The story goes this way, as the U.S. Vice President Vance said in a recent interview with Fox News “a green-card holder doesn’t have an indefinite right to be in the United States. This is not about ‘free speech.’ Yes, it’s about national security — but more importantly, it’s about who we, as American citizens, decide gets to join our national community.”
Why it matters:
The U.S.'s unduly support for the Israeli regime has touched the American academic society and made them sensitive toward the future of America. Student movements come out of the heart of American society.
The big picture:
The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and Palestinian rights activist, has sparked widespread protests, highlighting increasing opposition to the suppression of pro-Palestinian activism in the U.S. and raising concerns over human rights violations in Western policies. At the same time, the suspension of an Iranian researcher at Yale University over false AI-generated claims further reveals the extent of pressure on pro-Palestinian voices.
Flashback:
The anti-Israeli protests in American universities began a few days after the Israeli regime launched an all-out war on Gaza. It was on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, when the student protests intensified at Columbia University in New York. During the protests that spilled over to other universities across the U.S., over 700 students and college professors were arrested.
The October 7 Student Movement in the United States sparked an uprising in support of Palestine, spilling over to Europe and other parts of the world.
Now, the arrest of pro-Palestinian students is on the agenda under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Mahmoud Khalil, an alumnus of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs and a leading pro-Palestinian activist at the institution, was among the first detainees. He was arrested by federal agents on March 8.
Turkish PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk was arrested near Tufts University’s Somerville campus. In March 2024, she had co-authored an op-ed criticizing Tufts’ handling of student calls for divestment from either Israeli or Israel-affiliated companies.
Doğukan Günaydin, a University of Minnesota graduate student, was detained. ICE called the arrest “a deeply concerning situation.”
Zoom in:
- Rasha Alawieh, an assistant professor at Brown Medical School, was deported from Boston to Lebanon because of her attendance at the funeral of former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in February.
- Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian graduate student in metallurgy at the University of Alabama, was arrested by ICE. His link to pro-Palestinian protests is uncertain, as the ICE agent says.
- Momodou Taal, a U.K.-Gambia dual citizen and Cornell PhD student, had his visa revoked for participating in what the U.S. government calls "disruptive protests." After a court declined to halt his deportation, he announced on Monday his plans to leave the US voluntarily.
- Leqaa Kordia, a Columbia student from the West Bank, lost her student visa in January 2022 due to lack of attendance. She was later arrested for participating in pro-Palestinian protests.
- Yunseo Chung, a junior at Columbia University, sued the Trump administration to stop removal proceedings after she was arrested for her participation in pro-Palestinian protests.
Context:
The students and professors are in detention because of supporting the Palestinian nation's right to life. Currently, the Israeli regime has resumed its full war on Gaza. The U.S. is dedicated to supporting the war in which over 50,000 Palestinians have lost their lives as they resist staying in their homeland. But the U.S. wants to expel them. The Israeli war is fed by the tax going out of the Americans' pockets.
State of play:
The super debtor of the world, accompanied by Israel, is on the brink of another military aggression, this time on Iran, a full supporter of Palestine. The anti-war protests in the U.S. may get high and lead to unrest as the anti-Israeli movement in support of Palestine will shore up and spill over to anti-U.S. protests in support of Iran.
The bottom line:
20,000 Palestinian children in less than two years in Gaza. “Of course, nations around the world, including in Europe and the United States, protest and rally against the Zionists and the U.S. to the extent that they are aware of these crimes.”
seyed mohammad kazemi
