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THE ARREST OF a Palestinian man who featured prominently during protests at Columbia University in New York last year has been condemned as an “illegal abduction” that sends a chilling message about freedom of expression in the United States when it comes to criticising Israel.
Mahmoud Khalid, who was a student at Columbia until last December and is in the US as a permanent resident, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Saturday.
A Department of Homeland Security official said Khalil was detained “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism”.
His arrest, the first of its kind since President Donald Trump promised to go after campus protesters who opposed Israel’s war on Gaza, has prompted outcry from pro-Palestine activists, civil liberty organisations, and even a small number of Democratic Party politicians.
There was also a large demonstration held in New York City yesterday, with over 1,000 protesters calling for Khalil’s immediate release.
A letter sent by a group of Democratic legislators described Khalil’s detention as an “illegal abduction” and “an attempt to criminalise political protest and is a direct assault on the freedom of speech of everyone in this country”.
Mahmoud Khalil was taken into custody at his university-owned apartment by ICE agents acting on State Department orders to revoke his visa, his lawyer Amy Greer told the Associated Press. Greer added that when an ICE agent was informed that Khalil was in the US as a permanent resident and green card holder, they said those were being revoked instead.
The agents also threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife, a US citizen, Greer said.
For three days following his arrest, Khalil’s detention location was unknown but he is now understood to be at a facility in Louisiana. Greer described his transfer as a “blatantly improper but familiar tactic”. A judge has since temporarily blocked his deportation.
In a social media post, the Department of Homeland Security said: “Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation.”
The White House account on X posted a picture of Khalil with a caption that read, “Shalom Mahmoud”, using the Hebrew word for hello and goodbye.
“This is the first arrest of many to come,” said President Trump.
“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Admin will not tolerate it.”
Zeteo, a US media outlet, reported yesterday that Khalil had emailed the interim president of Columbia asking for protection the day before he was detained.
“I haven’t been able to sleep, fearing that ICE or a dangerous individual might come to my home. I urgently need legal support, and I urge you to intervene and provide the necessary protections to prevent further harm,” Khalil wrote.
Betar Worldwide, which describes itself as a movement of “proud, fierce Zionists”, said in a post on X at the end of January that ICE was “aware of his (Khalil’s) home address and whereabouts”.
“We have provided all his information to multiple contacts. He’s on our deport list!,” the group said.
Widespread campus protests opposing Israel’s war on Gaza last year were repeatedly described as antisemitic by US politicians across both major parties, despite many of them being led by Jewish students.
Many of the protests were aimed at pressuring universities to divest from companies that support Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and particularly its devastating war on Gaza that followed the Hamas-led attack of October 2023.
In many cases, including at Columbia University, police were called in by college administrators to remove or arrest demonstrators and break up encampments.
Last Friday, the Trump administration pulled $400m in funding from Columbia University for what it said were failures to combat antisemitism on campus.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in statement that Jewish students on campus who had been the victims of “relentless violence, intimidation, and antisemitic harassment on their campuses” were “ignored” by university authorities.
“Today, we demonstrate to Columbia and other universities that we will not tolerate their appalling inaction any longer,” she said.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has condemned Khalil’s arrest, calling it “unprecedented, illegal, and un-American.”
“The government’s actions are obviously intended to intimidate and chill speech on one side of a public debate,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.
In a letter sent to the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem today, 14 of the 214 Democrats in the US Congress called for Khalil to be released, describing him as a political prisoner and his arrest as an “illegal abduction”.
“Khalil has not been charged or convicted of any crime,” the letter said.
“As the Trump administrations proudly admits, he was targeted solely for his activism and organising,” it added.
The letter went on to describe Khalil’s detention as “an attempt to criminalise political protest and is a direct assault on the freedom of speech of everyone in this country”.
“We will not let this administration trample our constitutional rights and silence voices they don’t like,” Congress member Ilhan Omar said in a post on X.
The arrest also prompted an outcry from the United Nations, with the spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying yesterday, “it is crucial to underscore the importance of respecting the right of freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly everywhere.”
With reporting from AFP
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