Palestinian leaders in the Israeli-occupied West Bank met this week for the first gathering of its kind in years. Their mission: to allow Mahmoud Abbas, the aging Palestinian Authority president, to appoint a longtime loyalist to a newly-minted senior position. On Saturday night, Mr. Abbas formally named Hussein al-Sheikh, a close confidant, as his deputy….
An immigration judge in Louisiana found on Friday that the Trump administration could deport Mahmoud Khalil, granting the government an early victory in its efforts to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on U.S. college campuses. The ruling is far from the final word on whether Mr. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and legal permanent resident,…
An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled on Friday that Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil can be deported from the US, citing national security risk linked to his participation in pro-Palestinian campus protests. Immigration Judge Jamee E Comans stated that the US government provided “clear and convincing evidence” that Khalil’s presence in the country could…
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil on Thursday said that they would seek testimony from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who argues that though Mr. Khalil committed no crimes, his very presence in the United States enables antisemitism. Mr. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who led pro-Palestinian demonstrations on the campus last year, has been detained by…
A Newark federal judge on Friday heard arguments on whether the case to free Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, should continue to play out in New Jersey or be transferred to Louisiana, a potentially more favorable venue for the government’s case. The judge, Michael Farbiarz, did not make an immediate…
The U.S. government has alleged that Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil withheld that he worked for a United Nations Palestinian relief agency in his visa application, saying that should be grounds for deportation. The U.N. agency known as UNRWA provides food and healthcare to Palestinian refugees and has become a flashpoint in…
When Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead pro-Palestinian demonstrations while a Columbia University student, was detained this month, the Trump administration argued he should be deported to help prevent the spread of antisemitism, invoking a rarely used law. Lawyers for Mr. Khalil, a legal permanent resident who is being detained in Louisiana, quickly responded that the…
The first legal battle for Mahmoud Khalil, the recent Columbia University graduate who was arrested and moved to Louisiana last week, is the fight to keep his case in New York. The issue may seem minor compared with the First Amendment concerns raised by the arrest of Mr. Khalil, a legal permanent resident who was…
Columbia University is now the epicenter of the American culture war. The Trump administration is targeting a former Columbia student — and the university itself — as a test case for its new authoritarian regime. The story of Columbia isn’t simply about Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student in international affairs there who was one…
A group of protesters occupied the lobby of Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday, demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University activist. The protest was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, a anti-war group that opposes the US government’s actions in the Israel-Gaza conflict. The demonstrators were dressed in red shirts…