A crowd of at least 100 anti-Israel protesters took over Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday to demand the release of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, who was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for leading “activities aligned to Hamas.”
Videos showed protesters wearing red shirts with the phrase “Jews Say Stop Arming Israel.” Some brandished signs saying, “Fight Nazis, not students,” and “No Muslim Ban Ever.”
Jewish Voice for Peace has drawn criticism for its name, which implies it is a Jewish group, although members don’t have to be Jewish to join. The founder of American University’s JVP chapter is of Palestinian descent, and Hamas-tied Palestinian activist Hatem Bazian is largely involved with the group.
Police arrested at least 65 protesters an hour into the demonstration.
Khalil’s arrest came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating the deportation of international students engaged in “unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence,” which he promised to do while on the 2024 campaign trail.
“Mahmoud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation’s finest universities and colleges, and he took advantage of that opportunity by siding with terrorists, Hamas terrorists,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
“This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda flyers,” she added. “This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans.”
HOW TRUMP’S PROMISE TO ABOLISH THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WOULD WORK
In addition to deporting international students engaged in antisemitic conduct, Trump vowed to pull funding from schools his administration found not to be doing enough to combat antisemitism. He followed through on this threat by pulling $400 million in funding from Columbia University.
The Washington Examiner reached out to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s office for comment.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
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