Disappearing act

To the editor:

Both Mahmoud Kahlil and Mohsen Mahdawi are New Yorkers and permanent residents. They were activists at Columbia University who led protests against Israel’s military actions in Gaza while advocating for Palestinian rights. Both were arrested by Homeland Security agents and placed in detention. The Trump administration is trying to deport them. The grounds for doing this violates freedom of speech, due process and the rule of law. The administration’s justifications are obscene and absurd.

The two students supposedly had magical powers to undermine American foreign policy in the Middle East, destroy any chances for peace, and increase antisemitism. Secretary of State Rubio gave a two-page memo to the immigration court with assertions but no evidence. He acknowledged Kahlil had no criminal history (nor does Mahdawi), but needs to be deported because of “beliefs” that oppose our foreign policy interests. Indeed, his very presence in the country hinders Washington’s efforts to combat antsemitism around the world and to “protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the U.S.”

Mahdawi has similar magical powers. The protests he led at Columbia could increase antisemitism in the Middle East (but not Israel’s military actions?) and undermine the process for “peacefully ending the Gaza conflict” (isn’t that what Netanyahu and Trump are doing?). Contrary to administration claims about him, Mahdawi on “60 Minutes” in December 2023 said, “To be anti-Semitic is unjust. And the fight for freedom of Palestine and the fight against antisemitism go hand-in-hand.”

This is a case study of how the Trump administration and his MAGA Republican Party are laying the foundation for an authoritarian state, a part of which weaponizes antisemitism to attack universities and colleges. Yet New York’s congressional delegation, Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams have yet to challenge the way these two New Yorkers have been treated.

Howard Elterman