• Rising pressure against pro-Palestine activism in the US has meant people who speak up must 'be very, very careful with what they say, where they say it,' says tech entrepreneur Paul Biggar
• 'I even had a gun pulled on (me) … for simply standing there saying, ‘Palestinian children should not be killed',' says activist Hazami Barmada
• Despite the pressure, solidarity is growing, says CODEPINK campaigner Jenin: 'Whenever there is a severe crackdown on something, it wakes the people up'

ISTANBUL 

They have lost jobs, been arrested, and, in some cases, stared down the barrel of a gun.

In the second year of Israel's war on Gaza, pro-Palestine activists across the US describe an altered landscape of risk and resilience in the face of a government and social crackdown that, paradoxically, has fueled a swell in solidarity and

For veteran organizers and new advocates alike, the period since October 2023 has been a crucible. Many report facing professional ruin, legal threats, and physical violence for their activism, even amid swelling public awareness they say was unimaginable just two years ago.

"When I started, it was … very, very difficult to speak up for Palestine," said Paul Biggar, an Irish tech entrepreneur in New York who founded Tech for Palestine, a coalition of technology experts working to benefit Palestinians. "No one was taking the risk," he said.

That reality, activists say, was shattered by what US campaigner Hazami Barmada calls "the first ever global livestream of a genocide."

The scale of the conflict, she said, transformed the movement's emotional core from "outrage, transitioned into helplessness … and then, as an outcome of inspiration to change the systems."  

A new calculus of personal risk

For Barmada, who considers herself a "steward of conscience," the consequences of this era have been severe and life-altering.

“I am a Harvard-educated person who spent years building my career,” she told Anadolu. “In the past … I would have never imagined being arrested.”

For the first time in her adult life, Barmada says she found herself questioning her place in a society that dehumanizes her and “does not even see my own humanity as legitimate.”

It is a moral crossroads, she said, where activists must weigh their principles against tangible dangers in every aspect of their lives.

“We are seeing for the first time people willing to say, ‘I am not okay with not taking risks to my career, to my reputation, to my income, to stand by my values’.”  

From street violence to boardroom exile

The most immediate threats are often physical. Barmada described how those who advocate publicly have endured violence in the street.

She recounted being “beat on and hit and assaulted and dragged to court.”

“I even had a gun pulled on (me) … for simply standing there saying, ‘Palestinian children should not be killed’.”

The crackdown goes beyond physical intimidation, however, as speaking out has led to immediate career derailment.

Biggar said he was removed from the board of the company that he himself founded.

While his experience was “a little bit frustrating,” it was not unique and those who went through similar professional hardship have become a tight-knit community.

“All the people who have been fired for Palestine, we all know each other personally,” Biggar said.

Jenin, a pro-Palestine campaigner with the anti-war group CODEPINK, confirmed this trend. She said she knows many Palestinians and others who “speak out for Palestine on their social media” who have been rejected in job interviews or had their offers rescinded.

“There definitely has been a sort of criminalization of people and their workplaces just because they're speaking out for Palestine.” 

Weight of state scrutiny

Beyond professional consequences, activists describe a growing threat from authorities. Under the Trump administration, foreign nationals have faced risks to their legal status in the US, but citizens, too, have not been exempt from targeting. 

Jenin pointed to a recent legislative proposal to illustrate the level of pressure. "Two, three weeks ago, there was going to be a resolution in the US Congress." 

"Anyone who even has a US … passport, who speaks out in support of Palestine … could possibly get their passport revoked," she said.

International students and academics have been a particular target, facing visa cancellation for speaking up.

Biggar described how this atmosphere of scrutiny has had a chilling effect. "Really, anyone who's in America … has to be very, very careful with what they say, where they say it." 

"People are putting a lot of effort into protecting their identities, because there are so many attacks on people in the US," he said.  

'Covert' vs 'fascist'

Activists argue that the hostile environment is a policy that transcends partisan politics.

"The oppression that we're seeing now, the crackdown under the Trump administration, was enabled by the Biden administration … This is not about Democrat or Republican. This is a bipartisan issue,” Barmada explained.

For Jenin, former President Joe Biden "was the orchestrator of the genocide alongside (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu." She characterized the Biden administration's approach as "very covert." 

"He was the one that really set that tone" for the harsh response to campus protests, she said. By contrast, she described Trump's approach as "very, very clear and very fascist."

Biggar echoed this, saying that in the Biden era, accusations of being an anti-Semite "didn't really have teeth." Under Trump, he said, "People are very much being attacked by the government. 

"Trump has sort of taken … the gloves off."  

'The more you crack down, the more people wake up'

Despite the intense pressure, activists report a massive expansion of their movement. "Whenever there is a severe crackdown on something, it wakes the people up," Jenin said.

Barmada also described this dual effect, observing that while the "crackdown on student activism has caused people to worry," it has resulted in "more people are emboldened to say: ‘Okay, we're ready to risk it all’.”

Defiance has become a core tenet for organizers, as explained by Jenin, who says the existence of a "federal crackdown on nonprofits ... just means that we're doing something right."

Biggar, likewise, noted that "public opinion has completely changed, even in tech circles," where people who were previously silent "are incredibly well educated about what's going on."

Republican discourse has been no exception. "We would not have seen this rhetoric five years ago," Jenin said, referring to how some Republican politicians are now questioning US financial support for Israel, which "would have never even been a question. 

With this growing support, activists have sought to focus on clear objectives. The short-term goal, according to Jenin, is to end "the genocide and the siege on Gaza," while securing "arms embargoes all across the world."

For Biggar, the long-term vision is more far-reaching: "Zionism has to end."

It is a future Barmada believes is inevitable.

"I fundamentally believe that Palestine will be free," she said. "It's not a matter of if. It is a matter of when."