Linkerbaan

Link to tweet

There is speculation that Saleh’s wearing of a Lebanese flag patch on his arm during Sunday’s game in London played a role in his dismissal. But Saleh, a Lebanese American, has worn the patch before during the NFL’s Heritage program, which sees players and coaching staff celebrate their origins by wearing international flag decals or patches.

There is no indication that Saleh’s wearing of the Lebanese flag patch over the past two years has created a backlash within the Jets organization. But it has triggered outrage from hardline supporters of Israel and low-quality tabloid publications like the Daily Mail.

Born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, Saleh is the NFL’s first Muslim head coach and the third Lebanese American head coach, after Abe Gibron and Rich Kotite. Jets owner Woody Johnson — a supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump — hired Saleh in 2021.

Last week, several pro-Palestinian Telegram channels were blocked in European countries, including the “Palestine Archive ??” channel with more than 15,000 followers and the “Resistance News Network” (RNN) with more than 166,000 subscribers. The exact justification of the ban are not known. While Telegram did not respond to a journalistic request, the RNN said that there was no reason for the closure. Anyone who tries to open up the channel in the affected countries now will receive the notification that they cannot be not displayed because they “violate local laws”. RNN and the online outlet The Cradle have spoken of an EU-wide ban.

While the legal basis for the blocking remains unclear, the political reasons are obvious. RNN itself explained to Peoples Dispatch: “We believe RNN was banned because we shed light on the reality of resistance on the ground, which upends the mainstream zionist narrative.“

Link to tweet with video

It's early morning, and Zelda Montes walks briskly through the crisp New York air as they head to Google's headquarters on Manhattan’s 9th Avenue. Montes, who self-identifies as they, fumbles with their ID card at the entrance, blending in with the steady stream of Googlers swiping through the security barriers as if it were just another day at the office.

Armed with an oversized tote bag, Montes pulls back their purple hair and heads to the 13th-floor canteen to order their usual: a dirty chai and an egg, avocado, and cheese sandwich with a bowl of raspberries.

Their hands tremble slightly as they grip the coffee cup.

Locking eyes with two others, they get the signal that the coast is clear, head down to the entrance, and sit. The three Googlers unfurl their banners and begin chanting to demand that Google do one thing: Drop Project Nimbus.

But this will be the last time they sit inside Google's New York office as Googlers, as Google itself refers to its own employees. "Getting fired felt like a possibility but never a reality," remarked Montes, one of 50 employees fired by Google for staging a 10-hour sit-in at one of its American offices in April.

For the last three years, Montes has been one of several activists calling for Google to drop Project Nimbus, a partnership Google and Amazon have with the Israeli government reportedly worth $1.2bn.

Meta is restricting the use of the upside-down red triangle emoji, a reference to Hamas combat operations that has become a broader symbol of Palestinian resistance, on its Facebook and Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms, according to internal content moderation materials reviewed by The Intercept.

Since the beginning of the Israeli assault on Gaza, Hamas has regularly released footage of its successful strikes on Israeli military positions with red triangles superimposed above targeted soldiers and armor. Since last fall, use of the red triangle emoji has expanded online, becoming a widely used icon for people expressing pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli sentiment. Social media users have included the shape in their posts, usernames, and profiles as a badge of solidarity and protest.

The symbol has become common enough that the Israeli military has used it as shorthand in its own propaganda: In November, Al Jazeera reported on an Israeli military video that warned “Our triangle is stronger than yours, Abu Obeida,” addressing Hamas’s spokesperson.