{"id":40391,"date":"2025-03-19T19:36:46","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T02:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=40391"},"modified":"2025-03-19T19:36:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T02:36:47","slug":"the-detention-of-mahmoud-kahlil-is-a-travesty-of-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/the-detention-of-mahmoud-kahlil-is-a-travesty-of-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"The detention of Mahmoud Kahlil is a travesty of justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Opinion<\/a>Editorial<\/a>The detention of Mahmoud Kahlil is a travesty of…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump Administration’s arrest of the former Columbia student and protest leader is an unlawful breach of free speech rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 48 HILLS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MARCH 17, 2025 (48hills.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The violent state suppression of student protests<\/a> that exploded under President Biden took another alarming turn under President Trump last week, when recent Columbia University graduate and protest leader Mahmoud Kahlil was suddenly detained by ICE agents<\/a> and, for several hours, kept in an undisclosed location in anticipation of deportation. Kahlil, a Palestinian of Syrian nationality and Algerian citizenship, is a lawful permanent resident with a green card; he has been charged with no crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the only reason he was detained seems to be was that he participated in peaceful protests at Columbia<\/a> against the ongoing destruction of Gaza by Israel, aided by the United States\u2014which Trump has falsely labeled \u201cillegal protests<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the wake of Kahlil\u2019s detention\u2014including a period in which his lawyers were unable to contact him\u2014Trump has called for the arrest and deportation<\/a> of more non-citizen protesters, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also promised more arrests<\/a> and accused Kahlil of activities \u201caligning to Hamas\u201d (while presenting no evidence of this), and the Justice Department is currently weighing whether anti-genocide protesters violated federal anti-terrorism laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President also canceled $400 million in grants to Columbia<\/a> \u201cdue to the school\u2019s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students,\u201d despite many Jewish students taking part in the protests, while its newly formed Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism \u201cconducts a comprehensive review of the university\u2019s federal grants and contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No evidence has been presented that Kahlil harassed Jewish students or committed any crime. If he or the protest broke campus rules, the school\u2014not the federal government\u2014should respond accordingly. Unfortunately, Columbia and other universities threatened with losing federal money seem to be rolling over on the concept or free speech<\/a> and abdicating their responsibility to protect their students<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mahmoud Kahlil at Columbia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While they can be deported if convicted of a crime, permanent legal residents are covered by the Constitution<\/a>, and have the right to free speech, protest, and a fair trial. After a period of extreme uncertainty about his condition and whereabouts\u2014at a time when the Trump administration is sending unnamed people to Guantanamo<\/a> and El Salvador<\/a> without trials\u2014Kahlil is in touch with his attorneys<\/a> and a federal judge has blocked his deportation while considering his case<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protesting is a Constitutional right, and campus protests have a legacy in this country stretching back 100 years, with pivotal protests for free speech at UC Berkeley, which is also being threatened with funding cuts<\/a>. Civil disobedience, by its definition, involves non-violent forms of protest that intentionally draw attention to a cause by challenging, testing, and even breaking laws\u2014but there has been no evidence presented that Kahlil did any of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s threats of deportation, accompanied by actual arrests, go far beyond casting a chill over free speech\u2014they are unlawful and anti-American.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OpinionEditorialThe detention of Mahmoud Kahlil is a travesty of… The Trump Administration’s arrest of the former Columbia student and protest leader is an unlawful breach of free speech rights. By 48 HILLS MARCH 17, 2025 (48hills.org) The violent state suppression of student protests that exploded under President Biden took another alarming turn… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40391"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40392,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40391\/revisions\/40392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}