Protesters Urge Release of Palestinian Activists

(MENAFN) A group of demonstrators staged a protest on Monday, chaining themselves to the gates of Columbia University in New York City. Their primary demand was for the release of two Palestinian student activists.

The protest took place at the intersection of 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, only a week after Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident and former student organizer at Columbia, was detained at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Vermont during his citizenship interview.

The protesters also called for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and green card holder.

Khalil had been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on March 8 after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the revocation of his student visa and green card.

Holding signs with messages such as "Free Our Brothers, Free Mahmoud, Free Mohsen," "Free Our Prisoners, Free Them All," and “Free All Our Political Prisoners,” the demonstrators chanted slogans like "We want justice, you say how? Free Mohsen Mahdawi now!”

Mahdawi is the ninth student from Columbia University who faces deportation, part of a larger effort to expel international students involved in movements supporting Palestine.

This initiative is a component of a series of executive actions by Leader Donald Trump, targeting foreign nationals with what he termed "hostile attitudes" toward the United States.

The actions, which included a crackdown on what Trump described as antisemitism, led to the deportation of foreign students engaged in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses.

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