Mahmoud Khalil’s abduction is a fascist move — and universities must respond

 

Schools across the United States have a choice: defend their students against Trump or be complicit in his crimes.

On Saturday, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian lawful permanent resident of the United States who was active as a negotiator between Columbia University and students protesting Israel’s genocide in Palestine, was abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at his Columbia housing and in front of his pregnant wife. He was quickly shipped to an infamous detention facility in Louisiana. President Trump celebrated Khalil’s detention, promising that his was the “first arrest of many to come.” On Monday night, a federal judge temporarily blocked any attempt to deport Khalil, but his legal fight is far from over.

Khalil’s abduction, in its cruelty and unlawfulness, has horrified people around the country. Let us be clear: this is what fascism looks like, and it is part of a much broader campaign.

Since his inauguration, in a whirlwind power grab designed to shock and awe, Trump has signed dozens of executive orders, many attacking fundamental constitutional rights and already marginalized communities. Now his loyal attack dogs at ICE, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and other agencies are implementing them — with a particular emphasis on criminalizing the student movement that accelerated on campuses across America after October 7, when thousands of students and faculty rose up against Israel’s U.S.-backed genocide in Palestine and wars against Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.

In a Jan. 29 executive order, for instance, Trump directed government agencies to target pro-Palestine students and staff for deportation and prosecution, in part by enlisting universities as censors and snitches. The administration then announced that it would cut $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia for supposedly failing to protect against antisemitism, threatening other schools with the same.

These are straightforward attacks on students’ free speech rights to criticize Israeli and American policy, and universities that opt to meaningfully support their students would have a strong defense to mount against these abuses. But to their eternal discredit, many universities have so far been rolling out the red carpet for the fascist tendencies and policies that Trump and his acolytes proudly promote, obeying even before he took office.  (more...)

Mahmoud Khalil’s abduction is a fascist move — and universities must respond