FIDH Study: Western Governments ‘Sustain Attack’ on Right to Protest, Targeting Pro-Palestine Rallies

FIDH Study: Western Governments ‘Sustain Attack’ on Right to Protest, Targeting Pro-Palestine Rallies
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A new report by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) warns that Western governments are mounting a “sustained attack” against the right to protest, specifically through the increasing criminalization of pro-Palestine demonstrations, according to Arab News.

The study, which examined actions from October 2023 to September 2025, found that governments in the UK, US, France, and Germany have “weaponized” domestic counterterrorism legislation and utilized fears of antisemitism to suppress public dissent over the Gaza war.

FIDH cited a worrying trend toward the normalization of exceptional measures against dissenting voices. In the UK, senior government figures pushed a “censorious narrative,” labeling weekly rallies as “hate marches” and linking criticism of Israel to “violent antisemitism,” thereby stigmatizing Muslim and racialized groups. Pro-Palestine rallies in the US, France, and Germany have faced numerous blanket bans, legal action, and mass arrests.

The report also highlighted concerns over the censorship of elected politicians and the silencing of civil society and academic freedom. FIDH concluded that the crackdown “reveals a profound crisis” of human rights and freedom in societies that claim to be democratic.