Texas prosecutors are in search of 10-year jail sentences for activists accused of anti-Zionist graffiti.
The three defendants — Raunaq Alam, Afsheen Khan, and one other unnamed particular person — had been indicted on vandalism prices with hate crime enhancements after allegedly defacing a church with pro-Palestine stickers and the phrases “F*** Israel” written in crimson spray-paint alongside three inverted triangles. The incident occurred in March 2024 at Unusual Church in Euless, which was flying an Israeli flag on the time of the incident.
Final week, a jury convicted Alam of committing a felony felony mischief however rejected the hate crime prices. The trials for Khan and the unnamed co-defendant are scheduled for September 30.
Adwoa Asante, Alam’s legal professional, instructed Hyperallergic that her consumer’s actions clearly stemmed from political protest, mentioning that the church is a staunch supporter of the Israeli navy, as indicated by a number of Fb posts.
“ My consumer was accused of writing, ‘F*** Israel’ … That’s hands-down political speech when somebody says, ‘F*** your nation,’” Asante stated.
Asante additionally defined that the incident, which occurred a 12 months in the past, began out with a misdemeanor graffiti cost. However “every little thing went haywire” when the state appointed Tarrant County District Legal professional Lloyd Whelchel, who has beforehand dealt with instances regarding the loss of life penalty, as prosecutor, he stated.
“[Then] the state indicted this case and accused my consumer of anti-Jewish religion discrimination, and conflated the State of Israel with Judaism,” Asante instructed Hyperallergic.
Although the conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism isn’t new, the rising criminalization of the previous within the final two years has raised alarms. Within the tradition sector, artists have reported being silenced or censored for condemning Israel’s ongoing siege and mass killings of Palestinians, which have been deemed a genocide by a number of human rights teams, together with Israeli organizations.
Final 12 months, three people had been charged with “making a terroristic menace as a hate crime” for vandalizing the houses of 4 Brooklyn Museum leaders, together with Director Anne Pasternak. (Of the 4, solely Pasternak is Jewish.) The spray-painted messages additionally included inverted crimson triangles, symbols which might be typically utilized by activists as a present of Palestinian resistance. Use of the form’s emoji was restricted by Meta final 12 months on the premise that it might point out assist for Hamas, however the image has additionally been traced to the Palestinian flag and to broader anti-fascist actions.
Alam now faces as much as two years in state jail and a reported $10,000 nice, though the jury really useful 5 years of probation, which incorporates 180 days in a county jail. Khan and the opposite defendant are nonetheless going through felony prices with hate crime enhancements.
Asante stated that the Nationwide Legal professionals Guild (NLG) is “elated” that the jury acquitted Alam on the hate crime prices, however remains to be disenchanted within the felony mischief conviction.
“The NLG is deeply involved as a result of on the nationwide, state, and native degree, we’re seeing repression within the type of criminalization in opposition to those that oppose the genocide in Palestine,” Asante stated.
