Protecting Journalism against Rising Fascist and Ethnonationalist Threats

International journalist and author Rula Jebreal is currently facing criminal prosecution in Italy for her tweets re PM Meloni’s weaponization of language from the Nazi’s great replacement conspiracy theory, as well as her tweet about Fabio Rampelli’s involvement in a fascist rally (Rampelli is vice president of Italy’s parliament, and a mentor of prime minister Giorgia Meloni).

As The Coalition For Women In Journalism notes, “Jebreal has been a vocal critic of the neo-fascist Fratelli d'Italia party and Israel’s apartheid, military occupation and has faced years of threats, intimidation, surveillance, and smear campaigns.”

Press freedom organizations have documented increasing risks to journalists, especially those working in Palestine, exposing war crimes and Palestinian journalists who challenge ethnonationalism and fascism globally.

Join journalists Rula Jebreal, Naomi Klein, and Nermeen Shaikh for a timely discussion of these critical challenges, and how we can build solidarity with journalists—and others—working on the front lines.

***Please note: This discussion was recorded on January 29, 2025.***

Speakers:

Rula Jebreal is an award-winning international journalist. Jebreal serves on the G7 gender-based violence advisory council and currently is a visiting professor at The University of Miami, where she teaches Communications (course title “Propaganda and Genocides”).

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and columnist with The Guardian and co-director of the Centre for Climate Justice at the University of British Columbia. Her newest book is the New York Times-bestseller Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, now out in paperback.

Nermeen Shaikh is a co-host and senior producer at the independent television news hour Democracy Now! based in New York City. She is the author of The Present as History: Critical Perspectives on Global Power and serves on the Board of Directors of the Nobel Women's Initiative