October 2025 Palestine Update

Reuters

LOCAL

Imam Ayman Soliman has been released from ICE custody after over two months of unjust detainment at Butler County Jail.

In July, ICE arrested Ayman Soliman during a routine check-in after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked his asylum status unexpectedly. Soliman, an Egyptian refugee, had been granted asylum in 2018, but the DHS manufactured evidence of links to terror groups that led to his arrest earlier this year. Because the evidence was found to be untrue and entirely baseless, Soliman's asylum status was reinstated.

While in custody, multiple officers brutalized Soliman before he was placed in isolation. The officers denied him prayer and access to the commissary to buy food. Soliman emphasizes that he is one of hundreds of immigrants illegally detained and subject to abuse at this facility.

Soliman compared the Butler County Jail to his treatment in torture dungeons in Egypt. Soliman's description of conditions at Butler County Jail is consistent with what many detainees have described as one of the worst ICE facilities in the country.

After his release, Soliman remains in solidarity with his fellow prisoners still in Butler County Jail and advocates for their immediate release. Immigrants who were described by ICE officials as "the worst of the worst" were, as Soliman put it, "the best of the best." Other prisoners celebrated the news of his release despite the continuation of their own imprisonment.

Soliman argues that the myriad people who advocated for his release played a vital role in his freedom from unjust imprisonment: "What you have done is telling us, we are stronger when we are together. This fascist government is so weak when they fight brave advocates like you who raise your voice"

NATIONAL

In September, a Massachusetts judge ruled that the Trump administration has used the threat of deportation to silence immigrants in academia who protested against the Palestinian genocide. Despite the ruling, one State Department spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, has repeated that the administration initiated deportation procedures against people who “commit acts of anti-American, pro-terrorist and antisemitic hate, or incite violence.” He added that the state will continue to revoke visas of immigrants who "put the safety of our citizens at risk." In other words, the administration plans to continue cracking down on immigrants however they see fit, regardless of the court ruling.

On Oct. 5th, over 1000 protesters attended a rally at Boston City Hall Plaza held by the Boston Coalition for Palestine despite the entire public mall being blocked off by both local and federal authorities. Speakers demanded that the city boycott, divest, and sanction all businesses with ties to Israel and corporations who profit off the genocide of Palestinians. Despite the constant suppression from the state, we still see the continual and growing solidarity of working class people for the people of Palestine.

The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) has taken aim at Israel's F-35 fighter jets. The committee has called for worker solidarity via strikes, work stoppages, and slow downs at companies assembling or maintaining or manufacturing components of F-35s. Additionally, they've called for pressure on states to stop buying F-35s that they cannot verify are not made with any Israeli-made components. School, unions, hospitals, and councils are urged to divest from companies in the supply chain. Ultimately, the goals of the working class should be to see no F-35s—or any other fighter jets—be manufactured by workers of the world, nor should we see these tools of war be inflicted upon innocent people around the globe. In the meantime, we urge workers in the F-35 supply chain to support the BDS committee and work with union reps and coworkers to slow down (or entirely halt!) production of crucial F-35 components.

INTERNATIONAL

A ceasefire agreement, announced by Trump on Oct. 8th, is currently in its first stages. Palestinians are allowed to return to what’s left of their homes, aid is trickling in, and the deadly US- and Israeli-led food distribution sites have been closed. Hamas is required to hand over all living Israeli hostages and as many deceased as they are able to locate, whereas Israel will be freeing 250 Palestinian hostages and about 1,700 detainees (less than 20% of the total number of Palestinians being held in Israeli detention).

Although Trump is claiming "the war is over,” Netanyahu stated that Israel’s campaign against the Palestinians is not done. Israeli airplanes struck Khan Younis hours after the ceasefire was announced. Mere days after the ceasefire, an Israeli-backed militia shot and killed beloved journalist Saleh al-Jafarawi. Palestinians continue to go missing. Of the 250 hostages who are being released, a majority are being exiled from and deported out of the country altogether.

We stand with the Palestinians in the hope and relief they feel in this moment while also recognizing that a ceasefire agreement is only the first step to Palestinian liberation; the world must continue to fight for a free Palestine.