John,

Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate from Columbia University, has vanished. ICE agents stormed his residence, ripped him from his home, and now—no one knows where he is. His crime? Demanding Columbia divest from genocide.

Instead of protecting its students, Columbia is letting this happen. Columbia’s administration needs to feel the pressure—and fast. The university has helped escalate this crackdown by calling in police, punishing student organizers, and staying silent as the Trump administration turns its sights on student activists.

If we don’t act now, this repression will only grow. Columbia’s administration and Board of Trustees must be forced to make a choice: either stand against this attack on students, or be remembered as collaborators in an authoritarian assault on free speech.

Tell Columbia's administration and Board of Trustees: Demand Mahmoud’s immediate release, end the repression of student activists, and divest from companies complicit in Israel’s genocide.

Mahmoud Khalil has been a powerful voice at Columbia, supporting the fight to divest university investments in companies complicit in Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. Just hours before his arrest, he asked: "What more can Columbia do to appease Congress or the government now?" ICE is now threatening to revoke his green card.

Columbia isn’t just silent—it’s actively enabling this crackdown. The university has called the NYPD on its own students, fast-tracked punishments for organizers, and is aligning itself with Trump’s far-right agenda by subcontracting the repression of student activism.

This isn’t about just one activist or university, and it's not only about free speech in the US. Regressive governments are taking notes. In Germany, the incoming government coalition is pushing to strip citizenship from those it labels "terror supporters and antisemites"—a label increasingly used against critics of Israel. Students in Germany, the UK, and France have also faced arrests and repression for similar organizing.

Tell Columbia: Free Mahmoud, stop the crackdown, and divest from genocide.