By Dalia Fuleihan
When I sit down to write the preface to each new issue of the Na-
tional Lawyers Guild Review my goal is to put the work of our wonderful
contributors in context, to comment on the current state of affairs in our
world and situate our articles within it. Today, I am not able to do this. We
have three exemplary articles in this issue, which I will introduce in due
course. However, I am not able to let this moment pass, without discussing
the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
At the time of writing, Israel has been perpetrating a genocide in
plain view of the world for over two months. The indiscriminate bombing,
massive civilian death toll, targeted attacks on journalists, hospitals, aid
workers, and medical staff, coupled with the explicit genocidal language of
Israeli politicians is like nothing we have seen before. The majority of the
population of Gaza has been displaced and is being forced into smaller and
smaller areas. Israel continues to relentlessly bomb the entire Gaza strip, in-
cluding the so-called “safe areas.” While this is going on, raids and attacks
on Palestinians in the West Bank have increased. Thousands of Palestinians
have been arrested by Israeli forces and settler attacks are rampant. At the
same time, the Israeli military continues to bomb Syria and Lebanon.
Perhaps one of the most infuriating parts of this genocide is the
complicity and collusion of the United States. Historically, the United States
sends Israel billions of dollars in aid every year. Now, in light of the geno-
cide, President Biden asked for an additional $14 billion in military aid, he
has bypassed congress to send millions of dollars worth of weapons, and is
using his diplomatic power to shield Israel from attempts to curb or con-
demn its blatant violations of international law. Simultaneously, those in the
United States organizing and attempting to place pressure on the U.S. gov-
ernment to put an end to this genocide are facing an extraordinary degree
of repression. While there has always been a coordinated effort to silence
criticism of Israel, this effort has reached a new level. People are fired from
their jobs, disciplined in schools, doxed, and arrested by the hundreds for
speaking out against genocide. As members of the progressive movement
and advocates for social justice, we ought to be horrified and we cannot
remain silent in the face of such injustice.
The NLG has long held a position of solidarity with Palestine and
support for self-determination of the Palestinian people. Many chapters of
the NLG have issued statements in support of Palestine and condemning
the ongoing genocide. Many NLG members have been actively involved in
defending activits who are being unjustly targeted by the government for
speaking out against Palestine. This work is vital to the continuation of the
movement and reflects the NLG’s longstanding commitment to Palestinian
freedom.
As dire as the current situation is, the outpouring and sustained sup-
port for Palestine around the world does give me hope. Massive protests
have taken place all over the world. Calls for boycott have been made and
observed. Pressure is being placed and sustained on elected officials to sup-
port a ceasefire along with dignity and self-determination for Palestinians. It
seems that there is a revitalization of progressive movements and the young
generation in particular understand that Palestinian liberation is linked with
our collective liberations. They see that our struggles are all interconnected,
that we cannot talk about liberation here at home without also advocating
for liberation in Palestine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Sudan,
and everywhere else in the world.
It is with the idea of intersectionality, that I turn to introduce our
three articles in this issue. Our first article, Law for the People: Support-
ing Mass Protest, Political Resistance, and Movements for Social Change
by Kris Hermes documents the history of the NLG’s mass defense pro-
grams. The NLG is well known for providing legal observers at various
protests throughout history, however less known is the NLG’s commitment
to wholistic legal support of those organizing for justice and liberation.
Hermes’s article documents the history of the NLG’s legal support for polit-
ical activists throughout its existence. At a time when hundreds of protesters
are being arrested at Palestine solidarity actions, the NLG’s mass defense
program has never been more important. Hermes’s article reminds us of the
important role legal support plays in any progressive movement.
Our next two articles focus on the ways in which some of the most
vulnerable among us are targeted by institutions for discriminatory pur-
poses. In Grindr and Privacy Concerns of LGBTQ+ People in the United
States and the European Union, Zane McNeil and Riley Clare Valentine use
Grindr’s various data privacy issues to compare the data privacy landscape
in both the United States and the European Union. Their analysis highlights
the importance of data privacy to protect the interests of vulnerable groups.
Lastly, in Define to Exclude: Comparing Historic Racial Purity
Laws to Current Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation, Jaqueline Spreadbury compares
the racial purity laws of this country’s past to the current efforts by state
and federal legislatures to pass anti-LGBTQ+ laws by defining gender to
exclude trans and non-binary folks. Spreadbury’s article pays particular at-
tention to the way in which legislators utilize narrow definitions as a mecha-
nism to exclude and further marginalize vulnerable populations—racial
minorities in the past, and LGBTQ+ communities now. Spreadbury’s analy-
sis exposes the use of this exclusionary mechanism throughout history, and
provides important lessons for how to combat exclusionary policies now
and in the future whether they be targeting LGBTQ+ communities, racial or
ethnic minorities, or any other group in the future.
I sincerely hope that you enjoy the articles in this issue of the Na-
tional Lawyers Guild Review. At times this preface seems like an exercise
in pessimism—continuously commenting on the injustices in our society. At
the same time this is the work of the progressive. We cannot achieve justice
without first identifying where and how the various systems of oppression
function. The articles in this issue provide important perspectives on exactly
this. I am proud that the work of the National Lawyers Guild Review can
play a small part in the global struggle for justice. So, I will close by saying
Free Palestine, Free Congo, Free Sudan, and free us all.