Dear Friend,
Thanks to all of you who responded to yesterday’s action alert. The letter, led by Ranking Members Pramila Jayapal, Jamie Raskin, and Mary Gay Scanlon, has 92 signatories as of this writing, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. The letter, which is expected to be sent tomorrow, states, “Every American should be outraged by this brazen attempt to use the power of the United States government to silence and punish people who do not agree with the sitting President.”
Additionally, you will see from the first highlighted story, there is an effort to push back legally against what Columbia University has allowed to happen to its students.
While so much more must be done, Mahmoud’s case is beginning to get the attention it demands.
Maya
DAY 5 - MAHMOUD KHALIL NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Mahmoud Khalil and other Columbia/Barnard students file a lawsuit against their schools and the House Education and Workforce Committee seeking to prevent the sharing of their school records for the politically motivated assault on free speech underway.
“The records demanded by the Committee are not substantially related to antisemitism. Rather, the Committee has instrumentalized accusations of antisemitism to attack ideas it ideologically opposes. It traffics in anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic dog whistles to justify unjustifiable intrusions on First Amendment rights”
Noor Abdalla, Khalil’s wife speaks for the first time on the arrest of her husband.
"Mahmoud is Palestinian and he's always been interested in Palestinian politics," she said. "He's standing up for his people, he's fighting for his people."
The Washington Post Editorial Board calls Khalil's case a threat to First Amendment rights.
"Despite the publicity the story has received, the government has been opaque about the details of its case. And while immigration proceedings are not public like civil or criminal cases, the Trump administration plans to use Khalil as a blueprint for future deportations. The public has a right to know what it’s planning.
If the secretary of state can deport a legal resident simply because he dislikes his or her views, whose First Amendment rights are next?"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/03/12/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-deportation/
Fellow Columbia student and friend of Khalil, Maryam Alwan speaks out in the school's paper.
“I want to be able to see my friend again. I want to have dinner at his apartment, the way I was supposed to before he was taken. I want to watch him become the incredible father I know he will be next month. And I want all of us to be able to tell him that we overcame our fear to fight for him, the way he always did for everyone around him. When he comes back, he needs to know: In trying to tear him down, Columbia and the U.S. government have only made him a historic legend in the struggle not only for Palestinian rights, but for the rights of all.”
Important analysis on the need for universities to step up in this moment and protect their students from Palestine Legal’s Dima Khalidi.
“This conflation of support for Israel or Zionism with Judaism, and by extension anti-Zionism with antisemitism, is central to the discredited IHRA definition of antisemitism that pro-Israel groups lobby for in legislation and university policies, and that Trump just reaffirmed in his order. But the definition, which categorizes calling Israel a “racist endeavor” as antisemitic, does not protect pro-Israel students from anti-Jewish discrimination or harassment. It protects them from ideological opposition, from any disruption to an inculcated belief that Israel and its actions are necessary for Jewish safety.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-trump-universities/
Insights from a former Columbia student on both Mahmoud Khalil and the current mood on Columbia’s campus.
“Trump’s decision to deport a legal immigrant — and a potentially sympathetic one at that, considering he has a pregnant American wife — is unprecedented and obviously deeply concerning for many supporters of the First Amendment.”
An organizer who worked with Khalil speaks out.
“In the conversations he and I have had and in the spaces we’ve shared, it has always been clear to me that Mahmoud is a man who is both brave and gentle, with strong principles, humility and a deep love for his people and community.”
Arab American Institute Foundation
1600 K Street, NW, Suite 601
Washington, DC 20006
United States
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Arab American Institute
1600 K St, NW, Suite 601
Washington, DC 20006
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