Freedom on Trial

Freedom on Trial: The war against Palestine and the fight for justice in America --a memoir of the L.A. Eight and civil rights, and the battle against being branded as “Terrorists”

by Michel Shehadeh 

Freedom on Trial is an impassioned memoir of Michel Shehadeh’s twenty-year battle against political repression in America. A member of the notorious L.A. 8, Michel and his co-activists struggled to remain in America after they were erroneously targeted for their pro-Palestinian advocacy. Their struggle was a battle of resistance, courtroom challenges, and unrelenting pursuit of justice under constant threats of deportation, intimidation, and government repression.

With Michel’s journey, readers get to go behind the courtroom struggles, into the center of a movement that was not going to be silenced, and into a society where it takes a lot to stand up for freedom. This is not just a memoir of one man’s struggle to claim his right to live in the U.S. but of the struggle for justice, human rights, and the dignity of oppressed masses globally.

Freedom on Trial is a record of strength, the value of standing one’s ground on one’s beliefs, and hope through never giving up. Through the pain, losses, and struggles, Michel’s tale is one of survival, triumph, and love—demonstrating that even the most ferocious battles can sow the seeds of change.

Michel Shehadeh is the Palestinian-American former executive director of the Arab Film Festival, the former western regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the former President of the Middle East Children's Alliance Board of Directors.  

• Publisher : Bridge Publishers, 2026
• Language ‏: ‎English
  
• 286 pages
• ISBN-  978-1970487138