(AFP) – Immigration officers have arrested a leader of the protests at Columbia University against Israel’s war in Gaza, authorities said Sunday. This comes after US President Donald Trump vowed to deport foreign pro-Palestinian student demonstrators.
Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent faces of the university’s protest movement that erupted in response to Israel’s conduct of the war, was arrested on Sunday, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on X. The agency stated that the action was taken “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism, and in coordination with the Department of State.”
The Student Workers of Columbia Union stated that Khalil had been detained on Saturday, describing him as “a Palestinian recent Columbia graduate and lead negotiator for last spring’s Gaza solidarity encampment.” US campuses, including Columbia’s in New York, were rocked by student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. These demonstrations ignited accusations of anti-Semitism.
Protests, some of which turned violent, saw campus buildings occupied and lectures disrupted. They pitted students protesting Israel’s conduct against pro-Israel campaigners, many of whom were Jewish. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that “we will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Khalil, who remains in immigration enforcement detention, held permanent residency at the time of his arrest, prompting thousands of people to sign a petition calling for his release, according to the union statement. “We are also aware of multiple reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents accessing or attempting to access Columbia campus buildings on Friday and Saturday, including undergraduate dorms,” the union said.
Columbia did not directly address Khalil’s arrest in response to inquiries, but in a statement, it said, “there have been reports of ICE in the streets around campus.” The university added, “Columbia has and will continue to follow the law. Consistent with our longstanding practice and the practice of cities and institutions throughout the country, law enforcement must have a judicial warrant to enter non-public University areas, including University buildings.”
In its post on X, the DHS stated that Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” without providing further details. Trump has railed against the student protest movement linked to the conflict in Gaza, vowing to deport foreign students who had demonstrated and threatening to cut off federal funding for institutions that he said were not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism. His administration announced Friday it was cutting $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University, accusing it of failing to protect Jewish students from harassment.
© 2024 AFP
