It’s a war on the human conscience. Sentencing anti-genocide activists as terrorists. Working to deport mainstream foreign policy experts for criticizing a U.S. war. They’re actually punishing people for not acting like sociopaths.
By Caitlin Johnstone
Caitlin’s Newsletter
Listen to Tim Foley read this article.
The U.K. has sentenced four anti-genocide activists to years in prison on terrorism charges, and the U.S. is working to deport a prominent foreign policy analyst for criticizing the war in Iran.
Four members of the group Palestine Action were sentenced to a combined total of 25 years in prison on Friday for breaking into a U.K. weapons factory owned by Israeli company Elbit Systems in 2024 and damaging some of the genocide machinery contained therein. The judge refused to allow the activists to explain to the jury why they did what they did, and also refused to notify the jury that the defendants could receive terrorism sentences if convicted.
The BBC reports that this is believed to be the first time anyone has received a terrorism sentence for property damage. Amnesty International has slammed the sentencing as “completely disproportionate” to the crime.
UK Palestine Action Activists Hit With ‘Completely Disproportionate’ Terrorism Sentences for Israeli Weapons Sabotage
?Amnesty UK said the defendants “were sentenced as terrorists because prosecutors want to make an example of them.” https://t.co/eOsqI0oR7z
— Common Dreams (@commondreams) June 12, 2026
The U.K. has previously made headlines with its ridiculous classification of Palestine Action as a terrorist group, leading to mass arrests of activists who hold signs saying “I support Palestine Action”.
Meanwhile in the United States, the Trump administration is reportedly targeting foreign policy analyst Trita Parsi for his criticism of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
According to Zionist outlet The Free Press, the U.S. State Department has launched an investigation into the possibility of revoking the green card status held by Parsi, an Iran-born Swedish citizen. The Free Press quotes an unnamed State Department official as saying “Anyone who seeks to undermine the U.S., we’re taking a hard look at,” which would include “people who support adversaries of ours and whose work furthers their agenda and undermines our security.”
This is a significant expansion of the Trump administration’s efforts to stomp out domestic foreign policy dissent. Previously the State Department was only working to deport unknown university students like Mahmoud Khalil for their opposition to the Gaza holocaust, while Parsi is a professional commentator who is regularly seen on CNN. It’s an escalation in much the same way the U.K. has moved to banning the visas of mainstream pundits like Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker for voicing criticisms of Israel.
Report: State Dept. Opens Probe of Iranian-Born Trita Parsi, Critic of Trump’s War https://t.co/U5yH2kPTgo
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) June 12, 2026
It’s a war on the human conscience. Sentencing anti-genocide activists as terrorists. Working to deport mainstream foreign policy experts for criticizing an American war. They’re actually punishing people for not acting like sociopaths.
It’s the same war on the conscience that saw the empire persecute Julian Assange, crush pro-Palestine demonstrations on university campuses, investigate peace activists for bringing aid to Cuba, and dramatically ramp up the suppression of free speech to silence criticism of Israel.
In a healthy society, a person of conscience would thrive while a sociopath would be shunned and marginalized. In western society it’s the exact opposite: people of conscience are sent to prison, and sociopaths are made president of the United States.
That’s what you get when you live under an empire established on and driven by sociopathic values. The agenda to dominate and control the entire human population is evil, because it can only be accomplished through nonstop war, militarism, propaganda, deception, and tyranny.
That’s why the truth-tellers are branded traitors, the anti-genocide demonstrators are branded anti-semites, and the peace activists are branded terrorists. We live in a backward dystopia with backward values, so the good are beaten down while the wicked rule the world.
Caitlin Johnstone’s work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following her on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, YouTube, or throwing some money into her tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy her books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff she publishes is to subscribe to the mailing list at her website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything she publishes. For more info on who she is, where she stands and what she’s trying to do with her platform, click here. All works are co-authored with her American husband Tim Foley.
This article is from Caitlin’s Newsletter and re-published with permission.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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