Censorship Violates The Rights Of The Speaker And Of The Hearer

Censorship Violates The Rights Of The Speaker And Of The Hearer

March 25, 2025

U.S. and ISRAEL IMPERIALISM - FOLLOW THE MONEY

Caitlin Johnstone

What people are missing about Trump’s new policy of deporting pro-Palestine protesters on the grounds that their activism is contrary to US “foreign policy interests” is that it’s not just an attack on the activists’ political speech, it’s also an attack on US citizens’ right to hear criticism of their government’s foreign policy.

The Trump administration is targeting another Columbia University student for deportation due to speech crimes against the state of Israel. This time they’re going after a 21 year-old woman who was born in South Korea but has been in the U.S. since age seven and is a legal permanent U.S. resident.

This “foreign policy” narrative is the same as the one being used by the Trump administration’s efforts to deport Mahmoud Khalil for his pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia; Trump himself posted on social media that Khalil and his activism are “counter to our national and foreign policy interests.” The legal argument here is that because these activists are obstructing the foreign policy goals of the U.S. government, it’s okay to remove them because they are not citizens.

As Frederick Douglass said, “To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.” Even if you believe people who aren’t U.S. citizens should have no free speech rights and that it’s fine for the U.S. government to deport them for criticizing its actions, you can’t use that same logic to argue that the U.S. government should also have the right to prevent U.S. citizens from hearing those criticisms.

Reading by Tim Foley

Article with supporting links: https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/03/24/palestinians-didnt-choose-the-religion-of-their-oppressors

Original: https://youtu.be/NkInqA2pZA4

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I write about the end of illusions. 100% reader-funded writer. All works co-authored with my American husband Tim Foley.

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