A global assessment of civic freedoms reveals a significant trend: the suppression of pro-Palestinian protests across diverse societies, regardless of their level of openness.
“Both the conflict itself and its effect on civic space … is a key finding this year,” notes Tara Petrović, a report author from CIVICUS Monitor, a global civil society alliance based in Johannesburg. “We’ve observed both expressions of solidarity and their repression worldwide.”
Many protests focus on local issues—food costs, national politics. Recent protests outside South Korea’s parliament targeted the President’s sudden decree banning such demonstrations. This decree could have downgraded South Korea’s civic space assessment from “narrowed” to “obstructed” in the annual CIVICUS report, People Power Under Attack. The group evaluates civic space in 198 countries, and its new report finds that nearly 10% of protests suppressed involved Israel’s war with Hamas or solidarity with Palestinians.
The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war ignited global protests demanding an end to the conflict, which has claimed at least 1,200 Israeli and countless Palestinian lives. However, many demonstrations faced crackdowns. Several countries, including those with “narrowed” civic freedoms like [Country names redacted], experienced excessive force, arrests, and detentions of pro-Palestinian protesters. Some nations, such as [Country name redacted], even banned protests citing security concerns.
Germany stands out, according to Petrović. Beyond protest crackdowns, German authorities conducted raids on pro-Palestinian activists’ homes and banned pro-Palestinian speakers, including surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta (this ban, affecting 29 European nations, was later lifted). Recently, Germany introduced a naturalization requirement affirming Israel’s right to exist. Germany’s CIVICUS ranking fell from “open” to “narrowed” in 2023—a decline largely attributed to actions against climate activists, similar to tactics used against pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
In the U.S., with a “narrowed” CIVICUS ranking since 2022, college campuses are central to the pro-Palestinian protest debate, with numerous arrests and detentions. Despite often being peaceful, these protests led to university leadership changes and new campus regulations aimed at preventing future demonstrations. Last month, the House of Representatives considered a bill allowing the government to revoke the tax-exempt status of groups allegedly supporting terrorism—a power critics fear could target Palestinian rights organizations.
“Activism or public discussion about Israel and Palestinians under Israeli occupation is incredibly risky,” writes Zaha Hassan, a human rights lawyer and Carnegie Endowment fellow, in Suppressing Dissent: Shrinking Civic Space, Transnational Repression and Palestine-Israel (forthcoming December 5). “This holds true in Israel, the occupied territories, liberal democracies like the U.S., and autocratic Arab states. The contentious nature of American classrooms and campuses isn’t accidental.”
As the Gaza war continues, so will the protests and efforts to suppress them. However, Petrović notes that these movements have influenced policy: several countries halted weapons sales to Israel and reinstated funding to [Organization name redacted], suspended after Israel reported that some Palestinians involved in the October 7 attack worked for the U.N. agency. Increased visibility is a key achievement.
“This year showed incredible global mobilization for Palestine and their plight,” she says.