1000-plus NYC students rally to demand Mahmoud Khalil’s freedom

New York, NY – On March 11, over 1000 students from universities throughout the city rallied at Washington Square Park to protest the detention by ICE of Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia graduate and Palestinian student activist.

On March 8, Columbia University allowed ICE agents to come onto campus to detain Mahmoud Khalil. Despite being a permanent lawful resident of the country due to his green card, he is being threatened with deportation from the country in response to his activism against Israel’s genocide of his own people.

Students chanted, “We want justice you say how? Free Mahmoud Khalil now!” and “ICE, NYPD off our universities!” Speakers from the NYU Students for Justice in Palestine (NYU SJP), NYU Students for a Democratic Society (NYU SDS) and NYU Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (NYU FSJP) spoke on Mahmoud’s kidnapping and the attack this presents to the Palestinian liberation movement and the rights to free speech and protest.

“Mahmoud’s arrest represents more than one individual’s plight – it symbolizes how university administrations have increasingly militarized campus spaces and collaborated with law enforcement to silence legal dissent, in violation of the First Amendment” said the speaker for NYU SJP.

“Trump and his goons want to use this as a way to divide and scare people away from Palestinian activism. He wants us to sit back down, and stay quiet – But as they try to put out the flames of our movement, we are only burning brighter and hotter than ever before!” said the speaker from NYU SDS, Ebtesham Ahmed.

Ahmed continued, “In fact, in his attempts to scare us away, Donald Trump exposed the fear of himself, his cronies, and the billionaire class who has always had full control of our government. They saw the power of the people firsthand. Their fear is what drove them to kidnap Mahmoud, because as powerful as they make themselves out to be, the people united will never be defeated!”

After the speakers, the students marched through downtown Manhattan to City Hall Park. Dozens of NYPD officers followed the students as they marched. Zionist agitators shouted, “Go home terrorists!” and other racist remarks. But the students continued to march to their end location.

At City Hall Park, NYPD officers blocked off the park entrance. Protesters, outraged, chanted “NYPD KKK ICE! They’re all the same!” After the students tried to reclaim the street, NYPD officers barreled into the crowd and arrested over 20 people. The rally dispersed afterwards with students joining a rally against Eric Adams later that day.

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