Nearly 100 Protesters, Jewish Activists, Detained over Khalil Arrest

March 14, 2025 News
New York police detained close to 100 protesters during a sit-in at the Trump Tower in Manhattan. (Photo: via JVP X account)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Khalil is currently being held in a Louisiana detention center, a situation that his lawyers have objected to, and asked for his return.

New York police detained close to 100 protesters during a sit-in at the Trump Tower in Manhattan on Thursday led by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) activists, who demanded the release of Columbia University graduate and activist Mahmoud Khalil.

“As Jews, we are taking over the Trump Tower to register our mass refusal,” the movement said on X. “We will not stand by as this fascist regime attempts to criminalize Palestinians and all those calling for an end to the Israeli government’s US-funded genocide of the Palestinian people. And we will never stop fighting for a free Palestine.”

The protest reportedly resulted in around 98 demonstrators, amongst them Jewish elders, students and descendants of Holocaust survivors, being arrested with some dragged out of the building, by their arms and legs.

Protesters donned red t-shirts that read ‘Not in Our Name’ and ‘Jews Say Stop Arming Israel,’ and unfurled banners that read ‘Never Again for Anyone’ and ‘Jews Say Do Not Comply.’ Another banner stated: ‘No Muslim Ban Ever.’

No Formal Charges

Khalil, a green card holder and a recent Columbia University graduate who served as a lead negotiator during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment last April, was arrested by agents of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at his university-owned residence in New York on Saturday night. The agents said his green card had been revoked.

Although he has not been formally charged, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement on Sunday that Khalil was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)  in coordination with the Department of State, and “in support of President (Donald) Trump’s executive orders prohibiting antisemitism.”

“Khalil led activities aligned to (the Palestinian group) Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” the statement claimed.

On Monday, a federal court judge in Manhattan blocked his deportation and on Wednesday extended the ban.

Khalil is currently being held in a Louisiana detention center, a situation that his lawyers have objected to, and asked for his return.

First Amendment Rights

Outside the court on Wednesday, Ramzi Kassem, an attorney for the detained activist, said Khalil “was taken by US government agents in retaliation, essentially, for exercising his First Amendment rights, for speaking up in defense of Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, for being critical of the US government and of the Israeli government.”

He said those were the reasons “why he was targeted” and detained, and also why he was moved to a Louisiana detention center for “further retaliation for the fact that on the night of his arrest at home he filed a habeus corpus petition in this court which he also has a constitutional right to do.”

Khalil was moved to Louisiana “to take him away from his lawyers…from accessing this court, … from his family and his support network,” Kassem emphasized.

“And so every day that Mahmoud spends in detention in Louisiana is a day too long. We fully intend to vindicate not just his first amendment rights but those of all Americans and all lawful permanent residents … that it simply cannot be the case that you can be disappeared at night off the streets of New York City.”

‘National Security Threat’

According to a New York Times report, Trump’s border czar, Thomas Homan, said on Wednesday that Khalil was considered “a national security threat,” and accused him of handing out leaflets “inciting violence on campus.”

“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 Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said in a statement earlier this week.

‘Unlawful and Unjust’ Arrest

Khalil’s wife, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant, said in a statement on Wednesday that it was “shameful that the United States government continues to hold him because he stood for the rights and lives of his people.”

She demanded his “immediate release,” adding that his “disappearance has devastated our lives. Every day without him is filled with uncertainty.  Not just for me but for our entire family and community.”

“And yet we are not alone. So many who know and love Mahmoud have come together refusing to stay silent. Their support is a testament to his character and to the deep injustice of what is being done to him,” the statement, read out by one of Khalil’s legal representatives, concluded.

The Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC) called Khalil’s detention “unlawful and unjust” and vowed to “not let Columbia get away with this.”

An online petition has been launched for his immediate release.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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1 Comment

  1. Oh, i get it now…
    it’s ” antisemitism ” when you protest the slaughter of innocent Palestinians: mostly women and children…
    but it’s NOT ” antisemitism ” when you drag
    Jewish elders, students and descendants of Holocaust survivors out of a peaceful protest. ( quoting ) ” Jewish people being arrested with some dragged out of the building, by their arms and legs ” …
    And how many of those cops were Jewish???
    this is the same as 160,000 Jews being in the Nazi party. And it’s the same as Jews ratting on other Jews in WW2.
    Dump Trump! To hell with Netanyahu and the rest of the scumbag ZioNazis in Wasrael.

    Reply

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