NEW AMP REPORT: How Anti-Palestinian Repression is Building U.S. Authoritarianism

A new report from American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) unveils a systematic project of eroding constitutional and human rights on the basis of anti-Palestinian repression and racism in America. The report revisits data from the first six months of the Trump Administration and the past two years of anti-genocide protests. It finds that democratic institutions are failing a stress test of their fundamental commitments by failing on Palestinian rights. In turn, this poses serious threats to civil liberties and constitutional rights across the United States.

Surfacing an extensive fact base, the report draws out the ways bipartisan political leaders, university administrations, and Trump administration officials are all implicated in dismantling human rights and the rule of law in the United States through anti-Palestinian repression. This includes roles in undermining facts as well as free speech, and creating the basis for a campaign of discrediting academia and criminalizing dissent to state-sanctioned genocide.

The report provides:

• Data on the scale and reach of attacks on student activism in the U.S. and its relationship to anti-immigrant attacks, deportations, and dismantling of systems to protect the rights of students and immigrants alike.
• The links, including key players, between anti-Palestinian repression and anti-immigrant policy, surveillance, defunding of public institutions, and bad-faith culture war attacks on academic inquiry.
• Actionable frameworks and recommendations for resisting this shift, including legal, legislative, academic, and grassroots interventions.
• A prospective look at what Project 2025 and Project Esther entail for not only Palestinian rights activism in the U.S., but also immigrant rights and broader free speech.

“This report documents what is shared knowledge and lived experience among Palestinian and Muslim Americans,” said Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid, AMP Executive Director. “That what begins as repression of pro-Palestinian activism has become a blueprint for assaults on civil liberties, academic freedom, press integrity, and democratic norms. And because it concerns Palestinian rights, it has been excused and enabled across all halls of power.”

The report urges advocates, policymakers, and journalists to utilize this report to counter attacks on American freedoms. Would you be interested in a story about this troubling trend in anti-Palestinian repression as a playbook for authoritarianism? We’re happy to discuss the report and put it into context with broader advocacy efforts. Please contact us at [email protected]