Branch Out for Justice

YouTube video by Senator Chris Van Hollen I met with relatives of Americans on Gaza aid flotilla who were detained by Netanyahu government

On Friday I spoke with relatives of Americans on the Gaza aid flotilla who were being detained by Netanyahu’s government.

Ambassador Huckabee says his highest duty is to protect Americans abroad but has done virtually nothing to return them. He needs to do his job.

Greta Thunberg is held prisoner by Israel at a jail in the Negev. Read what Sweden’s embassy in Israel reports are the conditions of her detention ⬇️

Now just imagine: if Israel treats a world-famous Swedish activist this way, how badly are its prisons abusing Palestinians?

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Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated' The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

"Rodrick Johnson, 67, is one of many residents who were detained by federal agents during the South Shore raid. A U.S. citizen, he said agents broke through his door and dragged him out in zip ties."

South Shore Residents Return To Ransacked Apartments After ICE Raid: 'It Looks Like Hell' A "now renting" sign outside touts granite countertops. Inside, residents are trying to make sense of the raid that made their already neglected building even worse.

ICE is running around Chicago harassing people for not being white.

Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.

That’s not making America great again.

Background image - evening, boat in ocean flying Palestinian flag with FFC and TM logos. Text: EMERGENCY Israel has attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla. Unarmed people of conscience, abducted in international waters. This is piracy. This is kidnapping.   The flotilla did not break any laws. What is unlawufl is genocide, the deadly blockade of Gaza, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and the piracy of civilians vessels and abduction of all those on board.

Background image - evening, boat in ocean flying Palestinian flag with FFC amd TM logos. Text: We will never stop challenging Israel's illegal blockade - a siege weaponized to starve, silence, and imprison Palestinians.  Stand with us to break the siege and hold governments and institutions accountable for enabling Israel's crimes.

EMERGENCY: ISRAEL ATTACKS GSF
Israel has attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters. People of conscience have been abducted.
The flotilla broke no laws. What is illegal is Israel’s genocide, Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, and the Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon.

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An outstanding interview. Patrick Iber of Dissent Magazine has interviewed the legendary Polish political scientist Adam Przeworski about de-democratisation in the USA, and what lessons he’s gleaned from Chile, Peru & beyond.

Iber’s questions are stellar. Przeworski’s answers, chillingly candid.

ICE Warden Put Transgender Detainees into Forced Labor Program: Complaint A federal complaint accuses the warden of creating an ad hoc work program used to demean trans detainees.

ICE is doing forced labor and sexual assault of transgender people in their detention centers, reads a new complaint.

Aid Flotilla Headed for Gaza Says It’s Under Drone Attack

The Global Sumud Flotilla was on its way to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians. The attacks against them are unacceptable and further evidence that Netanyahu has no intention of ending the siege and letting aid into Gaza.

ICE held 5-year-old autistic girl in Massachusetts to pressure father to surrender, family says The girl's father, Edward Hip, has lived in the United States for the last 22 years, according to his wife.

Under Trump, Noem, and Miller, ICE agents use children as bait.

ICE is a terror force. All those involved must be held accountable.

The mysterious disappearance of hundreds of immigrants detained at Alligator Alcatraz Lawyers and family members report that they have been unable to locate the inmates at the infamous Florida prison after they disappeared from the ICE database

ICE refuses to promptly share locations of those previously detained at Alligator Alcatraz with legal counsel or loved ones.

This isn’t just cruel — it undermines their constitutional right to due process.

Jinggling the keys labelled "tRaNs TeRrOrIsM" at their voters over and over while they make it illegal to retire

Hundreds of peaceful protesters and I got tear-gassed at the ICE Broadway facility this morning - this is what your taxpayer dollars are being used for

They just tear-gassed us. They tried to run us over in a van holding a peaceful protester. They shot us with pepper balls. They dragged another protester into the facility.

🚨 Last night it was Jimmy Kimmel. This summer, Colbert. Authoritarians start by silencing comedians and critics. I am introducing a resolution condemning Trump’s attacks on free speech.

This isn’t partisan: I urge Republicans & Democrats to cosponsor this urgent appeal.

The thing to emphasize here is that this treatment is *utterly normal.* It's part of the system of detention which has existed for decades. Folkston has been like this for many, many years,

New Mexico to become the first state to offer universal child care The program may offer a blueprint for other states on an issue that was prominent during the 2024 campaign.

Now let’s do the nation.

The Supreme Court just created second-class citizens in America. In a 6–3 vote, they handed Trump and Stephen Miller the power to let ICE stop people based on their skin color or the language they speak. Any American who believes in freedom should be outraged.

Afeni Edwards, DC Activist, gave us chills with this important reminder: the revolution is NOW.

“We must put our resources, our voices, and our bodies on the line to protect our community… because we are the revolution we’ve been waiting for.”
#FreeDC #WeAreAllDC

Inspired by Bernie Sanders and AOC’s Fighting Oligarchy Tour, District-to-District, Campus-to-Campus (DDCC) is a virtual storytelling campaign bringing young people together through teach-in/town hall style mass calls. Stay tuned for our full intro. Ok but stick with us a min, let’s rewind a bit ⏪

I heard it firsthand at Eloy Detention Center: women are given used underwear—causing rampant UTIs—and people with cancer are denied specialists.

These human rights abuses are bankrolled under Trump with billions in taxpayer dollars. Unacceptable. We’re demanding change.

"The 38-page prospectus seen by The Washington Post envisions at least a temporary relocation of all of Gaza’s more than 2 million population, either through what it calls “voluntary” departures ... or into restricted, secured zones inside the enclave during reconstruction."

Illegal. Insane.

Historians See Autocratic Playbook in Trump’s Attacks on Science

Here’s a nice overview the history of persecution of science/scientists and where we are now:

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/s...

YouTube video by Senator Chris Van Hollen Netanyahu is restricting food aid trucks into Gaza — so Jordan is delivering some with air drops

Netanyahu is restricting aid trucks into Gaza—the best way to get food to starving people there—so Jordan is delivering some with air drops.

The Jordanians said @merkley.senate.gov & I could join one of those flights to see the devastation, but Israel denied authorization for our scheduled flight.

Just confirmed a pretty ambitious and high profile @humanrestorationproject.org podcast interview for a couple of weeks from now. A former special education teacher who is now one of just 45 lieutenant governors in the United States...👀

Canceled wind project puts thousands of jobs at risk | CNN Business The future of thousands of jobs are in jeopardy after Ørsted, a Danish clean energy company with a large portfolio of offshore wind projects, received an order from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manageme...

Trump just halted a nearly completed wind project that was set to power 350K homes at a stable rate for 20 years.

Over 1,000 jobs—gone.

Electric bills—up.

All to protect Big Oil.

This isn’t "national security." It’s political sabotage.

They'd rather destroy our future than build a better one.

Israel hits Gaza hospital, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists Israel struck Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others.

The Israeli military bombed a Gaza hospital TWICE, killing 5 journalists and at least 15 others.

They continue to violate both U.S. and international law. We must end our complicity in this massacre and stop providing the weapons that fuel this genocide. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Trump’s authoritarian DC takeover has cost more than $15 MILLION. How could we better spend that taxpayer money?

- 1,558 public housing units.
- 1,172 Head Start slots.
- VA medical care for 882 veterans.
- Health care for 5,219 low-income children.

What an absolute disgrace.

Yet another way the Trump admin is endangering kids and schools

The Typical College Student Is Not Who You Think It Is

"There are more than 19 million college students in the US. Most are well removed from corridors of wealth+power..43% of undergrads attend community college. 25% live with their parents."

a listicle for everyone, especially for the NYT editors themselves to learn

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/u...