Gaza First Amendment Alert (7/10/25)

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Calls to Denaturalize Democratic Mayoral Nominee Over Support for Palestine, Democratic Socialist Politics Grow

In a surprise upset, New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani defeated by a wide margin former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary vote late last month. Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist who has been outspoken against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians before and during the genocide in Gaza. He is now considered by many observers to be the frontrunner in this November’s election, where he will face off against incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa. 

Though this was a local election, the issue of Palestinian rights has hung heavily over the campaign. Mamdani was one of the only candidates in the primary not to pledge to visit Israel if elected. Critics have attempted to paint Mamdani as antisemitic based on his support for Palestinian rights, with repeated demands for the nominee to denounce the pro-Palestine chant “globalize the intifada,” a chant Mamdani has never uttered, or to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state (Mamdani has stated Israel has a right to exist as “state with equal rights”). 

Since his victory in the primary, right-wing and pro-Israel politicians in both major parties have decried Mamdani’s victory and criticized his support for Palestine as well as his affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Some establishment figures in Mamdani’s own party largely declined to support his nomination, often citing his stance on Palestine. Democratic NY Senator Kristen Gillibrand falsely claimed Mamdani had made “references to global jihad,” comments for which she later apologized.

Attacks have gone beyond mere criticism and disagreement and extended to calls for legal actions against Mamdani, a naturalized U.S. citizen. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) has repeatedly called for Mamdani to be deported. In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Ogles demanded the AG investigate Mamdani for potential deportation, citing immigration laws barring naturalization of someone who materially supported terrorism. The material support for terrorism? A rap lyric: “My love to the Holy Land Five.” The Holy Land Five were convicted of violating the U.S. material support statute for giving humanitarian aid in Gaza. The U.S. did not deny they had give money for aid, but claimed based partially on Israeli intelligence the aid committees were controlled by Hamas. The case was widely condemned by both civil liberties and humanitarian organizations, including Defending Rights & Dissent. Based on this lyric, Ogles claimed the Trump administration has the legal authority to denaturalize and deport him. Days later, Ogles escalated the McCarthyite attack, issuing a further declaration that Mamdani’s membership in the DSA could mean he misrepresented himself on his citizen application which requires forswearing affiliation with ‘World communism.’ 

President Trump himself escalated the redbaiting attacks on Mamdani, suggesting he is in the U.S. “illegally” and that the administration is “going to look at everything,” meaning to explore options to remove him from the country. When asked about Mamdani refusing to cooperate with ICE raids, Trump replied, “Well, then we’ll have to arrest him. Look, we don’t need a communist in this country. But if we have one, I’m going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation.” Trump continued his attacks during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning the Democratic nominee he “better behave” and stating again that Mamdani was a communist. The mayoral candidate has pledged to arrest Netanyahu if comes to New York, remarks which Netayanhu shrugged as “silly.” Trump also joined in, stating if Netanyahu is arrested in New York he will get the Israeli prime minister and wanted war criminal out. 

As a 501(c)3 organization, Defending Rights & Dissent does not take positions on candidates for office. Calls to deport anyone because of their political views raises serious First Amendment concerns. We are reporting on these calls solely as they relate to civil liberties concerns stemming from the policing of speech related to Israel’s war in Gaza.  

Court Hears Challenge to Trump’s Ideological-Deportation Policy

On Monday, July 7, a district court in Massachusetts began hearing opening arguments in a lawsuit brought by the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association seeking to enjoin the Departments of State and Homeland Security from enacting Trump’s “ideological deportation policy” targeting supporters of Palestinian rights. The suit argues the policy violates the First Amendment and has chilled academic speech. For fear of being targeted by the Trump administration, noncitizens have refrained by participating in academic scholarship or discussions. This chilling effect has also deprived citizens of the ability to communicate with noncitizen students or colleagues.

During the ongoing trial, it has come to light that ICE assembled a “Tiger Team” that compiled reports on thousands of individuals mentioned by the blacklisting website Canary Mission.  Earlier this year, Other names were taken from the Betar website. The litigation has also revealed the direct role of Stepehn Miller in meetings about the deportation, but the Trump administration citing executive privilege to keep more information his role a secret.  As part of an ongoing investigatory project, Defending Rights & Dissent has previously filed FOIA requests with ICE and other agencies for communications with or files created mentioning Canary Mission or Betar. 

Rubio Sanctions UN Human Rights Expert

On July 9, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967. The announcement cites a provision of a Trump executive order sanctioning any foreign person the Secretary of State determines to have “directly engaged in any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person without consent of that person’s country of nationality.”

Rubio cites Albanese’s calls for warrants to be issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallan. Rubio also claims she “has recently escalated this effort by writing threatening letters to dozens of entities worldwide, including major American companies across finance, technology, defense, energy, and hospitality, making extreme and unfounded accusations and recommending the ICC pursue investigations and prosecutions of these companies and their executives.” This is a reference to a landmark report from Albanese that names companies who are profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.  

Sanctions can have grave impact not just on the individual targeted, but on the First Amendment rights of Americans wishing to engage in advocacy or learn from the sanctioned party. International law professor Sergey Vasiliev has suggested Rubio’s actions may violate the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

War Powers Watch–Congress Fails to Uphold the Constitution 

On Friday at around 6pm, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) moved to have his War Powers Resolution discharged. War Powers Resolutions are privileged which means (unlike so many of the other important bills we work on) they can’t be sent to committee to die or never be scheduled for a floor vote. The member who introduced the resolution can move for the entire body to vote on discharging it. Technically, it’s not a vote on the resolution itself, but a vote on voting. Nonetheless, members usually vote based on how they feel about the underlying resolution.

The vote failed 47-53, along party lines, save for two exceptions. Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman joined with the Republicans to kill the effort to prevent an unconstitutional war with Iran, and Kentucky Republican Rand Paul joined with the Democrats in voting to uphold the Constitution.

The timeline for when a War Powers Resolution can be brought is a discharge vote is longer in the House than the Senate. Two competing War Powers Resolutions remain alive in the House, though it is unclear when they will be voted on. Civil society groups, including Defending Rights & Dissent, have supported a bipartisan War Powers Resolution put forward by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). The resolution now has 73 additional cosponsors. However, Rep. Massie, the only Republican on the resolution, has indicated he no longer believes the resolution is necessary in light of the ceasefire. Massie has come under massive fire from President Trump who will support a primary challenger to the libertarian-minded Kentucky Republican. Any of the resolution’s Democratic sponsors, including Khanna, can still push for its discharge.

Three national security hawks within the Democratic Party who have a history of watering down War Powers resolutions, Greg Meeks (D-NY), Jim Himes (D-CT), and Adam Smith (D-WA), introduced a rival War Powers Resolution. Their version makes clear it does not apply to Trump’s use of military force to “defend the United States or an ally or partner of the United States from imminent attack.” Given that Trump has cited the “collective defense” of the U.S. and Israel as his legal basis for his strike on Iran, this resolution has drawn serious concern from war powers experts and groups opposed to a war with Iran.

According to The Intercept, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are trying to negotiate with the sponsors of the second War Powers Resolution to achieve a compromise. Any amendments would require approval of the House’s Republican leadership. Speaker Mike Johnson has publicly supported Trump’s military action and claimed the War Powers Act is unconstitutional. He is unlikely to be supportive. A new resolution would start the timeline to when a discharge vote could be forced anew.

In addition to attempts to invoke the War Powers Act, Rep Al Green (D-TX) brought forth an impeachment resolution against Trump in response to the illegal bombing of Iran. Like War Powers resolutions, impeachment resolutions are privileged. Congress voted to “table” i.e. effectively kill the resolution, 344-79. 

Iran War At Home

Following Trump’s strike against Iran, Immigration and Custom Enforcement began rounding up Iranians in America. Many of those targeted were Iranian Christians seeking asylum, prompting criticism from conservatives. The case of Madonna “Donna” Kashanian garnered national attention. Kashanian has lived in the U.S. for 47 years and is married to a U.S. citizen. She runs a popular cooking channel on YouTube. Following an intervention from Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Kashanian has been released from ICE custody. The Trump administration appears to still be trying to deport her, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security claiming she is in the country illegally. On social media, ICE claimed an immigration judge ordered her to leave the country and she failed to. This is false. Kashanian’s asylum claims were rejected, but she was granted administrative relief from removal. She was allowed to remain in the U.S. so long as she routinely checked in with authorities, which she did.

The Anti-Defamation League, an anti-Palestinian, anti-free speech organization, has claimed the attack has caused a spike in online “vicious antisemitic, anti-Israel rhetoric online.” In one blogpost, the ADL treated criticism of Israel’s military action against Iran as being on par with white supremacist diatribes and anti-semetic conspiracy theories. In a second blogpost, on “overt anti-semtic and extreme anti-Israel rhetoric” the ADL focused on assertions that Trump’s decision to join Israel’s war was driven by Israeli interest, not American interest. The ADL seemed particularly concerned by rhetoric from individuals claiming they did wish to “die for Israel,” the government that started the war. Defending Rights & Dissent staff attended a briefing from the ADL on “Attacks in Iran and Israel – What it Means for Jews and How ADL is Mobilizing.” During the briefing, the ADL’s Senior Vice President for Counter Extremism and Intelligence Oren Segal claimed to have analyzed 260 Congressional statements on Trump’s illegal attack on iran. He complained, “We’re seeing many Democrats and some Republicans giving little attention to the importance of how these strikes impacted the Iranian regime’s nuclear program, instead solely focusing on President Trump not seeking congressional authorization for the attack.” 

UK punk group banned from U.S. over IDF protest

British rap-punk duo Bob Vylan has suffered major backlash and professional repercussions following their performance at the UK’s Glastonbury music festival on June 28. In between songs, the group, whose music has long addressed political and cultural issues, led the audience of thousands in chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF,” the latter of which set off a storm of controversy across the UK and beyond. 

During the performance, the BBC placed a warning message on the live-stream screen, and afterward the outlet put out a statement announcing it would no longer stream live any acts it considers “high risk.” (While the performance wasn’t shown on live television, viewers could watch it with an on-demand live-stream on the BBC website.) Nevertheless, the performance was enormously popular online, with tens of thousands watching festival-goers’ own social media live-streams and praising the duo’s willingness to use their platform to speak out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The band has since endured significant backlash: Manchester’s Radar Festival canceled their scheduled headlining act the following weekend, their agent United Talent Agency dropped them as a client, and the State Department has revoked their U.S. visas, forcing them to cancel a planned U.S. tour. 

Bob Vylan says they’ve been “targeted for speaking up,” and put out a statement about their views and the global reaction: 

“We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people….[We] are not the story. We are a distraction from the story. And whatever sanctions we receive will be a distraction.

“The government doesn’t want us to ask why they remain silent in the face of this atrocity? To ask why they aren’t doing more to stop the killing? To feed the starving?”

U.S. Contractors Shooting at Civilians in Gaza, As US Deepens Ties with Private Organization Accused of Crimes Against Humanity

On July 2, 2025, the Associated Press reported that the security contractors from Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s two contractors, Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions, have been firing upon unarmed Palestinians seeking aid at distribution sites. The story was based on the reports of two contractors, as well as internal documents and videos. An internal report by Safe Reach Solutions stated that in one two-week period in June, aid seekers were injured during 31% of the distributions. In one video obtained by the Associated Press, a group of UG Solutions contractors are heard celebrating what appears to be one contractor shooting and killing a Palestinian aid seeker 60 yards away after firing into a crowd. Both contractors have also been compiling lists of any Palestinian aid seekers deemed to be “suspicious” and sending all collected information (photographs, names, descriptions) to the Israeli government.

Reuters recently obtained a $2 billion proposal from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which it says has already been submitted to the Trump administration, to build what it calls “Humanitarian Transit Areas.” These would be “large-scale” camps in which Palestinians would “temporarily reside, deradicalize, re-integrate, and prepare to relocate.” The plans include eight camps, each holding hundreds of thousands, in locations including Egypt and Cyprus, claiming that the first of these camps could be built within 90 days, with schools, showers, laundry, and room for 2,160 residents. The plan states that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would “regulate all civil activities” inside the camps. Both the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and its contractor, Safe Reach Solutions, officially deny involvement–despite their name appearing throughout the plan documents.

To date, over 200 international humanitarian organizations have signed onto an open letter demanding the immediate closure of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution scheme and the restoration of the already-existing United Nations-led aid system. Rep. Rashida Tlaib and 18 other representatives and senators have expressed a similar demand of the United States government. Last week, Defending Rights & Dissent filed two Freedom of Information Act requests as part of an investigation into the U.S. government’s full relationship with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, reports of its human rights abuses, and what contractors the U.S. has on the ground in Gaza. 

Chip Gibbons is the editor of the Gaza First Amendment Alert. Nathan Fuller and James Holden contributed reporting, research, and analysis.