Popular condemnation

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was freed from detention at a US immigration facility last Friday after 104 days of captivity. A graduate student at Columbia University, Khalil – who is Palestinian by parentage – has an Algerian passport and permanent US residence. He was snatched without a warrant from his home in early March as he and his pregnant wife were returning from an evening out. His case attracted widespread popular condemnation. Rights groups accused the Trump administration of violation the sacrosanct First Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech and assembly.

Amnesty International condemned his arrest and pressed for his freedom. Amnesty’s regional director Ana Piquer stated, “We remain deeply concerned by the escalating use of detention, intimidation, deportation, and disregard to right of due process, to silence protest and chill public debate in the United States. This is not just about one student, it is about the growing pattern of authoritarian practices by the Trump administration that undermine human rights. We urge the US government to end the political targeting of students and other individuals based on their beliefs and to respect freedom of speech. Mahmoud’s detention [was] a stark reminder of the human rights that are at stake in the country, and we will continue to monitor his case.”

On his release, he rejoined his wife Noor Abdallah and hugged his newborn son for the first time. However, he is not a totally free man as his immigration case is ongoing and the authorities seized his passport and green card which identifies him as a legal US resident. His movements are restricted to New York and nearby states.

A federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, ordered Khalil’s release on bail, asserting, unconditionally: “He is not a danger to the community. Period, full stop.” The judge accepted his lawyers’ contention that his prosecution was politically motivated. Khalil had committed no crime. Officials had charged him with threatening national security by protesting US backing for Israel’s Gaza war and accused him of antisemitism although Jewish students demonstrated alongside him at Columbia University and elsewhere.

His high-profile arrest was the most energetically contested of multiple immigration cases levelled against foreign students who took part in these anti-war protests at US universities. Other detainees were either freed or deported from the country. His release could encourage others to fight.

Khalil’s release constitutes a blow to the Trump administration’s campaign to dictate the US narrative and take questionable or downright illegal actions to stifle dissidence. In addition to branding protests against Israel as antisemitic and against US policies favouring Israel, Trump has nearly closed the Voice of America (VOA) by firing thousands of journalists on its staff. The administration claimed the VOA was “riddled with dysfunction, bias, and waste. The VOA was established during World War II to counter Nazi propaganda and played the same role during the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union.

Trump has followed up by cutting funding to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System which serves mainly rural communities. Critics argue the administration is taking this action to limit the public’s access to independent reports and liberal, progressive views which challenge Trump’s line and actions.

Trump has led the charge against federal, educational, and institutional policies based on identity. These are meant to give opportunities to people of all backgrounds. These policies, dubbed “diversity, equity and diversity,” remove gender, ethnic, religious, and educational requirements for inclusion in a wide range of activities and ensure equal treatment and pay.

Trump has also issued a travel ban on visitors from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Yemen, and Sudan, and a partial travel ban on seven more. This ban affects predominantly black and brown people as well as those from Muslim-majority countries. Amnesty accused the administration of racial discrimination, creates hatred, and promotes the idea that citizens from the targeted countries are likely to mount attacks in the US. Amnesty said, “This arbitrary travel ban also violates the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution and the US obligation to protect [asylum seekers and refugees] under international and national refugee law.”

US Senator Alex Padilla was arrested, thrown to the floor, and handcuffed by law officers for asking a question of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem at a press conference. A judge was arrested in her office for helping a defendant to evade arrest by an immigration team. Masked squads snatch, arrest, and disappear targeted individuals in public and detain those protesting peacefully against his mass roundups of migrants. Trump placed the California National Guard under federal control and deployed 700 marines against largely peaceful Los Angeles demonstrations against his administration’s crack down on migrants.

This intervention coincided with the June 14th military parade in Washington to mark the 250th anniversary of the US army, Trump’s 79th birthday, and anti-authoritarian “No King” protests against Trump’s authoritarianism which drew five million across the US.

Trump again demonstrated his authoritarian bent on the international plane by ordering and carrying out attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities in support of Israel’s war on Iran. While anti-Iran hawks and most lawmakers in Trump’s Republican party praised this action, Democrats were highly critical. They argued that he failed to seek congressional authorisation to use military force abroad and insisted on a full, classified briefing on this operation. Some Democrats called for Trump’s impeachment.

Photo: AFP