mpower change

On this Nakba Day

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Hello, again. I’ve been absent from these parts as we continue the many efforts involved in our move to Washington and am looking forward to resuming my WordPress friendships and making more connections with folks in the very near future. In the meanwhile, I can’t let Nakba Day pass without acknowledgement.

I know I’m not alone in carrying the heavy grief that comes from the ongoing genocide in Palestine, a genocide enabled by the U.S. with full support from both Democrats and Republicans. As my son Wildebeest recently said, Palestine is the one consistent bi-partisan effort from our government. Palestinians are considered disposable.

I received the following from MPower Change this morning and while I know it’s bad form to ask for action when I haven’t been engaging with anyone else’s posts here lately, I want to share this information. Anything you can do on behalf of Palestine is greatly appreciated! Solidarity!

Today is a heavy day.

It is Nakba Day — a day of mourning and resistance, marking 77 years since the violent displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel. Known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, the 1948 Nakba saw over 750,000 Palestinians driven from their homes and hundreds of villages wiped out. Since then, Israel has relentlessly continued its occupation and destruction of Palestinian land and people. 

On this day of remembrance, here are four urgent actions you can take for Palestine: 

    1. Email your Members of Congress to demand an end to Israel’s blockade on Gaza. Over 2 million Palestinians are being forcibly starved, with over 70,000 children being hospitalized due to severe malnutrition.
    2. Urge Members of Congress to call for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil and all others targeted by the administration for expressing their First Amendment rights. We have seen the recent releases of Dr. Badar Khan Suri, Rümeysa Öztürk, and Mohsen Mahdawi — but our fight doesn’t stop. Take action now for those still unlawfully detained.
    3. Tell university leadership to say NO to repressing and targeting students on campus.  Students speaking out against genocide are facing ongoing repression, police harassment, ICE abductions, and the threat of visa revocations. Together, we’ve sent nearly 800,000 letters to university presidents and administrators. They still need to hear from us.
    4. Tell Microsoft to stop partnering with Israel’s genocide. Microsoft’s AI and cloud support are core to Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Microsoft workers are boldly calling on the company to stop using their labor to commit genocide and enforce apartheid. Tell Microsoft leaders to listen to their workers, adhere to their own human rights policies, and stop partnering with the Israeli military. 

We cannot stay idle as Israel wages yet another Nakba on the Palestinian people. Take action now — speak out, show up, and demand justice.

In solidarity,

Linda, Granate, Yasmine, Ishraq, and the team at MPower Change

 

Please, one quick action on behalf of students

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

I’ve been focused on stuff related to our recent move and haven’t been active here, but need to share information I received today. Spoiler alert: it’s rage-inducing. My ask? Use the template to personalize a letter that will be sent to 40+ university presidents and chancellors. Thank you in advance for taking two minutes to speak out on behalf of the courageous students who refuse to remain quiet about a genocide funded with their tuition and tax dollars. Solidarity!

Image from Truthout article linked below: Police and FBI agents raid a resident of University of Michigan pro-Palestine protesters in a video posted on April 23, 2025.
safexmich via Instagram

The following is from MPOWER Change:

Yesterday, police and the FBI raided the homes of students in Michigan who’ve engaged in Palestine solidarity, confiscating laptops and phones without making arrests. The Attorney General’s office claims the raids are part of a “vandalism investigation.”1

But even the press is questioning why the FBI would be involved in a vandalism investigation.

At a time when university leaders are finally standing up to Trump’s attacks on academic freedom, with Harvard’s public rejection of Trump’s orders and more than 200 educational leaders condemning “political interference” and “overreach,” many universities are still cooperating with Trump’s tyranny against students, including police raids and abductions.2

Tell the University of Michigan and other schools to protect students and academic freedom.

Despite the violent crackdowns, academic expulsions, and student abductions across the country, the encampment movement is strong and growing.

Students refuse to be silenced, and we must do everything we can to support and protect them.

Even if you have sent letters to university administrators before, please send more.

Trump fears students because they are demanding divestment from genocide and apartheid, and they are WINNING.

Yale students just relaunched their encampment after being forcibly cleared by police earlier this week, coming back even stronger. And their demands are being heard. At Northwestern, students just secured a historic agreement: the university will disclose its investments, establish a committee on divestment, and provide full funding for Middle Eastern and North African student groups.3

Take Action: Tell university administrators and presidents to protect students, not punish them.

From Columbia to UCLA, from Yale to Emory — this is a generation’s most significant wave of student protests. And the students are not alone: faculty are walking out, alumni are divesting, and communities are taking action to support them.

We must do our part as well.

Please take action now: Demand that more university administrators protect their students and reject Trump’s attack on academic freedom and student protesters.

Thank you for everything you do.

In solidarity,

Granate, Zara, Aydin, and the team at MPower Change

P.S. Want to support our work towards justice for all people, and against white supremacy and Islamophobia? Sign up for a recurring MPower Change gift now. 

Sources:

  1. “Activists say southeast Michigan police raids are targeting pro-Palestinian protesters,” Detroit Free Press, April 23, 2025. 
  2. “More Than 220 Academic Leaders Condemn Trump’s ‘Overreach’,” The New York Times, April 22, 2025.
  3. “The Daily Explains: As NU activists accept deal to deescalate encampment, demonstrators at other universities are seeing mixed results,” The Daily Northwestern, May 1, 2024

Learn more from Truthout: FBI and Police Raid Homes of Pro-Palestine Student Activists in Michigan

Defend dissent: Oppose H.R. 9495

/ Tracy Abell / 13 Comments

Many are reeling right now at the prospect of four years of blatant authoritarianism. At the risk of rushing the grief process, I feel it’s imperative we don’t waste any opportunities to advocate for positive policy and opportunities to block negative policy while we can. This post is devoted to the latter, specifically H.R. 9495 — the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act.”

Please use this letter template to send a quick, personalized message to your Member of Congress asking them to Protect the Right to Dissent and Oppose H.R. 9495. Note: Congress could be voting on H.R. 9495 as early as next week.

What is H.R. 9495? You can read the proposed legislation here. Pay special attention to SEC. 4. Termination of tax-exempt status of terrorist supporting organizations. Basically, if this legislation passes, a President would have the power to label a non-profit organization or activist student group a “terrorist-supporting organization” and then strip it of its non-profit tax status.

What’s the immediate goal? To shut down the student movement for Palestinian human rights by targeting organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).  Right now it’s the student activists, but if it passes, this legislation could be weaponized by any President against any group. “Terrorist” is a handy-dandy label for those who rise up against our government’s policies. I’ve written about the tactics used to silence the courageous students speaking out for Palestinian rights, and hope you will speak out now on the students’ behalf.

The following comes from MPower Action.

The House previously passed a bill (H.R. 6408) that could give any president unprecedented power to target and shut down nonprofits and activist student groups.​ The legislation was intended to strip the tax-exempt status of organizations advocating for Palestinian human rights. The Senate refused to take it up after tens of thousands of our members sent letters to Congress urging opposition.

But now, House Members are attempting to pass a different bill (H.R. 9495) that includes the legislative language of H.R. 6408, which would be disastrous for all of our organizations working towards a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the occupation.

We can’t let that happen.

Urge your U.S. House Representative: Vote NO on H.R. 9495.

This bill would give future presidents new powers to target and shut down nonprofits and movement groups in the name of security — with virtually no oversight. 

Our communities have seen firsthand the kind of abuses that prosecutors and Presidential administrations can unleash against everyday people of conscience using similar tools. 

We can only imagine the effects that could be unleashed on our nonprofits advocating for Palestinian human rights if a future administration decides to use this expanded power to target us.  

Send a letter to Congress now. 

Thank you for everything you do.

In solidarity,
Yasmine and the team at MPower Action
——————–
It’s Tracy again. The letter template is short and I personalized mine with references to how the Democrats just campaigned on personal freedoms and saving democracy (because my rep is a Dem). Crushing dissent is absolutely anti-democratic.

Thank you for taking action. Solidarity! ✊🏾

Action needed: prioritize Palestinian refugees in U.S.

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

As you know, the United States is largely responsible for the genocide happening in Gaza right now. Tens of thousands dead, thousands more buried beneath rubble, and entire families wiped out by the U.S. bombs supplied to Israel. The reality is incredibly bleak. However, there’s an effort underway that could potentially save thousands of Palestinian lives, and that is to allow them to reunite with family members in the U.S.

This action info came to me via an email from MPOWER CHANGE:

Rep. Greg Casar, Sen. Dick Durbin, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal are leading a bicameral letter expressing strong support for a Priority-2 (P-2) designation under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for Palestinians in Gaza with family in the United States. The Biden administration is reportedly considering this policy change.1

Urge your U.S. Senators and Representative to sign on to the Casar-Durbin letter NOW:

Palestinians are so rarely granted U.S. refugee status that, of the over 60,000 refugees resettled in the United States in 2023, fewer than 0.1% were Palestinians.2

PLEASE take two minutes to personalize a letter to your representatives, demanding they ease some of the pain and suffering they’ve enabled by signing on to the Casar-Durbin letter.

Thank you in advance for your help. Solidarity! ✊🏽

  1. “White House considers welcoming some Palestinians from war-torn Gaza as refugees,” CBS News, Apr. 30, 2024.
  2. “Republicans want to ban Palestinian refugees from entering the U.S., but it’s already very hard for them to get in,” NBC News, Oct. 7, 2023