PUTNEY-The arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a chilling start to what will likely be more and more efforts to curtail free speech, free association, and a host of civil rights enshrined in our Constitution.
Troy Edgar, deputy secretary of the DHS, told NPR host Michel Martin that Khalil was arrested because he had "put himself in the middle of the process of basically pro-Palestinian activity" while a graduate student at Columbia University.
Khalil has so far not been charged with any crime. But his activities organizing protests, speaking out in support of Palestinians and negotiating with the Columbia administration on behalf of other students, are couched as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on antisemitism on college campuses.
Antisemitism is real, terrifying, and on the rise. And some Columbia protesters likely did engage in antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. This should be condemned and those individuals held accountable.
But criticism of Israel, of the Israeli government, of Netanyahu, or of Zionism, no matter what one thinks of any of this, is not inherently antisemitic. And criticism of our own government's support of Israel is also not antisemitic.
The Jewish ethics passed down to me from my parents and grandparents taught me that dissent is patriotic. To criticize one's government and demand that it be better, be moral, be humane is our right and responsibility.
I learned that Jewish ethics require me to speak out when I see injustice, and also that my country, a country of immigrants, is (or was) one in which this right is paramount and enshrined in our Constitution.
That Khalil is (or was) a "lawful permanent resident," with a green card (who had previously worked for the British government, with the rigorous vetting required) is really beside the point, as all people in the U.S. have First Amendment rights. Yet his detention strikes fear, particularly, in the hearts of anyone speaking on behalf of Palestinians.
That someone like Khalil, a Palestinian born in Syria, would feel it was his responsibility to speak out on behalf of Palestinians, is obvious. That this speech should be protected speech, is also obvious to me. Monitoring and punishing political speech such as Khalil's is the action of fascist authoritarian governments, which is clearly what is happening here.
Tatiana Schreiber
Putney
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.
This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, The Commons is reviewing and developing more precise policies about editing of opinions and our role and our responsibility and standards in fact-checking our own work and the contributions to the newspaper. In the meantime, we heartily encourage civil and productive responses at [email protected].