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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Josh Marcus and Isaac Lozano

Are mask ban laws about public safety or for lawmakers to quiet protesters? The controversies of face coverings outlined

The Independent United States Israel Police Bruce Blakeman Kathy Hochul Palestine UCLA Nassau County Covid-19
Activists and legal experts say mask bans could expose protesters to violent police interactions, threat immunocompromised people, and silence pro-Palestinian activism. - (Getty Images)

The mask wars didn’t end with Covid.

First, they were a public health imperative. Then they were banned in a conservative backlash. And now, in the wake of nationwide Israel-Palestine protests, lawmakers are trying to ban face coverings of all kinds, in a move many see as a strategy to yank the face masks off pro-Palestine voices and silence dissent.

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