US student organisers defiant against deportation threat
JVL Introduction
The arrest of Palestinian activist Mohammed Khalil by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is another repressive act in the White House campaign to crush protests against Israel’s war on Palestine, a step so alarming that Judge Jesse Furman, an observant Jew serving on the bench at a federal district court in Manhattan, has issued an order blocking Khalil’s deportation.
A group of international graduate student organizers studying at universities in the United States have written the defiant statement below, published by Mondoweiss with an editor’s note explaining that the authors have requested anonymity “due to the current targeting of Palestine activists on student visas (and now, it seems, green cards) for deportation.”
Their message is one we should all heed:
We have taken on the role of witness, and we now carry a responsibility to act. This is true for millions of people all over the world, who, through Palestine, have witnessed the real face of the US empire.
NWI
This article was originally published by Mondoweiss on Mon 10 Mar 2025. Read the original here.
We are international students organizing for Palestine, and we won’t be deterred
They can deport every last one of us, but they cannot erase the spirit of Palestinian resistance. That is what they fear.
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What can you say? This is just deeply moving
Very moving letter full of truth. It makes me feel ashamed and inadequate that I am too scared to join them in real solidarity on the frontline of confronting our own complicit government and the many ways that they materially enable the genocide from this country. Elbit, Leonardo and our own BAE are supplying the weapons and technology used to kill the tens of thousands of entirely innocent civilians. Our government provides the political cover with vetoes in the UN while our media does it’s utmost to deny the genocide that we all see in endless videos, some of which are posted by the boastful soldiers of the IOF themselves, as well as the genocidal incitement from Israeli politicians and high ranking armed forces personnel.
Of course I sign petitions, donate to those who can help and those pushing against the dehumanisation of Palestinians and go on as many protest marches as possible. But I am also aware that I am risking very little, being just one of 150,000 on these marches.
I’m sure that there must be thousands more like me who are very close to overcoming their fear and taking action that will be more effective.
Older readers will recall being told, in honour of victims and those who fought the Nazis, to be ever vigilant against the rise of fascism – long before current professional politicians manipulatively deemed such comparisons a public order offence.
This short clip like Paster Martin Niemöller’s sentiments reminds us political opponents are the first victims of fascist round-ups. From ‘A New Germany – ep #1 World at War’ (1973).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCSHKqovbR0
Brave and wonderful. We too cannot unsee what we have seen.
I am now back in contact with rebels I knew in Tunisia during the Arab Spring of 2011. They always had images of the Intifada on their banners, and now they have Palestinian flags in the streets. They keep a close eye on us: the man who climbed Big Ben with that flag, the student camps here and in the US.
OUR MARCHES ARE STILL CRUCIAL. SEE YOU SATURDAY, WHATEVER THE ROUTE. THE WORLD IS LOOKING.
Common Dreams have posted quite a few articles about the arrest of Mohammed Khalil by ICE in the last two or three days, including this one a couple of days ago, which has a photo of a massive demo outside the New York City ICE office:
‘Free Mahmoud Khalil’: Progressives Demand Release of ‘Disappeared’ Columbia Grad
“If the feds can snatch up an American green card holder for speech they don’t like and get away with it, they won’t stop here. They’ll be able to erase the right to speech they don’t agree with and kidnap anyone who dares resist.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/mahmoud-khalil-detained
And this is one of several articles they published/posted today:
Make No Mistake, Trump Is Turning the US Into a Police State
The arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil is a blatant attack on the civil liberties without which there can be no meaningful democracy for anyone. Our dark days are getting darker by the moment.
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-s-police-state
And also this one, by Thom Hartmann:
Mahmoud Khalil’s Detention Brings Us to the Edge of a Dystopian Future
Trump decided to up the ante against young activists with this action against Khalil, hoping it gets wide publicity to cow any other students who may consider protesting any policies of his.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his police-state goons are trying to frighten people who dare even come close to people protesting his or Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies. This is how dictators intimidate citizens, how freedom dies, and is a clear violation of our Constitution…..
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/mahmoud-khalil-dystopia
Please share far and wide, as with the Mondoweiss article.
The following track/video by Muse comes to mind, the chorus of which, especially, says it all:
Knights Of Cydonia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI
Alan, I went to the link to Knights of Cydonia and was completely mystified. Can you explain ? I was unable to see any liberating potential… to say the least.