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Arizona Outlaws Pro-Hamas Encampments
Protesters march against the ICE detention of Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, during a protest near Arizona State University (ASU) in Phoenix, Arizona, US, March 15, 2025. Photo: Rebecca Noble via Reuters Connect.
The state of Arizona has criminalized “establishing or occupying an encampment on a university or community college campus,” a move that is a direct response to pro-Hamas demonstrations that have convulsed higher education in the US for over a year.
Governor Katie Hobbs (D) signed legislation enacting the measure on Thursday, according to the Arizona Daily Star, a local newspaper. The bill passed the legislature with bipartisan support, and its main sponsor was Rep. Alma Hernandez of Tucson, who is Jewish. During debates over the legislation, titled HB 2880, Hernandez pointed to security risks posed by pro-Hamas and anti-Israel protesters as well as the ways in which they allegedly violated the civil rights of Jewish students, such as subjecting them to hate speech or restricting their movement through campus.
Hernandez cited recent events which transpired at Columbia University — in which pro-Hamas students occupied a library and injured public safety officers — as vindicating the legislation of accusations that it undermined activities protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution — such as free speech and the right to peacefully assemble.
“This is precisely why I am proud that AZ became the 1st state to take action to prevent this situation from unfolding here,” Hernandez posted on the X social media platform. “We shouldn’t even need to get to this point. This behavior is not welcome here in [Arizona].”
On Wednesday, SAFE CAMPUS, an advocacy group that raises awareness of anti-Zionist discrimination at colleges and universities, cheered Hobbs’ signing of the legislation as progress for Jewish students who are facing a barrage of antisemitic hatred unlike any seen in the US in decades.
“Arizona is leading the way,” the group said, writing on X. “Antisemitism will not be tolerated college campuses. People have the right to protest, but they do not have the right to disrupt the learning of other students or intimidate Jewish students who are trying to get to class.”
As previously reported, by The Algemeiner, pro-Hamas encampments, established on open fields of campus and inside of administrative buildings, have created conditions not seen in higher education since the 1960s when far-left activists and Black nationalist groups extracted concessions from administrators that changed the face of higher education for the next 60 years.
In May 2024, The Algemeiner visited an encampment established at George Washington University (GW), accompanied by Jewish civil rights activist Lizzy Savetsky. Older men — many of whom wore masks to conceal their identities — with body tattoos, as well as other older adults who appeared to be under the influence of drugs, idled inside and around it. Students there appeared unbathed, and no sanitary facilities were immediately visible.
Not long after the on the ground visit, the group of students and non-students signaled their intentions, as a crush of them marched to GW president Ellen Granberg’s home shouting, “Granberg, we’re at your door, complicity no more.” Standing outside the property for nearly an hour, they clamored for a face-to-face meeting with Granberg, who is Jewish, and demanded that she accept their terms for ending the encampment, which included GW’s adoption of the boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) movement against Israel. Chants of “Guillotine, Guillotine, Guillotine,” an apparent reference to the tens of thousands of people who were beheaded during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, were also widely reported.
US President Donald Trump has moved to on to suspend federal funding to any educational institution that refuses to quell similarly riotous demonstrations, a punitive measure which contributes to fulfilling his administration’s pledge to crack down on campus antisemitism and the pro-Hamas activists fostering it.
“All federal funding will stop for any college, school, or university that allows illegal protests,” Trump said in a statement posted on Truth Social, the social media platform he founded in 2022. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested.”
He added, “No masks! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
No sooner had Trump issued the statement earlier this year than his administration confiscated some $400 million in grants and contracts previously awarded to Columbia University, an institution that reportedly punished no one following the 2024 spring semester takeover of Hamilton Hall that resulted in over 100 arrests. Harvard University, Northwestern University, and Princeton University collectively lost billions too in a slew of expropriations the Trump administration executed in rapid succession.
“Americans have watched in horror for more than a year now, as Jewish students have been assaulted and harassed on elite university campuses — repeatedly overrun by antisemitic students and agitators,” US Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in March. “Institutions that receive federal funds have a responsibility to protect all students from discrimination. Columbia’s apparent failure to uphold their end of this basic agreement raises very questions about the institution’s fitness to continue doing business with the United States government.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Arizona Outlaws Pro-Hamas Encampments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hezbollah Says Lebanon Move on Army Plan Is ‘Opportunity,’ Urges Israel to Commit to Ceasefire
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and members of the cabinet stand as they attend a cabinet session to discuss the army’s plan to disarm Hezbollah, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, September 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told Reuters on Saturday that the group considered Friday’s cabinet session on an army plan to establish a state monopoly on arms “an opportunity to return to wisdom and reason, preventing the country from slipping into the unknown.”
Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah and said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities.
But it said continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon would hamper the army’s progress. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally approved the plan.
Qmati told Reuters that Hezbollah had reached its assessment based on the government’s declaration on Friday that further implementation of a US roadmap on the matter was dependent on Israel’s commitment. He said that without Israel halting strikes and withdrawing its troops from southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s implementation of the plan should remain “suspended until further notice.”
Lebanon’s cabinet last month tasked the army with coming up with a plan that would establish a state monopoly on arms and approved a US roadmap aimed at disarming Hezbollah in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
Qmati said that Hezbollah “unequivocally rejected” those two decisions and expected the Lebanese government to draw up a national defense strategy.
Israel last week signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the army took action to disarm Hezbollah. Meanwhile, it has continued its strikes, killing four people on Wednesday.
A national divide over Hezbollah’s disarmament has taken center stage in Lebanon since last year’s devastating war with Israel, which upended a power balance long dominated by the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim group.
Lebanon is under pressure from the US, Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah’s domestic rivals to disarm the group. But Hezbollah has pushed back, saying it would be a serious misstep to even discuss disarmament while Israel continues its air strikes on Lebanon and occupies swathes of territory in the south.
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem last month raised the specter of civil war, warning the government against trying to confront the group and saying street protests were possible.
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UK Police Arrest Dozens at Latest Protest for Banned Palestine Action
Demonstrators attend the “Lift The Ban” rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
British police arrested dozens more people on Saturday under anti-terrorism laws for demonstrating in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the government as a terrorist organization.
Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes. The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Police have arrested hundreds of Palestine Action supporters in recent weeks under anti-terrorism legislation, including over 500 in just one day last month, many of them over the age of 60.
On Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near parliament in central London to protest against the ban on Saturday, with many holding up signs that said: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers had begun arresting those expressing support for Palestine Action. Police did not say how many arrests were made but a Reuters witness said dozens of people were detained.
Palestine Action’s ban, or proscription, puts the group alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS and makes it a crime to support or belong to the organization, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
“I can be unequivocal, if you show support for Palestine Action – an offense under the Terrorism Act – you will be arrested,” Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said on Friday. “We have the officer numbers, custody capacity and all other resources to process as many people as is required.”
Human rights groups have criticized Britain’s decision to ban the group as disproportionate and say it limits the freedom of expression of peaceful protesters.
The government has accused Palestine Action of causing millions of pounds worth of criminal damage and says the ban does not prevent other pro-Palestinian protests.
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Macron’s Meeting with American Jewry ‘Won’t Happen’ Amid Palestinian Recognition Drive, Surge in Antisemitism
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference in Paris, France, June 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
i24 News – French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to set up a meeting with American Jewish leaders later this month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
i24NEWS has learned that the meeting won’t happen, firstly because Macron was only available for the meeting ahead of the UN General Assembly during Rosh Hashanah, and yet, a person invited to meet with Macron and who has knowledge of the discussions told i24NEWS the sit-down simply wasn’t going to happen, anyway.
“I think the organizations, for the most part, would not have participated,” the person said, adding that AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee would have likely received invitations, among other entities.
“The guy has a 15% popularity rating in France. It’s not our job to help him out,” the person said.
Asked by i24NEWS whether Macron’s push for greater Palestinian state recognition or his lack of action in tackling antisemitism at home led to the stance of organized American Jewry, the person said it’s more of “the climate” which allows one to say ‘Look, the American Jews met with me,’ regardless of the content.”
The person said they are sure, if a meeting would have happened, that everybody in the room would have taken a hard line with Macron, including his “statements on Israel, the failure to respond to antisemitism” and France’s announcement this summer that it will recognize a Palestinian state later this month, and is leading an effort to get more countries to do the same.
But, the person told i24NEWS they are convinced that, in the end, while no final decision actually had to be taken, there was enough pressure that a consensus would have been reached to decline the meeting.
Of the timing of Rosh Hashanah allowing for leadership to not be forced to officially say no to Macron, the person said “G-d saves us every time.”
Another source familiar with the matter noted that it cannot be ruled out that Macron may eventually succeed in arranging a meeting with certain representatives, as the organizations are not a single unified body. However, he is unlikely to be welcomed by the overwhelming majority of groups representing American Jewry.
i24NEWS has also learned that French President Emmanuel Macron explored the possibility of visiting Israel ahead of the convention, but was advised by the Prime Minister’s Office that the timing was inappropriate. The message came as Macron continues to push for recognition of a Palestinian state, a move Israel strongly opposes. Sources further told i24NEWS that Israel is weighing additional retaliatory measures against Macron, including the potential closure of the French consulate in Jerusalem, which primarily serves Palestinians in the West Bank.