Universities Are Scared to Say Much in Support of Mahmoud Khalil. That’s Wrong.

Universities are running scared. But this is no time to be timid.

👉 Click Here to read in detail 👈

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily.

I’m no fan of the pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, and they would certainly not be fans of mine. Although I have been outspoken in my opposition to the Trump administration’s march to authoritarianism over the past several weeks, I have also publicly opposed the divestment movement, written about my Judaism and connection to Israel, and urged dialogue rather than puerile sloganeering on campuses. Student protesters, I’ve made clear, must observe reasonable time and place restrictions—they cannot disrupt the core university functions without accountability. It should go without saying that these restrictions should be “content-neutral.” The content of your views (unless they veer into harassment and intimidation) should have no bearing on the restrictions you face. This is fundamental to freedom of speech.

The federal government violated this principle when it sent agents to arrest Columbia University alumnus Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who was politically engaged on the Columbia campus before graduating last spring. Initially, agents said they were revoking his student visa. But Khalil is not a student; he is a permanent resident of the United States married to an American citizen. The agents apparently changed their story when they learned this and said they were revoking his green card. According to Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, Khalil was arrested “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.” How in the world can this be grounds for an arrest?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio doubled down on this trampling of basic rights in saying that Khalil’s activities were “aligned with Hamas,” and therefore illegal. “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported,” he added. So, what next? Is everyone protesting the actions of Israel in Gaza going to be subject to arrest? Does having protested U.S. support for the bombing of civilians now put one at risk? Not a few Jewish students have participated in campus protests against the war in Gaza; will they too be deemed to be in violation of the president’s orders prohibiting antisemitism?

University presidents must speak out against this attempt to control the political culture of our campuses from the White House. Just as we should decry antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, we should insist that students and faculty have the right to make their voices heard about the issues of the day. Neutrality here is a betrayal of our academic mission.

I believe that those who see Hamas as an organization of freedom fighters are deeply misguided. I see Hamas as violent terrorists eager to kill Jews and make martyrs of their countrymen. But this doesn’t stop me from defending members of the university community who want to protest Israel’s brutal war or express their outrage at our president’s call for ethnic cleansing. What’s next in this effort to ensure ideological conformity? Will those who speak out in favor of Ukraine be deemed misaligned with the pro-Putin agenda of the White House?

Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern What Trump’s $2 Billion Loss at the Supreme Court Really Tells Us

I Should Be Happy My Parents Are Such Good Grandparents. But I Just Can’t Do It. I Followed Three Women Who Wanted to Divorce Their Trump-Supporting Husbands. I Can’t Believe Where They Ended Up. Hollywood’s Newest Heartthrob Is a Greasy, Depressing Little Man Whom No One Saw Coming People Are Always Shocked by Who My Best Friend Is. But We Have Something Undeniably Special.

Many academic leaders seem reluctant to defend the basic right to protest for fear of losing federal support for scientific research and financial aid. The loss of federal support would be a huge blow to biomedical research and educational opportunity, among other things. But if we don’t defend the right to protest, how will we defend the freedom to teach and learn, the freedom to pursue research? If we just defend the speech or activities we like, on what basis do we resist authoritarianism?

You don’t have to be a fan of Mahmoud Khalil’s politics to protest this egregious violation of fundamental American rights. On Monday, a federal judge in Manhattan barred the administration from deporting Khalil and scheduled a detention hearing for Wednesday as demonstrators rallied in his support. We shouldn’t have to agree in order to offer our fellow citizens respect, due process, and basic human rights. Not in “the land of the free.” If we are not to find ourselves permanently aligned with tyranny, we must stand up now for those being targeted by a government hell-bent on using anti-terrorism and support for Israel as a cover for its own authoritarian agenda.

Release Mahmoud Khalil! Respect freedom of speech!

👉 Click Here to read in detail 👈

Miatamil

Listed here the latest Trending News