offence to be a member of, or to support Palestine Action, London’s Metropolitan Police indicated officers were unlikely to arrest people simply for showing support for Palestine Action until the legal situation was clarified.


Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, said the process would begin swiftly, with a hearing set for February 20 in which the court would decide whether there were grounds for the government to appeal.

But the appeal process could drag on for months, if not years, he said.

Ammori said in a statement that any move by the government to challenge the court’s ruling would be “profoundly unjust”, while the futures of thousands of protesters who had been arrested for their support of Palestine Action – “many of whom are elderly or disabled and facing up to 14 years’ imprisonment” – hung in the balance.

“Any such attempt by the government would prolong that injustice,” she said.

‘Unusual circumstances’

London’s Metropolitan Police issued a statement outlining how it would respond to expressions of support for Palestine Action in light of the court’s ruling that the ban was unlawful, yet while the proscription remained in place.

“We recognise these are unusual circumstances,” it said.

The statement said officers would “continue to identify offences where support for Palestine Action is being expressed”, but would “focus on gathering evidence of those offences and the people involved to provide opportunities for enforcement at a later date, rather than making arrests at the time”.

It described the strategy as “the most proportionate approach”, while legal proceedings around the ban remained unresolved. The deferred enforcement approach applied only to expressions of support for Palestine Action, it said, noting that officers would continue to make arrests in cases where the line was crossed from lawful protest “to intimidate, to damage property, to use violence, to stir up racial hatred or to commit other offences”.

Challands noted there had been scenes of jubilation as news of the judgement reached Palestine Action’s supporters gathered outside.

He said judge Victoria Sharp, in delivering the court’s decision, had said that although Palestine Action was a group engaging in and encouraging criminality, it did not mean the government was right in proscribing them as a “terrorist” organisation, and that it had acted unlawfully in doing so.

The court found that the government had acted disproportionately, saying that there were other means by which it could prosecute criminal acts without a blanket ban.In proscribing the group, the court considered that the government had interfered with the right to freedom of speech and the right to freedom of assembly, he said.

Thousands arrested for silent protest

Among those arrested for supporting the group were some 2,787 people arrested for “terrorism offences” for peacefully holding signs saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” in silent vigils across the UK, a statement by the campaign group Defend Our Juries said.

A spokesperson for the group said that “thousands of people of conscience” had seen that “branding protest as terrorism was a move straight out of the dictator’s playbook.” “Together, we took action at great personal risk – inspired by each other’s courage. We helped make this proscription unenforceable by saying ‘we do not comply’.”

The spokesperson added that most people in the UK had been “disgusted by both the government’s complicity in what most experts agree is an ongoing genocide in Gaza by Israel”.

And will the government and police face any consequences for illegally arresting all these people?!

UN expert ‘welcomes’ ruling that UK’s ban on Palestine Action was unlawful

Ben Saul, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, has welcomed the UK’s High Court ruling that the government’s ban on the pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a “terror group” was unlawful.

In a post on X, the special rapporteur said the government’s proscription was “indeed disproportionate” and invited the UK’s home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to “reflect” on the ruling and accept the court’s decision.

MEDIA STATEMENT: Special Rapporteur welcomes United Kingdom court finding that the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful pic.twitter.com/gTxN8Udhzr

— Prof Ben Saul - UN SR Human Rights & Counterterror (@profbensaul) February 13, 2026

‘Huge victory’: Palestine Action cofounder hails UK court decision

Huda Ammori has hailed a UK High Court ruling as a landmark moment for campaigners and for Palestinians. “This is a huge victory for the movement, for people across Britain, for our rights,” she told Al Jazeera. “But crucially, this is a victory for the Palestinian people.”

Ammori said the judgement was a rejection of efforts to label direct action in solidarity with Gaza as “terrorism”. “It’s a victory to say that it is not terrorism, to act in effective solidarity with them and to destroy the weapons which are being made in Britain and are used to commit a genocide in Gaza,” she said.

Despite the ruling, Palestine Action remains formally proscribed, Ammori noted, adding that the court today laid the groundwork for the ban to be eventually overturned.  “It is just a matter of time … when the ban will be lifted completely,” she said.

Huda Ammori says the High Court ruling against the government’s prescription of Palestine Action exposes the scale of unlawful prosecutions under terrorism laws. She said the judgement means “every single arrest, the thousands of arrests for holding signs, would also be unlawful.

“What Palestine action did, and is acting to save lives in Palestine,” she said.

Paying tribute to supporters, Ammori said all those who stood up against the ban were “incredible”. “The government used British taxpayers’ money in order to prosecute its own people for an unlawful law,” she added.

EU countries falsely accuse UN expert Francesca Albanese in ‘witch hunt’

A UN human rights spokesperson has expressed concern about attacks on independent UN experts after several European governments criticised the organisation’s special ⁠rapporteur for Palestine, Francesca Albanese.

“We are very ⁠worried. We are concerned that UN officials, independent experts and judicial officials are increasingly subjected to personal attacks, threats and misinformation that distracts from the serious human rights issues,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Marta Hurtado told a news briefing.

This follows condemnation from Germany, France and Italy this week of Albanese’s alleged criticism of Israel. Albanese, an Italian lawyer, denies making the remarks. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot accused her of making “outrageous and reprehensible ⁠remarks” against Israel.

Albanese said in overnight remarks on X: “Three European governments accuse me – based on statements I never made – with a virulence and conviction that they have NEVER used against those who have slaughtered 20,000+ children in 858 ⁠days.”

Francesca Albanese’s Doha speech was doctored to suggest she called Israel the “common enemy of humanity”. She posted the full video, saying she meant the system shielding abuses from accountability.

France, joined by Germany and the Czech Republic, has urged her resignation, despite UN warnings of mounting attacks and disinformation against independent experts.

The disinformation might as well be coming from any of those countries...

New Israeli measures that will tighten its control over the occupied West Bank ‘must be withdrawn’: UNRWA

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has posted footage of its compound in occupied East Jerusalem on X.

In the post, it says Israeli authorities have seized and demolished the compound in “an unprecedented violation of international law”.

This is UNRWA's compound in occupied East Jerusalem. It is a United Nations premises.

Seized and demolished by the Israeli authorities, in an unprecedented violation of international law.

Water and electricity to UNRWA's East Jerusalem facilities have also been cut, including… pic.twitter.com/4RogFP5iD3

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) February 13, 2026

Former high-ranking Israeli security officials slam Netanyahu for failures of October 7

Five former heads of the domestic security agency Shin Bet, and 31 former heads of departments within it, have attacked the Israeli PM for what they say are efforts to discredit the agency by him and members of his coalition.

A statement said that Netanyahu engaged in “unprecedented attacks on former service chief Ronen Bar and on directors, combatants and employees who served in the organisation on October 7”.

“This is despicable conduct on the part of the person primarily responsible for the policy that led Israel to one of the gravest failures in its history.”

Netanyahu released a statement last week shifting a portion of the blame for the security failures that led to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks onto the agency.

Israeli court denies 5-year-old Palestinian boy life-saving treatment due to Gaza listing: Report

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that the Jerusalem District Court has rejected a petition seeking to allow a five-year-old Palestinian boy suffering from aggressive cancer to receive life-saving medical treatment in Israel.

It said the petition sought to facilitate the transfer of the boy, who lives in Ramallah, to Tel Hashomer Hospital near Tel Aviv for treatment.

The ruling was made even though the boy has lived in Ramallah for several years to receive medical treatment, and was based on the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu government’s refusal to allow the evacuation of seriously ill patients from Gaza, where the boy’s address is listed.

“I have lost my last hope,” the boy’s mother, whose father died of cancer three years ago, told Haaretz.

What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?