Not long ago, conservatives laughed at the idea that words are violence. Now, they're embracing the same concept. Is that a good idea, morally or politically?
Oversimplification? More like Kawaller simply ignores all the evidence so he can dismiss the issue entirely.
The media actually covering the protests (especially the NY Post), particularly at Columbia, have been clear that Jewish students were threatened to the point of being afraid to go to classes and certain areas of campus; illegal encampments were maintained, buildings were taken over and vandalized, and staff were assaulted and held against their will.
The perpetrators escaped punishment because Columbia shirked its duties under Title IX and NY County's woke Soros-sponsored DA, Alvin Bragg, declined to prosecute anyone on the laughable grounds that their faces were covered.
Yep. Anyone can say any words they want -- I may not like the words, may think the person is a jerk or worse, but speech is PROTECTED. Actions are NOT protected. What the anti-semetic jerks SAID is irrelevant (unless directly inciting someone to violence) -- but taking over buildings, blocking access to buildings, and physically harassing students because of their race and/or religion is the problem. I didn't follow the Columbia situation as closely as the UCLA situation (since I have a good friend whose daughter goes there). UCLA was just as bad as Columbia. There were pro-Hamas protestors preventing Jews from going into the library and the university did nothing to stop it for weeks. I'm a college drop-out and participated in my fair share of protests, and this has all gotten way out of hand.
Speech is protected. However foreign nationals, regardless of legal permanent residency status, are NOT permitted to promote terrorism, promote genocide, and.. FFS NOBODY is permitted to pour concrete down the toilets and plumbing of multistory buildings. The very bright and sneaky author of this article deliberately obfuscates, derides and completely ignores all of the many public posts, speeches, and direct communications in which our Syrian Algerian terrorist clearly and unmistakably called for the destruction of western civilization.
Gaslighting is not a very useful communication device. I’m personally a little disappointed that Matt promoted it.
Generally antisemites like you are resentful and insecure. Please give us your story about how 15 million people control 8 billion and other mysteries about how how Jews control your life or something. And don’t give me this BS about how people like you aren’t antisemites you’re just criticizing Israel. You are obsessed obviously. How many comments have you written in this thread?
Ms Kilgore. I actually checked out your link to the ACLU website with their one sided take on the UCLA encampment that claims among other things that their right to free speech has been violated.
For one, occupying the university property is not free speech. It’s a violation at the very least of University’s Code of Conduct. For this alone they should face suspension or expulsion.
As for your question of the harassment of other students the data is too large to share in this venue. Virtually every major news outlet has covered the harassment of Jewish and other students who were trying to simply get to classes
Oh it was the mobs of Zionist Jews rampaging through the streets tearing shit up, vandalizing statues, smashing windows of Jewish Delis, shrieking “I am Hamas!”, protesting outside any building with a Jewish name on it, taking over campuses and crapping in the commons …. I totally thought it was the other way around. What a dummy I am. Thanks for setting the record straight. Moron.
A Columbia professor segregated and verbally assaulted students in his classroom for the crime of being Jewish. Individuals wearing dress associated with Judaism were confronted and excluded for the crime of walking past an illegal encampment. And I don’t think that any rational person believes that the NYPD is controlled by Israel.
"I'll wait" for about 1 second or in other words, about as long as it too to Google "Jewish students at Columbia". Nothing about assault, antisemitism, protests etc., simply "Jewish students at Columbia" pulled up multiple articles that you claim are lies.
What's next? Are you going to start throwing the word Nazi at those who oppose your lies?
No one here has to show you evidence of anything. Proof and evidence in the Khalil context are legal terms. Everyone else, including you and me, are just voicing opinions based on our assessment of
publicly available information. Some valid. Some not. But one thing is certain - the Khalil case will not be tried in the court of public opinion. Nor for that matter will the Arabs we now refer to as Palestinians' cause.
Lol - I,m not an “Israel defender” as regards the deportation of aliens. It seems plain common sense that guaranteed Constitutional protections apply only to citizens. The spectrum of non-citizen immigrants inhabit some grey area, perhaps informed by our Constitutional understanding, but in no way Constitutionally binding.
The article claims "U.S. law stipulates that an alien is deportable if he 'endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization.'" It further asserts that "The Syrian-born green-card recipient served as one of the ringleaders of the post-October 7 riots at his former university and functioned as the lead 'negotiator' for the student group known as Columbia United Apartheid Divest (CUAD). CUAD was one of the primary agents of chaos on Columbia’s campus during last spring’s 'encampment,' during which rioters smashed windows, defaced and occupied buildings, disrupted classes, and harassed and threatened Jewish students."
There is much in the law that defies or encompasses more than "common sense," and often for good reason. If the whole thing actually rested on common sense, law school could be gotten through in a matter of weeks or months. When speaking of it, one should probably get informed on the specific subject at hand so as to not waste one, and others', time.
Someone needs to research the psychosis that results when you convince a group that they are the world's ultimate victims always and forever. Must be a pretty heady trip, don't you think? And not in a healthy way...
Every accusation of oppression by pro Palestinian Islamist protesters is actually a confession of aggression by Hamas and its supporters including the terrorist state of Iran, which is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans. You wonderful patriot. Go fishing.
She doesn't seem "threatened" or "afraid." These protests were surprisingly multi-cultural, with Jews, Christians, Muslims and even atheists! What you wrote is simply false. It's a falsehood that you're propagating in service of the wellbeing of a foreign government, to justify the abolition of the first amendment to the constitution.
OK, so I'll try to watch it tonight. However, I'll tell you right now that I will have no truck with the bullshit idea that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. The reviews suggest that the conflation of the 2 is the propagandistic purpose of the movie.
I don’t know, violence, maybe? lslamists with keffiyehs calling for the destruction of Israel and the death of Jews? Encampments that prevented students thought to be Zionist or Jews from going, where they wanted to go on campus? You know stuff like violence and intimidation
Why do people think the federal government doesn’t have the right to say something to Columbia? If they want autonomy, then don’t take a penny of our fuckjng taxpayer money. When you accept taxpayers money, you’ve agreed to our wrath
Thank you. This was truly odious. The students facing deportation obviously lied to obtain their visa. I say if Prince Harry lied on his visa application about his drug use we should deport him as well.
Trump already said he doesn't want to deport him because he is already burdened by a very bad wife. It seems reasonable to me. There's only so much a man can take.
I don't think this is obvious. What was the lie? Could you prove that they committed visa fraud in court? If so, why do you decline to indict them or prosecute them for that crime? Could it be that you're bullshitting?
Well i ran the international program at a university. In order to get a student visa. Among the areas that they explore is whether the potential student has views that are contrary to the interests of the US. These students are guest in our country. If they are disruptive we do not owe them the same deference that is owed a citizen.
I don’t think he was disruptive. The videos that I’ve seen show him engaging in a time-honored American tradition: peacefully demonstrating against the decisions made by his institution, in his name, with his tuition money. Better than that, his actual words called for peace and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians: indeed, in insinuated (accurately) that the fates of these two peoples are intertwined, and the destruction of one will lead to the destruction of the other, so both should be elevated. Khalil is among the best of us, and it’s because of his virtue that he’s being targeted. This man is a guest in MY country, and I’m honored that he chose to be here.
Are we really going to pretend that Hitler did nothing wrong because he never hurt anyone himself and just spoke words? That the mob boss who tells his boys to "take care of him" is just exercising free speech?
The fact that left-wing people are dishonest enough to pretend not to know the difference between free speech and attacking people doesn't require the rest of us to pretend to be that stupid as well.
Here's the homework for Racket News, if they care to make a real difference: Write an article articulating where the line is. THEN talk about real-world examples.
I'm a right-wing people, and it appears that you are the one who does not know where the line between free speech and attacking people is, but I'll give you a hint. Khalil is accused only of saying things people don't like, he isn't accused of attacking anyone. It appears you need to do your own homework assignment. While you're at it, write an essay on guilt-by-association and why it's un-American.
He is accused as well as conducting, leading the Hamas group that he applies America citizens’ first amendment rights in addition. Sec of State Rubio is revoking the Green Card (not LPR) because he would never have received the gift of one from this nation had he indicated his intentions to act in support of terrorist Hamas prior to the US giving him that status.
Isn't he accused of helping to barricade the library (trespassing) and also of vandalism and destruction? Not just speech. Besides why should a non-American get the privilege of being a guest when he misbehaves and promotes Hamas?
If they had evidence of a crime he could have been charged with said crime. A White House official even said “the accusation here is not that he has a committed a crime.” He is being jailed for first amendment protected speech. The fact that he is a Green Card holder and not a citizen does not make him a more legitimate target for this. He’s a legal, permanent resident and he should not be subject to deportation without having committed a crime and being convicted under due process. Besides, any person on US soil has exactly the same speech rights as any citizen. If they can do it to him, they can do it to any of us. The Israelis on here may not understand it because they don’t live in a free and equal democracy, but in America this is antithetical to everything our country stands for. I think that’s the disconnect here, so many commenters aren’t even American.
Are we really going to prosecute this whole fucking thing every time someone mentions that guy's name or says the word "Israel" out loud?
Let's all agree to save time, as NO ONE will be persuaded by ANYONE in these comments, one way or the other, and not drum through all this shit again and again.
I agree that prognosticating is a complete waste of time, except as an effort to clarify one's own thoughts, but it is an irresistible American pastime. The courts will decide - haha just like they settled RvW to everyone's satisfaction.
Well said sir. At its essence you are either inclined to support mass murder or you’re not. Seems pretty simple to me. Perhaps I am just a simpleton. 🤔
I think they know the difference, JD. I think they have this fundamental belief that this must be, it must exist, to protect the freedom. You know, the old "it's the speech we hate" mantra.
There is a line, and we've got to find it. I certainly don't know how, but I just recently went on a serious multi-rant because I found out that a subscriber had been libeled (section 230 exempted libel, of course) mutliple times with the words "Nazi cunt" on a Substack. We have to find a line, or one will be found for us.
I got news for you guys: Your freedom to say horrid and awful things to each other, lives on a knife's edge. That edge is called the Section 230 Exemption, and it is granted, and rescinded, totally at the government's pleasure. It's a ticking bomb that is at the last second, waiting for "the something" to happen.
And don't forget that when "the something" happens, and there is no more Free Press, and there is no more Substack, it will NOT be an infringement on your speech rights.
Apply this logic to Trump saying "you need to fight like hell or you won't have a country anymore" before a thousand of his most rabid sycophants violently attacked the capital building, resulting in multiple deaths.
I'm sure Trump supporters would understand why police had to use violence during that riot if they imagined foreigners attacking the capital building like that.
When the debate has devolved to the point of comparing Khalil (a liaison/negotiator between Columbia's administrators and the protesters) to Hitler and a mob boss, as Taibbi would say, you've lost the plot.
I haven’t lost anything. I’m using simple, obvious analogies to point out the absurdity of pretending that there’s no “speech” that’s ever criminal. You, meanwhile, are weasel-wording Khalil into something very different from what he is.
No, you just don't want to believe who he really is, and would rather believe the hasbara nonsense. And the only "pretending" going on is claiming he said anything "criminal."
The West is worth a road trip. Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Washington are all beautiful, and people are open and mind their business and don't care to tell you about yours. You'll get some of that in Seattle, but it's not as bad as parts of California or most of Wyoming. And most have legal weed.
A terror list?! That is incredibly awesome, and probably way overdue. Can you share where you got this information? I've been saying since 10/7 that the world needs to stop traveling to the U.S. The revenue from tourism is more diluted here than in, say, Bora Bora, but many places rely heavily on it. Money is all Trump, Musk and their minions understand. The rest of the world needs to hit us as hard as it can.
YOu seem to speak for all of us in what we all stand for.. but i'll wager it's what you stand for and you want to shove it down our throats.... correct?
You're a fragile little snowflake. It's probably in your best interest to find news outlets that only confirm what you already believe. There's no shortage of them out there.
Hardly. I have a wide range of sources and am.pretty astute at weeding out bias/prejudice, mis-, dis-, and mal-information. But this piece does not even rise to that level. It is awful. Maybe it was supposed to be comedic. That is his lane. But it did not rise to that level either.
Yes. These procrastinating adolescents are just cosplaying Hamas warriors in order to skip college class on a sunny Friday afternoon. Just “costumes” of murderers who committed atrocities most of can’t and would not imagine, and filmed and posted on social media to share with the rest of us and to further traumatize and victimize. And continue to do so to this day.
Nothing to see here? He got here in December, 2022. Less than twenty-eight months in America, and he is an out-front player for Hamas - American Style.
It will be so moving to read his Letters From A Louisiana Jail, which Amy and the rest of his 19 attorneys will be sure to share with us on a regular basis.
It's a venue where soyboys can pick up chicks, too. 'Twas ever thus.
I'm reminded of a "Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" comic in which Fat Freddy joins a demonstration and immediately barges into the library demanding to be shown where they keep the "fuck books." He's shown the door by a gigantic monstrous librarian who says "The university library will NEVER hold 'fuck books.' Now GET OUT!"
I tried to find an archived copy of the comic, but failed. I think it's in one of the first five issues or so, around 1969.
You're fake, right? This is a copy/paste from a Youtube comment or something, right? Nobody could be that stupid and also have found their way here naturally and managed to make a comment.
It strikes me as just another example of assigning no value to people who don’t think like you, or who don’t look like you, or who don’t share your history . . . Hmmm. What does that remind us of.
Many of the TikTok atrocity videos were posted by IDF soldiers proud of what they had done (sort of like Americans in Abu Ghraib). Our brave fine Congress had a way to deal with such atrocities: They banned TikTok. And soon Trump's waiting period for TikTok will end and we will be shielded from anti-Semitic Zionist atrocity posts which put Israel in a bad light.
Saturday morning, Oct. 7, 2023, I turned on the morning news show on Fox (naturally, right?). They were showing a video of a young woman being dragged into a jeep-like vehicle by men with guns. Her pants were stained. She was driven away. During the day, photos of a dead naked woman in the back of a truck were making their way into media. Did the IDF film and publish those images?
Did the IDF release images of bloody babies’ beds, and evidence of other atrocities committed that day? Yes, and why? Did the Allies film the atrocities in WWII in the death camps. Yes. And how interesting any number of people are denying the existence of the Holocaust and the barbarity of Oct. 7.
It's actually a very simple issue, Lynne. Destroying the first amendment for at the behest of a foreign government is likely to cause backlash against that government by freedom-loving Americans.
That is true, but it's also true that destroying the First Amendment for issues like wokism is not only likely, but did cause a backlash. The fundamental problem the author is pointing out is that various groups are attempting to destroy the First Amendment in order to advance their own agenda.
So BS your biases and prejudices are on full display. And like BK make a vast oversimplification. First, 1st A rights are civil rights and as such relate to a particular field of law. Civil rights issues can be raised in civil actions such as suing an entity for violation of civil rights. But they are more often raised as defense to criminal prosecution or as justification for criminal conduct. Significantly to do either the accused has to admit the offense, and your whole argument is Khalid did nothing wrong. Criminal conduct is not excused by labeling it free speech. Speech is protected. Some acts, such as peaceful protest, are protected. (At least here for now.) But vandalism and trespass are not excused (just ask the J6 protesters). False imprisonment (of the maintenance workers) is not excused. Threats, intimidation, and harassment of a group of students based on their religion or ethnicity is not excused. But Khalid is not charged with a crime nor is he required to be to be subject to deportation. As others have already told you if he is relying on a student visa and violated the terms thereof he is subject to deportation. If he is relying on a green card visa and violated the terms thereof he is subject to deportation. If he lied on the student or green card visa applications he is subject to deportation. But my understanding is that the basis of his deportation is a rarely used (til now anyway) method and is based on a State Department determination that he has engaged in conduct contrary to America's national interests. You know and I know the United States of America is a close ally of Israel. Since the inception of the modern nation of Israel. More importantly Khalid knew it. The entire purpose of the protests was to force divestment of investment in and aid to Israel, to turn the tide against Israel and weaken Israel. Nor was he a mere participant, rather he was an organizer and a negotiator. His conduct as an organizer raises the inference of conspiracy to commit [crimes] and engaging in organized criminal activity, both of which increase the classification of the underlying crime(s). As the negotiator he was the very public face of the organized protests. Protests In which others BTW were very careful not to disclose their identities. Which sort of refutes the notion that all was above board as hiding behind masks and hoods generally indicates nefariousness and a desire not to get caught so engaging. Additionally according to his wife's recent statements he was aware of the risk of being detained and deported as he had advised her what to do in the event thereof and had tapered his public appearances at the new protests. Additionally neither you nor I have any idea what his actions entailed. But he does. And various federal entities likely have a decent idea for him to have been summarily detained as he was. My guess is that they have digital records, surveillance footage, witness statements, and maybe transcripts if bugged conversations, etc.. Reportedly he may be an intelligence asset of a foreign entity or entities. If so most likely he will agree to deportation to avoid criminal prosecution. It sounds to me like he may have been trying to prepare his wife for his absence. Lastly it is disingenuous, to say the least, to argue that Gaza and Hamas are not synonymous with the Free Palestine movement. That is their entire point - from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. You really need to try to see the big picture to have any possibility of intelligently assessing this matter.
Khalil is not charged with a crime because he committed no crime. He's an innocent man who did nothing wrong. I will believe that until the day he's convicted of a crime in a court of law because all humans subjected to American jurisdiction are presumed innocent until proven guilty. He used his free speech to advocate for a cause that he cares about. You think he's wrong, great, say so. That's your right. It was his right to speak his mind. It's your right to speak your mind. This is how America works. Detaining him without charge and deporting him based on unproven allegations of wrongdoing undermines the bill of rights, both the first and sixth amendments. He's a legal permanent resident. That means that if he violates no law then he gets to live here forever.
You pro-Israel types want to make him a free speech martyr? What a terrible idea. This will backfire. Two days ago Bernie Sanders said that we need to end arms shipments to Israel on the Senate floor. Today he held the largest rally of his entire political career. The man is 83 years old. The spell may eventually break on the Israel issue in America, and stunts like deporting a peaceful man who broke no law will contribute to that sea-change. Just ask Bill Maher or Andrew Sullivan, who are quite pro-Israel but oppose deporting Khalil without charge. You people are completely in the wrong on this issue, and it's very much to the detriment of your own movement.
He is subject to deportation without having been charged with or convicted of a crime. I do not think it was merely speaking his mind that caused his deportation.
Nothing you are arguing makes legal sense. The issue is this is an arrest of someone who has not been charged with a crime by government entities acting outside their powers, using a wartime law outside wartime against a person who is a permanent legal resident of this country, based, apparently, on the content of his speech. If he is accused of specific crimes he could be charged with those crimes. Saying a civil rights issue can be raised in a lawsuit but not as a criminal defense is a nonsensical argument. If the very basis of a criminal case constitutes violating the defendant’s civil rights, the answer is not that the case goes on but the defendant can sue someone in civil court, the answer is the criminal case is invalidated. Most Americans would know that.
Re “intelligence asset”: he was a Chevenning scholar, meaning he was sponsored by the British, our ally, and would have been through a vetting process, making him less likely to have any kind of terrorist affiliation.
Re “national interests”: The allyship with Israel is what seems to be contrary to US interests at this point, and many Americans are realizing it, especially now with the attack on our first amendment, which Israelis may not understand is central to our concept of freedom and what it means to be American. The ways that Israel supposedly benefits us are all illusory. The terrorist threat we work together to combat is generated largely because of Israel. The military and spy tech is funded by us and they spy on us. Trump may be bought by Israel, but who’s to say we don’t elect a true America first leader next time, who campaigns on cutting Israel loose? We can only hope.
Sadly, hope is all we've got. Problem is, no one will even be considered for POTUS unless they pledge their undying fealty to Israel; a foreign country, no less. So much for "America First."
I don't think the issue is complicated at all. Hypocrisy is hypocrisy. All the author is pointing out is that the conservative right now claims that words are dangerous because it's about their issues, but when it's about the liberal left's issues, words are not dangerous at all. That is hypocritical.
But we, in the U.S., abound with hypocrisy. We claim to fight for democracy while overthrowing democratically elected leaders. We condemn abortion as murder while applauding the slaughter of 10's and 100's of thousands of people in foreign countries. We claim to be a peace loving nation while starting wars all over the world. We claim to be the land of the free, but we have the highest per capital prison population in the world. We claim to have the best healthcare in the world but we have the worst national health statistics of all the developed countries. And to top it off, we claim that the First Amendment protects our speech, but not speech that offends us.
This essay is short and simplified, that's for sure. But to me it seems sensible and makes issues accessible to folks who maybe can't handle all the nuances. The fact that the author is under the Free Press umbrella, which has been afforded some kind of privileged position here on Substack, helps me see it has been written for a mass audience of unsophisticated readers. Posing the core issue as Left and Right is the main instrument of the simplification. Demonstrating to stop a horrendous live case of genocide that seems by now to never stop, should elicit outrage from decent people across the political spectrum.
There is a lot of what you describe on Substack but to me this piece was worse than that. The Khalid deportation is stoking lots of flames but people are weighing in with zero knowledge much less understanding of the issues. Khalid's conduct - conduct, not speech - involves a number of fields of law. Immigration, civil rights, criminal and administrative. The but, but, but he hasn't been convicted of a crime!!! or he is being deported for his free speech!!! folks might as well tattoo stupid on their foreheads. And because of the national security angle we are not likely to ever know all the details. But the utter insensitivity to the concerns of the intimidated and harassed Jewish Columbia students is egregious. I see no other justification for that except Jews anywhere are fair game.
Yah. This case encapsulates so much of what is going on now. Khalil embodies a rallying point for the resistance. He is doing so as Trump goes off the deep end in his efforts to pay back the people who allowed him to seize power in the White House.
Kkalil, it seems, is spotlessly clean in his legal record, his academic record, and his negotiating record to date. The unwillingness to charge him as a political prisoner is a new US version of Israeli administrative detention. Khalil's current treatment definitely sends a signal where we are headed in the Trump era.
In the background of it all, is the fact that the current Israel-US partnership is led on the Israeli side by the most notoriously war criminal in the world right now, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is walking around free as he fires his top officials who know too much about the PM's roles in the real genesis of the Oct 7 psy op. That bundle of issues is presently going by the name of Qatargate.
So right now we are dealt impunity as usual for the folks in high who are really responsible for the most horrific crimes against humanity (Covid too). Meanwhile Khalil is becoming a symbol of the wretched of the earth. The wretcheds are being criminalized along with lots of other folks who are resisting the march towards Greater Israel by means of mass slaughter. Who is next?
I think it likely there was. For example, harrassment statutes generally say anything intimidating or threatening is harrassment which makes sense but there are other statutes that cover those offenses so harrassment statutes usually include other things like annoying, embarrassing, or subjecting the victim thereof to public ridicule.
"Demonstrating to stop a horrendous live case of genocide that seems by now to never stop, should elicit outrage from decent people across the political spectrum."
For a second or two I thought you were changing the subject to abortion.
At which point exactly do I state that Matt is the author this article. Please be precise. NB if I wanted to state that Matt is the author of the article the article, why don't I just say so? Use those great reading skills and work it out for yourself. BW below seems to have tripped into the same hole.
Because you said, "I get that Matt has to produce something on this issue." And btw, Matt HAS written pieces on this issue. Pretty sure I saw you in the comments sections under them.
Agreed. Chanting From the River to the Sea is enough right there. It may be a simple chant but says annihilate the Jewish state. The students being useful idiots who want their version of the 60’s is not an excuse enough for harassment and endangering their Jewish fellow students. Or for being in favor of the real genocide that took place on October 7th. If only they were, as students, intellectually curious and aware enough know about Hamas parading the corpses of dead children through the street as Gazans cheered.
"It may be a simple chant but says annihilate the Jewish state." -- Only if you believe (and/or promulgate) the hasbara nonsense. The key part of that slogan is PALESTINE WILL BE FREE. Which ACTUALLY means no longer suffering under apartheid policies, occupation, indefinite detention without charge, human rights abuses, and indiscriminate killing.
And oh by the way, Israel's zionist leadership uses that slogan, too, but for the ACTUAL purpose of annihilating the Palestinians as a means to their zionist goal of a Eretz Yisrael (Greater Israel):
"harassment and endangering their Jewish fellow students" -- There's ZERO evidence of this.
"the real genocide that took place on October 7th" -- Oh, so when only a few hundred are killed by Hamas, it's genocide. But when TENS OF THOUSANDS are killed by Israel, it's not genocide. Double-standard much?
If only YOU were "intellectually curious and aware enough [to] know" about the region's history going back to the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
Thank you! Forgive me, but I'm a WASP male. Actually, my Mom made sure I was baptized Catholic... soooo, I got that goin for me, lol!
I don't understand why there has to be this anti-Zionism. I'm getting that anti-Zionism is kind of like anti-Americanism, but no one conflates that with anything. Am I making any sense?
Although I appreciate your time, you really didn't answer my question. However, for the record, I feel that Khalil represented enough of a danger, and he had clearly violated his green card agreement. He should've moved on the side of caution, he did not. That says a lot to me. I feel he should be sent home.
I hate to beat a dead horse, but again (not again for you, but again in this thread), you didn't answer my question. So, maybe I'm asking this:
Is this a place for haters to primarily hurl insults at one another, or can I, a open-minded, God believing, non-secular, American veteran boomer, get some info? You want me to read Google? You KNOW I'm not gonna get the real story! You want me to go on a search of obscure websites? Forget it! What is Zionism apart from Americanism?
EDIT: See, here I go again! Not realizing that everyone just wants to fight! That's what it's all about isn't it? It's all about, "I'm gonna tell this jerk a thing or two!", isn't it?
Civil discourse can ONLY be maintained with a designated AUTHORITY. In sports, they're often called "refs", but they are NECESSARY! What would you're favorite sporting event be, without the refs?
Am I though? Typically when someone attacks me personally I just ignore them, but I feel like I should point out that American citizens aren’t being punished for their speech. Non citizens are being sent home for supporting terrorist regimes. Even if it’s moral support, it’s still support.
If I were to say "bin Laden had a point", it seems like a stretch to say that would be moral support for Al-Qaeda.
By this standard, anyone "parroting Russian talking points" is guilty of providing Russia moral support, and only a simple executive order stands in the way of severe consequences.
You can say anything you like Mr. Blair, as long as you are a citizen you are one of us. As a guest on the other hand, one is wise to be a little circumspect in one’s public statements. Perhaps saying “Bin Laden had a point” would not be out of line for a guest at a dinner party, but to stand out in front of your house with a mega phone and start shouting it to the neighborhood might be a little bit beyond the pale sir. Guests are expected to behave. I expect it of my guests and we should expect it of all of our guests.
It does not. A green card is a visa you don’t have to renew. It does not give you the same rights as a citizen. The man should have been smart enough to wait until he was a citizen before sympathizing with a terrorist group that is currently holding an American citizens hostage.
How did a student on an F1 visa get a full Green Card in 18 months? Where did his team of attorneys come from? There are A LOT of suspect things with this guy.
Amazing how many people conflate a Green Card with Citizenship. Its NOT. All that a green card is a resident visa, but a visa nonetheless. And like any visa, it can be revoked by the issuing authority after an appropriate determination by the Sec of State. And actively supporting a designated terrorist organization Hamas why Khalil is deservedly in the process of being sent back to wherever he came from.
"Support for terrorists"? Really? Based on what, exactly? If they had any evidence that this man actually supported Hamas -- you don't think Trump, Rubio, and others would have been blasting it all over the internet?
I don't like Khalil, and I wish he'd never come to this country, but "support of terrorists" is protected by the 1st amendment. What's not protected is "material support to terrorists". Rhetorical support is protected, and, as a permanent legal resident, Khalil gets the benefits of 1A.
It did not matter who the foreigner was, where from, and why they came - under the Biden administration there was no vetting. Heck, they flew 30 thousand foreigners here every month for almost 4 years saying they were asylum seekers. Tax payers paid for that. None of the Afghans flown here on tax dollars were vetted either.
The Tsarnaev brothers were terrorist and the FBI knew because Russia told them so. Yet, the did nothing but make a big spectacle locking down the entire city and asking if anyone recognized their pictures so everyone would believe the FBI had no idea.
I am not saying Khalil is a terrorist but why was he working as a soft tool for the UK's M16 except to rabble-rouse in America.
There are a lot of good points made in this opinion piece. However, any nation (foreign or otherwise) that engages in intentional mass slaughter of civilians is knowingly creating it's own bad optics. Further, It is painfully obvious that the US government is acting unconstitutionally when it acts IN ANY WAY to censor or chill a Constitutional right of it's citizens by silencing their criticism of misconduct regardless of: who has committed the misconduct, whose feelings get hurt, or who might feel threatened. This is especially true when the speech is the most highly protected form of the First Amendment right of free speech (aka 'political speech'). Instead, the government should represent the sentiments of it's citizens and act accordingly. THAT is what an actual America First policy would reflect.
Obviously, it's not just Cheerleaders of Khalil’s deportation that see things in black-and-white. Clearly, all the sympathy for suffering Palestinians is, in reality, support for terrorists. There can't be anything in between full support of genocide on the one hand and full support for terrorists on the other. If you are not my friend, you are my enemy. There is nothing else.
Life is so easy when everything is black and white.
I'm interested in seeing how everything plays out in the courts, but there's something very distasteful about foreign nationals coming to this country only to make demands of our government. It seems Khalil is acting on behalf of foreign interests; terrorist or not, is this someone we should be granting permanent residency?
I do agree with the sentiment that putting everything under this "antisemitism" umbrella doesn't seem helpful. It seems like preferential treatment of a particular group, and given stereotypes about Jews, this definitely does not seem helpful to them. I think the administration should stick with the more generic branding of immigration reform.
I do share MT's concerns about this type of legal action eventually being taken against citizens, although I'm not sure how that would work when it's based around deportation (to where would they deport citizens?).
He wasn't making "demands of our government." He was NEGOTIATING with Columbia University administrators on behalf of a fully authorized Columbia student group protesting Columbia's investments in Israel.
"It seems Khalil is acting on behalf of foreign interests" -- By negotiating that a university divest from Israel? For decades, U.S. citizens have protested for the public & private sector divestment from other countries. Many of those citizens were once permanent residents. Permanent residents have the same constitutional protections as citizens, including the First Amendment right to protest.
I can't even with this guy. Last seen cherrypicking the few lunatics he could roust up at RFK's Nicole Shanahan announcement in Oakland to make fun of "conspiracy theorists" in the Free Press. Oooh, bold take, Ben. (I attended and can attest the event was nothing at all like the way Ben made it look.) Now describing those Columbia protests as: "... a bunch of kids camped out and…wished?" SMH. Matt, please, don't do this to us.
I don’t mind reading pieces on racket that I disagree with. That’s part of the reason I subscribe. But this was just plain intellectually empty. The author, and I have no idea who he is, comes off as a high school senior in terms of his logic and thought process. Very disappointing that racket would actually post this.
Ben Kawaller doesn't speak for American Jews. I haven't met a single American Jew, including myself, who doesn't want Mahmoud Khalil to be deported back to Syria. I live in the epicenter of Jewish America...the NY-metro area.
Khalil is a guest in America...a bad guest. Somehow he received a green card within a couple of years of having established residency. I know people, some married to Americans, who have waited decades to get a green card...and many still haven't received one despite yearly application and legal representation.
Mr. Khalil's green card can be revoked, and I hope it will be. He's a domestic terrorist...he's inciting violence against Jewish Americans, and it's only a matter of time before that incitement morphs into physical action against his targeted groups, Zionists and Jews. His harassment of Jewish students on the Columbia University campus, barring them from of freedom of movement to enter their classrooms, is immoral if not illegal. Again, he's a bad guest. You kick bad guests out of your home.
That was tongue in cheek. My face-to-face reaction to Khalil would be more like, " Hey idiot, get the f--k off my lawn ". I promise you, he would take one look at me and move quickly. Then again, I'm an old Jew, an "alter kocker" with little patience for asswipes like him.
Exactly. These people are our guests and should mind their manners. Which includes staying out of familyts squabbles. It is very rude. I am a bit of a free speech absolutist but the idea of groups of foreigners coming to our country and holding events that can range from protests to riots does not seem correc
You live in a bubble and you surround yourself with likeminded people. That’s fine.
I hope you understand that making exceptions to civil liberties (and yes civil liberties are extended to non-US born citizens) will lead to further erosions of said liberties.
I get that you are hurt and you want vengeance but this isn’t the way. Khalil isn’t even accused of a crime. This is a way to chill speech. Please think about the larger implications.
I disagree with you wholeheartedly. I'm as well read and broadminded as anybody subscribing to Racket News.
Of course Khalil is accused of a crime. He's overtly undermined the national security of the United States of America through his support and promotion of a terrorist organization while trying to impinge on the rights of American citizens. His arrest was just. His deportation will be just. The application of U.S. law upon a non-citizen isn't vengeance. Once he's returned to his homeland he can spew as much antisemitic garbage as his heart desires.
Lastly, THIS NOT A FREE SPEECH ISSUE! It's about this asshole trying to undermine the civil liberties of Jewish students who attend Columbia University by actively attempting to impede their freedom of movement on campus, and their ability to the attend classes that they've paid for, and have the right to attend without fear or harassment. And, it's about his support of Hamas, undeniable support by all accounts, which the U.S. State Department deemed to be a terrorist organization in 1997. As of last week, Columbia University, after pulling the foot of the Trump administration out of its ass, has promised to keep their campus clear of pernicious characters like Mahmoud Khalil.
"his support and promotion of a terrorist organization while trying to impinge on the rights of American citizens." -- There is ZERO evidence Khalil did either of those things.
There was enough evidence to initiate action against Mahmoud Khalil by both The Department of Homeland Security and The Secretary of State. Homeland Security says, Khalil participated in "activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization” and was distributing pro-Hamas propaganda. The White House has explained, “This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans,”.
If you think Khalil has been arrested without evidence, then protest peacefully on his behalf. Send money to his wife. Petition your congressman or congresswoman to help free Khalil. I personally think he's guilty at minimum of being a pest guest of the United States, and should be deported posthaste, and his green card revoked.
Lastly: "Under New York Penal Law § 490.10, providing material support to a designated terrorist organization is classified as a class D felony. The maximum sentence for a class D felony in New York is up to 7 years in prison." There no denying that Khalil broke this law.
As someone born and raised in the Adirondacks, I appreciate your screen name. Outside of that, I don’t think there’s much of a discussion we are going to have. Have a good day.
" this grandson of a Palestinian refugee had the dignity to show his face while protesting, presumably because he has a sincere belief in the righteousness of his cause."
Or he thought he wouldn't be held accountable. Just like the pro-Hamas protesters chanting "from the river to the sea" for the last 4 years. They weren't wrong. Until they were.
What does the grandson comment have to do with anything, other than Ben's inability to objectively report rather than injecting his opinion into the story?
I have no problem if this bigot wants to express his racist views, so long as he's not threatening anyone or committing crimes like breaking into buildings on colleges, destroying property or preventing students from getting to class. But we know he's done all of that. And he still has apologists like Ben pretending he doesn't know.
He thought it would be fine because he's exactly the kind of person the Biden Administration WANTED to import. And, he was fast tracked for that reason.
I hear ya. There are some known zionist trolls I avoid because I know there's no getting through to them. But the sheer amount of hasbara on these threads kills me, so for those not yet identified as trolls, I feel the need to counter them. Because maybe, just maybe, they have a modicum of humanity and rationale.
Ah yes……the same Ben Kawaller of The Free Press who publishes some of the most painful video interview pieces imaginable. If you haven’t thrown up in your mouth lately, just take a couple of minutes to watch little gem.
Wish I had the Kool-Aid concession at the rally in that video. Those people are main lining it (except for about one or two more or less rational interviewees.
“For all I know, some of these demonstrations may be advocating for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs.”
To include this statement in your article you lose all credibility. You’re a journalist? If you have evidence of any demonstrations advocating for the peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs then write about it, show it to us. But instead you include this lame statement of “for all I know”. Surprised, and disappointed that Matt would publish this on Racket.
The way it works is that the government should provide evidence of their claim that Khalil personally supports Hamas or that he's actually a threat to the government's foreign policy objectives - a claim that would be absurd except for the fact that Trump wants to forcibly get all Palestinians out of Gaza (and probably all of Israel), making anyone who supports their rights a "threat".
At a press conference on April 23, 2024 (1), Khalil says (starting at 27:07) "We are here to affirm that we believe that the struggle to achieve liberation - Palestinian and Jewish liberation - is intertwined and go hand-by-hand. And after all, this is a movement of equality, social justice, and liberation for Palestine and the rest of the world."
That's inconsistent with the claims made here, wholly without evidence, that he supports terrorism, the destruction of Israel and/or Jews, etc.
As another example, a woman at a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University said (2; 0:38 - 0:45) "Clearly we're all against violence, but we're just asking for the lives of Palestinian civilians to be acknowledged as well."
So there's some evidence for you. Do you have any evidence supporting the claims made by the majority of readers here? Don't you find it curious that they don't present any such evidence?
The blatant indifference to facts and truth is most egregious on Canary Mission's web page on Khalil. For example, they condemn him for standing next to Maryam Iqbal at a protest, claiming that Iqbal led the chant calling for Israel’s destruction. In the video, neither of them is leading a chant, and the fact that Khalil happens to be standing next to Iqbal, among many other people, obviously proves nothing - it's a pathetically weak "guilt by association" argument.
Thank you for bringing facts to this otherwise fact-free thread. Very refreshing. It's telling that after 3 days, none of the pro-zionists have bothered to try refuting your comment.
Kinda shocking. I had to read that over and over, looking for the obvious typo or something that would let my boy off the hook. Teaches me another valuable lesson: don’t be too keen to fall in line behind someone. Thanks for jolting me back to reality, Matt. You can say some stupid shit just like the rest of us.
The author's intense hatred for President Trump and his folding this irrelevancy into his narrative as if all would agree makes one distrust anything he has to say. I am surprised you would select this as a guest post, Matt.
Kids ( your word ) chanting from the river to the sea find it inspirational. Few of the chanters are kids. What would fulfillment of the inspirational chant look like? I suggest Genocide.
You're lucky you only have to "suggest" or imagine genocide. The people of Palestine have lived it every day for near on a hundred years. I suspect you couldn't handle for 10 minutes what Palestinian children endure year after year after fucking year, for fuck's sake.
You know how I know it isn’t genocide? Because it has lasted “near on a hundred years” and there are more Palestinians now than ever. They are born and raised with the entire goal of hurting Israel, and many die to hurt Israel and are celebrated by their families for doing so.
I see. Can we have your list of authors and historians who've informed your views? I assume you've looked at the work of Israelis like Milo Peled and Ilan Pappe, as well as Chris Hedges (who speaks Arabic and lived in the Middle East as a journalist), Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate, and too many others to list? How do you square your views with theirs?
Tell me about the population of Gaza and the changes since 2005... you know since Hamas took over, err, was voted in, killed their political rivals in Fatah (and anyone else they deemed undesirable like gay people) and stolen the money given by the dupes internationally for torture tunnels. Yes, they are so misunderstood innocents those Hamasniks.
Do you have an actual point? Naming people that disagree with me isn’t even an argument, and it took you at most a few minutes to do but would take probably at least hours to try to counter in detail. What specifically do you even disagree with?
You're unfamiliar with the definition of "genocide." No one even has to die for the definition to be met. If you're going to say that Palestinians are "born and raised with the entire goal of hurting Israel," you should be able to support it. That it is Israelis who are raised to despise and want to hurt and/or kill Palestinians was brought home to me by Max Blumenthal's book "Goliath," which he wrote after spending months in Israel. He documents the indoctrination--reminiscent of how the Nazis talked about Jews--that Israelis undergo from a very young age against Palestinians, as does Nurit Peled, the daughter of an IDF general during the 1967 war. As for the supposed Palestinian hatred for Jews, I've listened to many hours of interviews with Palestinians, quite a few of whom express gratitude for American and European Jews who call for an end to the genocide. That said, think about this: some Jews have regularly come to Gaza, ever since you were born, to "mow the lawn." Some of them have tanks with the Star of David on them. How would you feel about Jews under those circumstances? I understand how important it is for defenders of Israel to deny Palestinian suffering and magnify Jewish suffering, which has indeed been considerable throughout history, but it was not Palestinians who committed the Jewish holocaust. It was Europeans, and they're the ones who should pay for that crime instead supporting Israelis in taking the land and lives of Palestinians.
Er, there are many definitions of some of which are very self-serving. The Britannica, however, defines it as follows, "Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race. Learn about the history, legal aspects, and criticisms of this crime against humanity from Britannica's experts." I would say destruction contemplates people dying. The "cide" is the giveaway as in homicide, patricide, matricide, infanticide, regicide, etc.
Oh please, Jews have experienced it forever. Nobody knows what started this nightmare. They both talk a good story. Palestinians are far from peace loving people.
That's the logic of a woman who beats her child and says "Shut the fuck up! I had it worse as a kid!" If resisting the theft of your land and the killing of your people by violent settlers makes you not a "peace loving people," so be it. The Israelis should have a tiny fraction of the honor and courage Palestinians have.
Oh please. Listen to you attacking Jewish people with no understanding of their historical plight. Nobody knows for sure what started this and I doubt highly you were there. Were you there when Hamas murdered those people, raped children and women and filmed it? And the "child" parallel is absurd.
Then you disagree with the vast majority of scholars, experts, and professionals on the subject. Personally I don't care what you call it when civilians, journalists, aid workers, and doctors are being deliberately targeted with horrific weapons and a medieval siege.
If this was supposed to be a genocide, then someone has seriously fucked up because the "Palestinian" population has multiplied many times over since 1948, right up to recent years.
No, he disagrees with a collection of leftist anti-western Jew haters. That's a far cry from the unearned labels of Scholar and Expert. I'm sure however you have cherrypicked your data to support your own predisposition of hatred of Jews.
Oh, please. Twenty percent of Israel is Palestinian Arab. The Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria and Gaza has quintupled since 1948. Some "genocide." But you are right in one regard. I couldn't endure being taught to hate and kill people from my earliest age like "Palestinian children are.
If this was supposed to be a genocide, then someone has seriously fucked up because the "Palestinian" population has multiplied many times over since 1948, right up to recent years.
Thanks for posting the link to the court documents regarding Mahmoud Khalil. Do you know if any of them contain the government's evidence, if there is any, that Khalil did anything meriting his arrest and deportation? I've read quite a few articles and watched some videos with him at protests or interviews, and I've seen no evidence whatsoever of the government's claims.
I haven't read the court documents, but I've read dozens of comments, here and elsewhere, by people claiming that Khalil personally supports Hamas, terrorism, the destruction of Israel, etc., but not a single one that provided a single piece of evidence as opposed to mere "guilt by association" arguments. Yet these same people demand evidence that Khalil is innocent of the government's charges, rather than citing evidence that he's guilty. This indifference to facts and evidence is very disturbing. It's the same attitude I argued against with Democrats during the Biden administration.
My comment focused on articles and reader comments about Khalil, none of which (among those I've seen) provided any evidence supporting their claims against Khalil. It's remarkable to see how certain people can be of things they apparently have no evidence of. It remains to be seen if the government has any such evidence, but based on what I've seen so far, I doubt it.
Khalil explicitly denied being a "leader" of CUAD in the sense of directing the protestors. CUAD is a coalition of about 80 student groups. Some of the protestors explicitly called for peaceful means, others called for or used violence. He described himself as a spokesman and negotiator for a student protest groups (1). The claim that that means he supports everything that any of the protestors support or did isn't even logically consistent, given the wide range of viewpoints among the protestors. It's analogous to claiming that Donald Trump was personally responsible for the Jan. 6 protestors who were violent, a claim that I argued against though I don't support him. Some of those protestors were violent, some were peaceful. Does the fact that Trump called for the protest make him guilty of the violence?
The statements I have seen from Khalil are contrary to the claims made abuot him. For example, he says in an interview (2 at 27:07), "We are here to affirm that we believe that the struggle to achieve liberation - Palestinian and Jewish liberation - is intertwined and go hand-by-hand."
Huge difference. These people are NOT citizens and they are compromising Jewish students who ARE citizens. And this guy was the spokesperson for a group who broke laws. Way over simplified here. Ridiculous, actually.
This is pro-Israeli money doing it's work -- the big donors like Miriam Adelson and others of the pro-Israeli lobby. Trump isn't the first to mouth their words -- Biden funded the deaths of thousands of innocent children and civilians, and almost all of Congress is beholden to the lobby.
The evidence is simple: not a single charge has been filed against this man -- because there likely is no evidence he had anything to do with Hamas. If they had any evidence, they would have bombarded us with it.
I understand you *believe* that he was doing that. My point is about *evidence* -- the law of the land we live in does not operate on what anyone thinks or believes, and certainly our government must have evidence -- and file charges in a court of law -- before deporting a legal resident.
But there does need to be SOLID EVIDENCE that he violated his permanent resident status. So far, DHS and State Dept have not provided any. And their public claims that Khalil is a "threat to national security" is rhetoric, NOT evidence.
I’m only here to see this insanely degenerate piece get torn to shreds. Is it troll day? This is the second troll article from respected sources that I’ve read this morning. I’m not even including TGIF.
Read the room, also known as Planet Earth. This is not just what we want, but what we need.
It’s more sad to see that you fail so hard at reading comprehension and cannot distinguish between editorialized claptrap and real journalism. There’s definitely a way to write an article like this, but the author chose violence. Which is fine, but Newton’s Third Law still applies - even to “words.”
This is awful. I could not finish it. The issue presented is very complicated and oversimplification as done here does readers a great disservice.
Oversimplification? More like Kawaller simply ignores all the evidence so he can dismiss the issue entirely.
The media actually covering the protests (especially the NY Post), particularly at Columbia, have been clear that Jewish students were threatened to the point of being afraid to go to classes and certain areas of campus; illegal encampments were maintained, buildings were taken over and vandalized, and staff were assaulted and held against their will.
The perpetrators escaped punishment because Columbia shirked its duties under Title IX and NY County's woke Soros-sponsored DA, Alvin Bragg, declined to prosecute anyone on the laughable grounds that their faces were covered.
Yep. Anyone can say any words they want -- I may not like the words, may think the person is a jerk or worse, but speech is PROTECTED. Actions are NOT protected. What the anti-semetic jerks SAID is irrelevant (unless directly inciting someone to violence) -- but taking over buildings, blocking access to buildings, and physically harassing students because of their race and/or religion is the problem. I didn't follow the Columbia situation as closely as the UCLA situation (since I have a good friend whose daughter goes there). UCLA was just as bad as Columbia. There were pro-Hamas protestors preventing Jews from going into the library and the university did nothing to stop it for weeks. I'm a college drop-out and participated in my fair share of protests, and this has all gotten way out of hand.
Speech is protected. However foreign nationals, regardless of legal permanent residency status, are NOT permitted to promote terrorism, promote genocide, and.. FFS NOBODY is permitted to pour concrete down the toilets and plumbing of multistory buildings. The very bright and sneaky author of this article deliberately obfuscates, derides and completely ignores all of the many public posts, speeches, and direct communications in which our Syrian Algerian terrorist clearly and unmistakably called for the destruction of western civilization.
Gaslighting is not a very useful communication device. I’m personally a little disappointed that Matt promoted it.
Oh my God. Students were unruly. People couldn't get to the library. There was civil disobedience all about. It's insane!!!
Generally antisemites like you are resentful and insecure. Please give us your story about how 15 million people control 8 billion and other mysteries about how how Jews control your life or something. And don’t give me this BS about how people like you aren’t antisemites you’re just criticizing Israel. You are obsessed obviously. How many comments have you written in this thread?
Ms Kilgore. I actually checked out your link to the ACLU website with their one sided take on the UCLA encampment that claims among other things that their right to free speech has been violated.
For one, occupying the university property is not free speech. It’s a violation at the very least of University’s Code of Conduct. For this alone they should face suspension or expulsion.
As for your question of the harassment of other students the data is too large to share in this venue. Virtually every major news outlet has covered the harassment of Jewish and other students who were trying to simply get to classes
Oh it was the mobs of Zionist Jews rampaging through the streets tearing shit up, vandalizing statues, smashing windows of Jewish Delis, shrieking “I am Hamas!”, protesting outside any building with a Jewish name on it, taking over campuses and crapping in the commons …. I totally thought it was the other way around. What a dummy I am. Thanks for setting the record straight. Moron.
A Columbia professor segregated and verbally assaulted students in his classroom for the crime of being Jewish. Individuals wearing dress associated with Judaism were confronted and excluded for the crime of walking past an illegal encampment. And I don’t think that any rational person believes that the NYPD is controlled by Israel.
🙄
"I'll wait" for about 1 second or in other words, about as long as it too to Google "Jewish students at Columbia". Nothing about assault, antisemitism, protests etc., simply "Jewish students at Columbia" pulled up multiple articles that you claim are lies.
What's next? Are you going to start throwing the word Nazi at those who oppose your lies?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/jewish-columbia-students-were-chased-194401690.html
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/30/us/columbia-task-force-finds-troubling-pattern-of-behavior-toward-jewish-students-on-campus/index.html
https://nypost.com/2024/08/31/us-news/columbia-antisemitism-task-force-details-student-assaults-targeting-after-oct-7/
No one here has to show you evidence of anything. Proof and evidence in the Khalil context are legal terms. Everyone else, including you and me, are just voicing opinions based on our assessment of
publicly available information. Some valid. Some not. But one thing is certain - the Khalil case will not be tried in the court of public opinion. Nor for that matter will the Arabs we now refer to as Palestinians' cause.
Make way! Make way! Shitloads of Israel defenders coming through very soon!
Lol - I,m not an “Israel defender” as regards the deportation of aliens. It seems plain common sense that guaranteed Constitutional protections apply only to citizens. The spectrum of non-citizen immigrants inhabit some grey area, perhaps informed by our Constitutional understanding, but in no way Constitutionally binding.
This makes the argument: https://www.city-journal.org/article/columbia-student-mahmoud-khalil-hamas-deport-legal
If Columbia had properly accused him of trespass and damage, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
I believe courts have determined that those Constitutional protections do indeed apply to non-citizens. Take it up with them
The article claims "U.S. law stipulates that an alien is deportable if he 'endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization.'" It further asserts that "The Syrian-born green-card recipient served as one of the ringleaders of the post-October 7 riots at his former university and functioned as the lead 'negotiator' for the student group known as Columbia United Apartheid Divest (CUAD). CUAD was one of the primary agents of chaos on Columbia’s campus during last spring’s 'encampment,' during which rioters smashed windows, defaced and occupied buildings, disrupted classes, and harassed and threatened Jewish students."
If this is true, then deport Khalil. QED.
There is much in the law that defies or encompasses more than "common sense," and often for good reason. If the whole thing actually rested on common sense, law school could be gotten through in a matter of weeks or months. When speaking of it, one should probably get informed on the specific subject at hand so as to not waste one, and others', time.
But HE did not trespass. And HE did no damage. He was a liaison/negotiator between Columbia administrators and the protesters. Period.
Unfair!! They are the victims here... always will be no matter what!
Someone needs to research the psychosis that results when you convince a group that they are the world's ultimate victims always and forever. Must be a pretty heady trip, don't you think? And not in a healthy way...
Shit is the accurate image here.
Every accusation of oppression by pro Palestinian Islamist protesters is actually a confession of aggression by Hamas and its supporters including the terrorist state of Iran, which is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans. You wonderful patriot. Go fishing.
How insightful
Proof?
Here's an interview with a Jewish student in the middle of one of those "anti-Semitic protests" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM1SPHTsdyY
She doesn't seem "threatened" or "afraid." These protests were surprisingly multi-cultural, with Jews, Christians, Muslims and even atheists! What you wrote is simply false. It's a falsehood that you're propagating in service of the wellbeing of a foreign government, to justify the abolition of the first amendment to the constitution.
What made the Jewish students afraid?
Go see the film October 8 and you will see exactly what it was like on campus.
OK, so I'll try to watch it tonight. However, I'll tell you right now that I will have no truck with the bullshit idea that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. The reviews suggest that the conflation of the 2 is the propagandistic purpose of the movie.
I don’t know, violence, maybe? lslamists with keffiyehs calling for the destruction of Israel and the death of Jews? Encampments that prevented students thought to be Zionist or Jews from going, where they wanted to go on campus? You know stuff like violence and intimidation
Hasbara nonsense. There's no evidence for any of it.
What made you stupid?
What specific harmful actions did Khalil commit? Or incite to be committed?
Why do people think the federal government doesn’t have the right to say something to Columbia? If they want autonomy, then don’t take a penny of our fuckjng taxpayer money. When you accept taxpayers money, you’ve agreed to our wrath
absolutely. This is terrible reporting. It belongs in the National Inquirer, not here.
The New York Post? That's your Northstar? Hilarious...
Thank you. This was truly odious. The students facing deportation obviously lied to obtain their visa. I say if Prince Harry lied on his visa application about his drug use we should deport him as well.
Trump already said he doesn't want to deport him because he is already burdened by a very bad wife. It seems reasonable to me. There's only so much a man can take.
I think President Trump is being considerate of the Royal Family who don’t want Prince Harry and family back.
Like Alec Baldwin?
I don't think this is obvious. What was the lie? Could you prove that they committed visa fraud in court? If so, why do you decline to indict them or prosecute them for that crime? Could it be that you're bullshitting?
Well i ran the international program at a university. In order to get a student visa. Among the areas that they explore is whether the potential student has views that are contrary to the interests of the US. These students are guest in our country. If they are disruptive we do not owe them the same deference that is owed a citizen.
I don’t think he was disruptive. The videos that I’ve seen show him engaging in a time-honored American tradition: peacefully demonstrating against the decisions made by his institution, in his name, with his tuition money. Better than that, his actual words called for peace and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians: indeed, in insinuated (accurately) that the fates of these two peoples are intertwined, and the destruction of one will lead to the destruction of the other, so both should be elevated. Khalil is among the best of us, and it’s because of his virtue that he’s being targeted. This man is a guest in MY country, and I’m honored that he chose to be here.
Night moron
He is both. And both can be revoked by the Sec of State
Are we really going to pretend that Hitler did nothing wrong because he never hurt anyone himself and just spoke words? That the mob boss who tells his boys to "take care of him" is just exercising free speech?
The fact that left-wing people are dishonest enough to pretend not to know the difference between free speech and attacking people doesn't require the rest of us to pretend to be that stupid as well.
Here's the homework for Racket News, if they care to make a real difference: Write an article articulating where the line is. THEN talk about real-world examples.
I'm a right-wing people, and it appears that you are the one who does not know where the line between free speech and attacking people is, but I'll give you a hint. Khalil is accused only of saying things people don't like, he isn't accused of attacking anyone. It appears you need to do your own homework assignment. While you're at it, write an essay on guilt-by-association and why it's un-American.
He is accused as well as conducting, leading the Hamas group that he applies America citizens’ first amendment rights in addition. Sec of State Rubio is revoking the Green Card (not LPR) because he would never have received the gift of one from this nation had he indicated his intentions to act in support of terrorist Hamas prior to the US giving him that status.
Hasbara nonsense. There's ZERO evidence that Khalil supports Hamas.
Isn't he accused of helping to barricade the library (trespassing) and also of vandalism and destruction? Not just speech. Besides why should a non-American get the privilege of being a guest when he misbehaves and promotes Hamas?
If they had evidence of a crime he could have been charged with said crime. A White House official even said “the accusation here is not that he has a committed a crime.” He is being jailed for first amendment protected speech. The fact that he is a Green Card holder and not a citizen does not make him a more legitimate target for this. He’s a legal, permanent resident and he should not be subject to deportation without having committed a crime and being convicted under due process. Besides, any person on US soil has exactly the same speech rights as any citizen. If they can do it to him, they can do it to any of us. The Israelis on here may not understand it because they don’t live in a free and equal democracy, but in America this is antithetical to everything our country stands for. I think that’s the disconnect here, so many commenters aren’t even American.
So many here misbehave and support violence... just over there not over here.
No, he has not been accused of any of that.
Very nicely done.
Imagine an American student as a guest in a mideastern college behaving like this but pro Israel. Prison I’m sure
I'm sure also, but we're supposed to be much better than that.
Are we really going to prosecute this whole fucking thing every time someone mentions that guy's name or says the word "Israel" out loud?
Let's all agree to save time, as NO ONE will be persuaded by ANYONE in these comments, one way or the other, and not drum through all this shit again and again.
I agree that prognosticating is a complete waste of time, except as an effort to clarify one's own thoughts, but it is an irresistible American pastime. The courts will decide - haha just like they settled RvW to everyone's satisfaction.
Word.
You telling me to shut up?
Pretty sure I didn't. I rarely tell anyone to shut up, but when I do, they know for sure what just happened.
Well said sir. At its essence you are either inclined to support mass murder or you’re not. Seems pretty simple to me. Perhaps I am just a simpleton. 🤔
Problem is, each side is accusing the other of "mass murder."
"he doth protest too much"
??
All you need to do, dude, is move on. But, nope. Here you are...
Spot on!
Where can I join? I'm not Israeli or Jewish, but I could use some extra $.
I think they know the difference, JD. I think they have this fundamental belief that this must be, it must exist, to protect the freedom. You know, the old "it's the speech we hate" mantra.
There is a line, and we've got to find it. I certainly don't know how, but I just recently went on a serious multi-rant because I found out that a subscriber had been libeled (section 230 exempted libel, of course) mutliple times with the words "Nazi cunt" on a Substack. We have to find a line, or one will be found for us.
I got news for you guys: Your freedom to say horrid and awful things to each other, lives on a knife's edge. That edge is called the Section 230 Exemption, and it is granted, and rescinded, totally at the government's pleasure. It's a ticking bomb that is at the last second, waiting for "the something" to happen.
And don't forget that when "the something" happens, and there is no more Free Press, and there is no more Substack, it will NOT be an infringement on your speech rights.
Freedom doesn.t last long without self-discipline.
Those are beautiful words! Thank you, so much! I wish.... lol!
Apply this logic to Trump saying "you need to fight like hell or you won't have a country anymore" before a thousand of his most rabid sycophants violently attacked the capital building, resulting in multiple deaths.
The only deaths were those of Trump supporters. . .
The crowd only became violent after police fired rubber bullets into their faces.
I'm sure Trump supporters would understand why police had to use violence during that riot if they imagined foreigners attacking the capital building like that.
When the debate has devolved to the point of comparing Khalil (a liaison/negotiator between Columbia's administrators and the protesters) to Hitler and a mob boss, as Taibbi would say, you've lost the plot.
I haven’t lost anything. I’m using simple, obvious analogies to point out the absurdity of pretending that there’s no “speech” that’s ever criminal. You, meanwhile, are weasel-wording Khalil into something very different from what he is.
No, you just don't want to believe who he really is, and would rather believe the hasbara nonsense. And the only "pretending" going on is claiming he said anything "criminal."
You're a big, tough guy at the typewriter. Probably a complete wuss when confronted with an actual person. The truth hurts.
Kawaller: "For all I know, some of these demonstrations may be advocating for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs."
🎶 And love may grow
For all we know. 🎶
But I kinda doubt it. Which Arabs have you seen lately willing to risk the wrath of other Arabs through public demonstrations?
The first amendment is not a suicide pact. We DO NOT HAVE TO TOLERATE guests who hate us and hate what we stand for. Out!
YOU stupid people.
I don't know if you know this but USA is on a 'terror list' for many countries.
NOT many people will be coming to the USA.
Your tourist industry is dead!
Oh no! Whatever will we do? My entire industry is dependent on the vast wealth of Ceylon.
We are missing out on Terrorism Tourism!?! Probably USAID has a grant for that.
We have fifty states, I've only been to seven. Seems like a good time to tour the USA
The West is worth a road trip. Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Washington are all beautiful, and people are open and mind their business and don't care to tell you about yours. You'll get some of that in Seattle, but it's not as bad as parts of California or most of Wyoming. And most have legal weed.
Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela—they accuse the US of terrorism.
That where you're from, Jenny?
If for some reason you don’t Love/Like America??? GET THE FUCK OUT, put the your money , where your mouth shits
A terror list?! That is incredibly awesome, and probably way overdue. Can you share where you got this information? I've been saying since 10/7 that the world needs to stop traveling to the U.S. The revenue from tourism is more diluted here than in, say, Bora Bora, but many places rely heavily on it. Money is all Trump, Musk and their minions understand. The rest of the world needs to hit us as hard as it can.
YIKES!!!
YOu seem to speak for all of us in what we all stand for.. but i'll wager it's what you stand for and you want to shove it down our throats.... correct?
Correct. But Khalil isn't one of them.
But how many of us "stand for" Israel?
By disrupting your echo chamber?
No. By being wholly incompetent.
I would say that Ben is more naive than incompetent...
In this case, I think the phrase you were looking for is "willfully naive".
You're a fragile little snowflake. It's probably in your best interest to find news outlets that only confirm what you already believe. There's no shortage of them out there.
Hardly. I have a wide range of sources and am.pretty astute at weeding out bias/prejudice, mis-, dis-, and mal-information. But this piece does not even rise to that level. It is awful. Maybe it was supposed to be comedic. That is his lane. But it did not rise to that level either.
Stay mad.
Yes. These procrastinating adolescents are just cosplaying Hamas warriors in order to skip college class on a sunny Friday afternoon. Just “costumes” of murderers who committed atrocities most of can’t and would not imagine, and filmed and posted on social media to share with the rest of us and to further traumatize and victimize. And continue to do so to this day.
Nothing to see here? He got here in December, 2022. Less than twenty-eight months in America, and he is an out-front player for Hamas - American Style.
It will be so moving to read his Letters From A Louisiana Jail, which Amy and the rest of his 19 attorneys will be sure to share with us on a regular basis.
It's a venue where soyboys can pick up chicks, too. 'Twas ever thus.
I'm reminded of a "Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" comic in which Fat Freddy joins a demonstration and immediately barges into the library demanding to be shown where they keep the "fuck books." He's shown the door by a gigantic monstrous librarian who says "The university library will NEVER hold 'fuck books.' Now GET OUT!"
I tried to find an archived copy of the comic, but failed. I think it's in one of the first five issues or so, around 1969.
I loved that issue. Must have read it 30 times. Also when Phineas decides he’s NOT paranoid. And the Thanksgiving “Turkey was already stuffed” story.
Ha!
Love the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers!
Dealer McDope and Fat Freddy's Cat. Man that was a long time ago...
You're fake, right? This is a copy/paste from a Youtube comment or something, right? Nobody could be that stupid and also have found their way here naturally and managed to make a comment.
So much for toleration of free speech - isn't calling someone stupid an insult designed to shut them up?
Thank you! Smiling sun emoji
It strikes me as just another example of assigning no value to people who don’t think like you, or who don’t look like you, or who don’t share your history . . . Hmmm. What does that remind us of.
Responding to stupidity by calling it stupid is how free speech is supposed to work. Notice I’m not calling for mommy to come and silence anyone.
Many of the TikTok atrocity videos were posted by IDF soldiers proud of what they had done (sort of like Americans in Abu Ghraib). Our brave fine Congress had a way to deal with such atrocities: They banned TikTok. And soon Trump's waiting period for TikTok will end and we will be shielded from anti-Semitic Zionist atrocity posts which put Israel in a bad light.
Saturday morning, Oct. 7, 2023, I turned on the morning news show on Fox (naturally, right?). They were showing a video of a young woman being dragged into a jeep-like vehicle by men with guns. Her pants were stained. She was driven away. During the day, photos of a dead naked woman in the back of a truck were making their way into media. Did the IDF film and publish those images?
Did the IDF release images of bloody babies’ beds, and evidence of other atrocities committed that day? Yes, and why? Did the Allies film the atrocities in WWII in the death camps. Yes. And how interesting any number of people are denying the existence of the Holocaust and the barbarity of Oct. 7.
It's actually a very simple issue, Lynne. Destroying the first amendment for at the behest of a foreign government is likely to cause backlash against that government by freedom-loving Americans.
That is true, but it's also true that destroying the First Amendment for issues like wokism is not only likely, but did cause a backlash. The fundamental problem the author is pointing out is that various groups are attempting to destroy the First Amendment in order to advance their own agenda.
So BS your biases and prejudices are on full display. And like BK make a vast oversimplification. First, 1st A rights are civil rights and as such relate to a particular field of law. Civil rights issues can be raised in civil actions such as suing an entity for violation of civil rights. But they are more often raised as defense to criminal prosecution or as justification for criminal conduct. Significantly to do either the accused has to admit the offense, and your whole argument is Khalid did nothing wrong. Criminal conduct is not excused by labeling it free speech. Speech is protected. Some acts, such as peaceful protest, are protected. (At least here for now.) But vandalism and trespass are not excused (just ask the J6 protesters). False imprisonment (of the maintenance workers) is not excused. Threats, intimidation, and harassment of a group of students based on their religion or ethnicity is not excused. But Khalid is not charged with a crime nor is he required to be to be subject to deportation. As others have already told you if he is relying on a student visa and violated the terms thereof he is subject to deportation. If he is relying on a green card visa and violated the terms thereof he is subject to deportation. If he lied on the student or green card visa applications he is subject to deportation. But my understanding is that the basis of his deportation is a rarely used (til now anyway) method and is based on a State Department determination that he has engaged in conduct contrary to America's national interests. You know and I know the United States of America is a close ally of Israel. Since the inception of the modern nation of Israel. More importantly Khalid knew it. The entire purpose of the protests was to force divestment of investment in and aid to Israel, to turn the tide against Israel and weaken Israel. Nor was he a mere participant, rather he was an organizer and a negotiator. His conduct as an organizer raises the inference of conspiracy to commit [crimes] and engaging in organized criminal activity, both of which increase the classification of the underlying crime(s). As the negotiator he was the very public face of the organized protests. Protests In which others BTW were very careful not to disclose their identities. Which sort of refutes the notion that all was above board as hiding behind masks and hoods generally indicates nefariousness and a desire not to get caught so engaging. Additionally according to his wife's recent statements he was aware of the risk of being detained and deported as he had advised her what to do in the event thereof and had tapered his public appearances at the new protests. Additionally neither you nor I have any idea what his actions entailed. But he does. And various federal entities likely have a decent idea for him to have been summarily detained as he was. My guess is that they have digital records, surveillance footage, witness statements, and maybe transcripts if bugged conversations, etc.. Reportedly he may be an intelligence asset of a foreign entity or entities. If so most likely he will agree to deportation to avoid criminal prosecution. It sounds to me like he may have been trying to prepare his wife for his absence. Lastly it is disingenuous, to say the least, to argue that Gaza and Hamas are not synonymous with the Free Palestine movement. That is their entire point - from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. You really need to try to see the big picture to have any possibility of intelligently assessing this matter.
Khalil is not charged with a crime because he committed no crime. He's an innocent man who did nothing wrong. I will believe that until the day he's convicted of a crime in a court of law because all humans subjected to American jurisdiction are presumed innocent until proven guilty. He used his free speech to advocate for a cause that he cares about. You think he's wrong, great, say so. That's your right. It was his right to speak his mind. It's your right to speak your mind. This is how America works. Detaining him without charge and deporting him based on unproven allegations of wrongdoing undermines the bill of rights, both the first and sixth amendments. He's a legal permanent resident. That means that if he violates no law then he gets to live here forever.
You pro-Israel types want to make him a free speech martyr? What a terrible idea. This will backfire. Two days ago Bernie Sanders said that we need to end arms shipments to Israel on the Senate floor. Today he held the largest rally of his entire political career. The man is 83 years old. The spell may eventually break on the Israel issue in America, and stunts like deporting a peaceful man who broke no law will contribute to that sea-change. Just ask Bill Maher or Andrew Sullivan, who are quite pro-Israel but oppose deporting Khalil without charge. You people are completely in the wrong on this issue, and it's very much to the detriment of your own movement.
Amen!
He is subject to deportation without having been charged with or convicted of a crime. I do not think it was merely speaking his mind that caused his deportation.
Nothing you are arguing makes legal sense. The issue is this is an arrest of someone who has not been charged with a crime by government entities acting outside their powers, using a wartime law outside wartime against a person who is a permanent legal resident of this country, based, apparently, on the content of his speech. If he is accused of specific crimes he could be charged with those crimes. Saying a civil rights issue can be raised in a lawsuit but not as a criminal defense is a nonsensical argument. If the very basis of a criminal case constitutes violating the defendant’s civil rights, the answer is not that the case goes on but the defendant can sue someone in civil court, the answer is the criminal case is invalidated. Most Americans would know that.
Re “intelligence asset”: he was a Chevenning scholar, meaning he was sponsored by the British, our ally, and would have been through a vetting process, making him less likely to have any kind of terrorist affiliation.
Re “national interests”: The allyship with Israel is what seems to be contrary to US interests at this point, and many Americans are realizing it, especially now with the attack on our first amendment, which Israelis may not understand is central to our concept of freedom and what it means to be American. The ways that Israel supposedly benefits us are all illusory. The terrorist threat we work together to combat is generated largely because of Israel. The military and spy tech is funded by us and they spy on us. Trump may be bought by Israel, but who’s to say we don’t elect a true America first leader next time, who campaigns on cutting Israel loose? We can only hope.
Sadly, hope is all we've got. Problem is, no one will even be considered for POTUS unless they pledge their undying fealty to Israel; a foreign country, no less. So much for "America First."
I don't think the issue is complicated at all. Hypocrisy is hypocrisy. All the author is pointing out is that the conservative right now claims that words are dangerous because it's about their issues, but when it's about the liberal left's issues, words are not dangerous at all. That is hypocritical.
But we, in the U.S., abound with hypocrisy. We claim to fight for democracy while overthrowing democratically elected leaders. We condemn abortion as murder while applauding the slaughter of 10's and 100's of thousands of people in foreign countries. We claim to be a peace loving nation while starting wars all over the world. We claim to be the land of the free, but we have the highest per capital prison population in the world. We claim to have the best healthcare in the world but we have the worst national health statistics of all the developed countries. And to top it off, we claim that the First Amendment protects our speech, but not speech that offends us.
I hope I haven't offended you.
Amen!
We hope you recover soon.
This essay is short and simplified, that's for sure. But to me it seems sensible and makes issues accessible to folks who maybe can't handle all the nuances. The fact that the author is under the Free Press umbrella, which has been afforded some kind of privileged position here on Substack, helps me see it has been written for a mass audience of unsophisticated readers. Posing the core issue as Left and Right is the main instrument of the simplification. Demonstrating to stop a horrendous live case of genocide that seems by now to never stop, should elicit outrage from decent people across the political spectrum.
Here my takes on the matter
https://anthonyjhall.substack.com/p/from-america-first-to-israel-first
There is a lot of what you describe on Substack but to me this piece was worse than that. The Khalid deportation is stoking lots of flames but people are weighing in with zero knowledge much less understanding of the issues. Khalid's conduct - conduct, not speech - involves a number of fields of law. Immigration, civil rights, criminal and administrative. The but, but, but he hasn't been convicted of a crime!!! or he is being deported for his free speech!!! folks might as well tattoo stupid on their foreheads. And because of the national security angle we are not likely to ever know all the details. But the utter insensitivity to the concerns of the intimidated and harassed Jewish Columbia students is egregious. I see no other justification for that except Jews anywhere are fair game.
Yah. This case encapsulates so much of what is going on now. Khalil embodies a rallying point for the resistance. He is doing so as Trump goes off the deep end in his efforts to pay back the people who allowed him to seize power in the White House.
Kkalil, it seems, is spotlessly clean in his legal record, his academic record, and his negotiating record to date. The unwillingness to charge him as a political prisoner is a new US version of Israeli administrative detention. Khalil's current treatment definitely sends a signal where we are headed in the Trump era.
In the background of it all, is the fact that the current Israel-US partnership is led on the Israeli side by the most notoriously war criminal in the world right now, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is walking around free as he fires his top officials who know too much about the PM's roles in the real genesis of the Oct 7 psy op. That bundle of issues is presently going by the name of Qatargate.
So right now we are dealt impunity as usual for the folks in high who are really responsible for the most horrific crimes against humanity (Covid too). Meanwhile Khalil is becoming a symbol of the wretched of the earth. The wretcheds are being criminalized along with lots of other folks who are resisting the march towards Greater Israel by means of mass slaughter. Who is next?
Thousands of people who support Palestine have protested. Few have been arrested and fewer still subjected to deportation measures.
"the utter insensitivity to the concerns of the intimidated and harassed Jewish Columbia students is egregious." -- Because there was none.
I think it likely there was. For example, harrassment statutes generally say anything intimidating or threatening is harrassment which makes sense but there are other statutes that cover those offenses so harrassment statutes usually include other things like annoying, embarrassing, or subjecting the victim thereof to public ridicule.
"Demonstrating to stop a horrendous live case of genocide that seems by now to never stop, should elicit outrage from decent people across the political spectrum."
For a second or two I thought you were changing the subject to abortion.
All I needed to see was the lede. When that's nonsense, don't waste your time.
I didn't.
Unfortunately, I'm compelled to agree.
'Conservative' and 'liberal' have become almost meaningless markers. I get that Matt has to produce something on this issue, but this piece ain't it.
Reading through a number of comments, it's apparent that many people do not read for comprehension and some people don't read at all.
The author of this article is Ben Kawaller, not Matt Taibbi.
And I'm glad the First Amendment was intended to protect all of us.
At which point exactly do I state that Matt is the author this article. Please be precise. NB if I wanted to state that Matt is the author of the article the article, why don't I just say so? Use those great reading skills and work it out for yourself. BW below seems to have tripped into the same hole.
Because you said, "I get that Matt has to produce something on this issue." And btw, Matt HAS written pieces on this issue. Pretty sure I saw you in the comments sections under them.
This article was not written by Matt Taibbi; it was written by Ben Kawaller.
He can't be gone too soon imo. I question why he was admitted in the first place. Catnip to Columbia.
Where is he wrong?
Agreed. Chanting From the River to the Sea is enough right there. It may be a simple chant but says annihilate the Jewish state. The students being useful idiots who want their version of the 60’s is not an excuse enough for harassment and endangering their Jewish fellow students. Or for being in favor of the real genocide that took place on October 7th. If only they were, as students, intellectually curious and aware enough know about Hamas parading the corpses of dead children through the street as Gazans cheered.
"It may be a simple chant but says annihilate the Jewish state." -- Only if you believe (and/or promulgate) the hasbara nonsense. The key part of that slogan is PALESTINE WILL BE FREE. Which ACTUALLY means no longer suffering under apartheid policies, occupation, indefinite detention without charge, human rights abuses, and indiscriminate killing.
And oh by the way, Israel's zionist leadership uses that slogan, too, but for the ACTUAL purpose of annihilating the Palestinians as a means to their zionist goal of a Eretz Yisrael (Greater Israel):
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/original-party-platform-of-the-likud-party
https://newrepublic.com/post/178243/benjamin-netanyahu-literally-says-from-the-river-to-the-sea
"harassment and endangering their Jewish fellow students" -- There's ZERO evidence of this.
"the real genocide that took place on October 7th" -- Oh, so when only a few hundred are killed by Hamas, it's genocide. But when TENS OF THOUSANDS are killed by Israel, it's not genocide. Double-standard much?
If only YOU were "intellectually curious and aware enough [to] know" about the region's history going back to the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
Thank you! Forgive me, but I'm a WASP male. Actually, my Mom made sure I was baptized Catholic... soooo, I got that goin for me, lol!
I don't understand why there has to be this anti-Zionism. I'm getting that anti-Zionism is kind of like anti-Americanism, but no one conflates that with anything. Am I making any sense?
Khalil is a Hamas supporter, and loved the Oct 7 attack, on and on. No thanks.
Although I appreciate your time, you really didn't answer my question. However, for the record, I feel that Khalil represented enough of a danger, and he had clearly violated his green card agreement. He should've moved on the side of caution, he did not. That says a lot to me. I feel he should be sent home.
There's ZERO evidence of this.
You don't understand why people should oppose genocide?
You'd understand if you knew the real meaning of zionism.
I hate to beat a dead horse, but again (not again for you, but again in this thread), you didn't answer my question. So, maybe I'm asking this:
Is this a place for haters to primarily hurl insults at one another, or can I, a open-minded, God believing, non-secular, American veteran boomer, get some info? You want me to read Google? You KNOW I'm not gonna get the real story! You want me to go on a search of obscure websites? Forget it! What is Zionism apart from Americanism?
EDIT: See, here I go again! Not realizing that everyone just wants to fight! That's what it's all about isn't it? It's all about, "I'm gonna tell this jerk a thing or two!", isn't it?
Civil discourse can ONLY be maintained with a designated AUTHORITY. In sports, they're often called "refs", but they are NECESSARY! What would you're favorite sporting event be, without the refs?
I don’t think it’s the words as much as the support of terrorists. I’m pretty sure that’s what the non citizens are being sent home for.
Pretty sure you’re clueless.
Am I though? Typically when someone attacks me personally I just ignore them, but I feel like I should point out that American citizens aren’t being punished for their speech. Non citizens are being sent home for supporting terrorist regimes. Even if it’s moral support, it’s still support.
Isn't moral support just words?
If I were to say "bin Laden had a point", it seems like a stretch to say that would be moral support for Al-Qaeda.
By this standard, anyone "parroting Russian talking points" is guilty of providing Russia moral support, and only a simple executive order stands in the way of severe consequences.
He's not a citizen, that matters. And he was spokesperson of a group that did commit violence. That matters.
But if you hand out flyers about how bin Laden was right, we're getting closer.
You can say anything you like Mr. Blair, as long as you are a citizen you are one of us. As a guest on the other hand, one is wise to be a little circumspect in one’s public statements. Perhaps saying “Bin Laden had a point” would not be out of line for a guest at a dinner party, but to stand out in front of your house with a mega phone and start shouting it to the neighborhood might be a little bit beyond the pale sir. Guests are expected to behave. I expect it of my guests and we should expect it of all of our guests.
He did have a green card though, so that entitles him to the same rights as citizens as far as I know.
It does not. A green card is a visa you don’t have to renew. It does not give you the same rights as a citizen. The man should have been smart enough to wait until he was a citizen before sympathizing with a terrorist group that is currently holding an American citizens hostage.
How did a student on an F1 visa get a full Green Card in 18 months? Where did his team of attorneys come from? There are A LOT of suspect things with this guy.
NO, it does not give him same rights. He was the spokesperson for a group who broke the laws and he CAN be deported if he does that.
Amazing how many people conflate a Green Card with Citizenship. Its NOT. All that a green card is a resident visa, but a visa nonetheless. And like any visa, it can be revoked by the issuing authority after an appropriate determination by the Sec of State. And actively supporting a designated terrorist organization Hamas why Khalil is deservedly in the process of being sent back to wherever he came from.
No, only a citizen has the full rights of a citizen.
SCOTUS Demore v. Kim, Congress may make rules as to aliens that would be unacceptable if applied to citizens
This is lack of education. No, a green card holder does NOT have the same rights as citizens. They can't even vote.
No, not exactly. He is classed as a “ US person” . Do your homework on this matter. You will learn something
Citizens cannot be deported.
Against government abuse***
No, it does not.
Moral support? So no even speech, but pure thought?
Yes.
Ok, the support of "freedom fighters" who rape and murder civilians. Whatever you want to call them.
The Israelis have been and are doing most of the raping and murdering of civilians. And it isn’t close.
Some people (freedom fighters) did something.
Why are they clueless? Give evidence don’t just insult.
Just ignore it. It's a troll. It lives under a bridge.
What a cogent argument!
Your well reasoned response has convinced me that "The Biz" is wrong.
Great argument, Tom High.
Ok. Support that!
"Support for terrorists"? Really? Based on what, exactly? If they had any evidence that this man actually supported Hamas -- you don't think Trump, Rubio, and others would have been blasting it all over the internet?
I don't like Khalil, and I wish he'd never come to this country, but "support of terrorists" is protected by the 1st amendment. What's not protected is "material support to terrorists". Rhetorical support is protected, and, as a permanent legal resident, Khalil gets the benefits of 1A.
No he doesn’t. He’s not a citizen, he’s a visitor/resident. He has 1a rights in Syria and Gaza. Oh, that’s right, they don’t bother with that stuff.
Are all of you commenters aware of this?
It did not matter who the foreigner was, where from, and why they came - under the Biden administration there was no vetting. Heck, they flew 30 thousand foreigners here every month for almost 4 years saying they were asylum seekers. Tax payers paid for that. None of the Afghans flown here on tax dollars were vetted either.
The Tsarnaev brothers were terrorist and the FBI knew because Russia told them so. Yet, the did nothing but make a big spectacle locking down the entire city and asking if anyone recognized their pictures so everyone would believe the FBI had no idea.
I am not saying Khalil is a terrorist but why was he working as a soft tool for the UK's M16 except to rabble-rouse in America.
Delightfully absurd and utterly emasculated reasoning. Bravo Mr Stark.!
There are a lot of good points made in this opinion piece. However, any nation (foreign or otherwise) that engages in intentional mass slaughter of civilians is knowingly creating it's own bad optics. Further, It is painfully obvious that the US government is acting unconstitutionally when it acts IN ANY WAY to censor or chill a Constitutional right of it's citizens by silencing their criticism of misconduct regardless of: who has committed the misconduct, whose feelings get hurt, or who might feel threatened. This is especially true when the speech is the most highly protected form of the First Amendment right of free speech (aka 'political speech'). Instead, the government should represent the sentiments of it's citizens and act accordingly. THAT is what an actual America First policy would reflect.
Obviously, it's not just Cheerleaders of Khalil’s deportation that see things in black-and-white. Clearly, all the sympathy for suffering Palestinians is, in reality, support for terrorists. There can't be anything in between full support of genocide on the one hand and full support for terrorists on the other. If you are not my friend, you are my enemy. There is nothing else.
Life is so easy when everything is black and white.
I'm interested in seeing how everything plays out in the courts, but there's something very distasteful about foreign nationals coming to this country only to make demands of our government. It seems Khalil is acting on behalf of foreign interests; terrorist or not, is this someone we should be granting permanent residency?
I do agree with the sentiment that putting everything under this "antisemitism" umbrella doesn't seem helpful. It seems like preferential treatment of a particular group, and given stereotypes about Jews, this definitely does not seem helpful to them. I think the administration should stick with the more generic branding of immigration reform.
I do share MT's concerns about this type of legal action eventually being taken against citizens, although I'm not sure how that would work when it's based around deportation (to where would they deport citizens?).
He wasn't making "demands of our government." He was NEGOTIATING with Columbia University administrators on behalf of a fully authorized Columbia student group protesting Columbia's investments in Israel.
"It seems Khalil is acting on behalf of foreign interests" -- By negotiating that a university divest from Israel? For decades, U.S. citizens have protested for the public & private sector divestment from other countries. Many of those citizens were once permanent residents. Permanent residents have the same constitutional protections as citizens, including the First Amendment right to protest.
I can't even with this guy. Last seen cherrypicking the few lunatics he could roust up at RFK's Nicole Shanahan announcement in Oakland to make fun of "conspiracy theorists" in the Free Press. Oooh, bold take, Ben. (I attended and can attest the event was nothing at all like the way Ben made it look.) Now describing those Columbia protests as: "... a bunch of kids camped out and…wished?" SMH. Matt, please, don't do this to us.
I don’t mind reading pieces on racket that I disagree with. That’s part of the reason I subscribe. But this was just plain intellectually empty. The author, and I have no idea who he is, comes off as a high school senior in terms of his logic and thought process. Very disappointing that racket would actually post this.
I’ll bet Bari Weiss and TFP rejected it.
My first thought exactly
They would have rejected it for insufficiently kissing of Netanyahu's ass.
🤣
Ditto. I was disappointed.
I agree.
Ben Kawaller doesn't speak for American Jews. I haven't met a single American Jew, including myself, who doesn't want Mahmoud Khalil to be deported back to Syria. I live in the epicenter of Jewish America...the NY-metro area.
Khalil is a guest in America...a bad guest. Somehow he received a green card within a couple of years of having established residency. I know people, some married to Americans, who have waited decades to get a green card...and many still haven't received one despite yearly application and legal representation.
Mr. Khalil's green card can be revoked, and I hope it will be. He's a domestic terrorist...he's inciting violence against Jewish Americans, and it's only a matter of time before that incitement morphs into physical action against his targeted groups, Zionists and Jews. His harassment of Jewish students on the Columbia University campus, barring them from of freedom of movement to enter their classrooms, is immoral if not illegal. Again, he's a bad guest. You kick bad guests out of your home.
Please refrain from addressing this pawn of Hamas as “Mr.” That implies some level of status that he has not earned. Thanks for your comments.
That was tongue in cheek. My face-to-face reaction to Khalil would be more like, " Hey idiot, get the f--k off my lawn ". I promise you, he would take one look at me and move quickly. Then again, I'm an old Jew, an "alter kocker" with little patience for asswipes like him.
Excellent. I was also poking fun at you. Blessings to you….
He lives in New York and probably reads the Times. (I say that in sympathy not as insult.) So he's probably just used to using honorifics.
Exactly. These people are our guests and should mind their manners. Which includes staying out of familyts squabbles. It is very rude. I am a bit of a free speech absolutist but the idea of groups of foreigners coming to our country and holding events that can range from protests to riots does not seem correc
“I am a free speech absolutist”
No you’re not.
You live in a bubble and you surround yourself with likeminded people. That’s fine.
I hope you understand that making exceptions to civil liberties (and yes civil liberties are extended to non-US born citizens) will lead to further erosions of said liberties.
I get that you are hurt and you want vengeance but this isn’t the way. Khalil isn’t even accused of a crime. This is a way to chill speech. Please think about the larger implications.
I disagree with you wholeheartedly. I'm as well read and broadminded as anybody subscribing to Racket News.
Of course Khalil is accused of a crime. He's overtly undermined the national security of the United States of America through his support and promotion of a terrorist organization while trying to impinge on the rights of American citizens. His arrest was just. His deportation will be just. The application of U.S. law upon a non-citizen isn't vengeance. Once he's returned to his homeland he can spew as much antisemitic garbage as his heart desires.
Lastly, THIS NOT A FREE SPEECH ISSUE! It's about this asshole trying to undermine the civil liberties of Jewish students who attend Columbia University by actively attempting to impede their freedom of movement on campus, and their ability to the attend classes that they've paid for, and have the right to attend without fear or harassment. And, it's about his support of Hamas, undeniable support by all accounts, which the U.S. State Department deemed to be a terrorist organization in 1997. As of last week, Columbia University, after pulling the foot of the Trump administration out of its ass, has promised to keep their campus clear of pernicious characters like Mahmoud Khalil.
"his support and promotion of a terrorist organization while trying to impinge on the rights of American citizens." -- There is ZERO evidence Khalil did either of those things.
There was enough evidence to initiate action against Mahmoud Khalil by both The Department of Homeland Security and The Secretary of State. Homeland Security says, Khalil participated in "activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization” and was distributing pro-Hamas propaganda. The White House has explained, “This administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans,”.
If you think Khalil has been arrested without evidence, then protest peacefully on his behalf. Send money to his wife. Petition your congressman or congresswoman to help free Khalil. I personally think he's guilty at minimum of being a pest guest of the United States, and should be deported posthaste, and his green card revoked.
Lastly: "Under New York Penal Law § 490.10, providing material support to a designated terrorist organization is classified as a class D felony. The maximum sentence for a class D felony in New York is up to 7 years in prison." There no denying that Khalil broke this law.
As someone born and raised in the Adirondacks, I appreciate your screen name. Outside of that, I don’t think there’s much of a discussion we are going to have. Have a good day.
I'm having a good day. Thanks.
I agree.
Doesn’t speak for me either.
Not buying it, sorry. Misplaced empathy got us where we are.
" this grandson of a Palestinian refugee had the dignity to show his face while protesting, presumably because he has a sincere belief in the righteousness of his cause."
Or he thought he wouldn't be held accountable. Just like the pro-Hamas protesters chanting "from the river to the sea" for the last 4 years. They weren't wrong. Until they were.
What does the grandson comment have to do with anything, other than Ben's inability to objectively report rather than injecting his opinion into the story?
I have no problem if this bigot wants to express his racist views, so long as he's not threatening anyone or committing crimes like breaking into buildings on colleges, destroying property or preventing students from getting to class. But we know he's done all of that. And he still has apologists like Ben pretending he doesn't know.
He thought it would be fine because he's exactly the kind of person the Biden Administration WANTED to import. And, he was fast tracked for that reason.
He entered with a student visa and married a US citizen. That's typical, not "fast tracked."
Please do not tease or feed the Zionists. It only encourages them.
I hear ya. There are some known zionist trolls I avoid because I know there's no getting through to them. But the sheer amount of hasbara on these threads kills me, so for those not yet identified as trolls, I feel the need to counter them. Because maybe, just maybe, they have a modicum of humanity and rationale.
Ah yes……the same Ben Kawaller of The Free Press who publishes some of the most painful video interview pieces imaginable. If you haven’t thrown up in your mouth lately, just take a couple of minutes to watch little gem.
🙄🙄🙄
https://x.com/benkawaller/status/1894100930389254555?s=46
Just watched .. what a joke. What a shill. What a grifter.
Seriously. His voice is nails on chalkboard painful.
Wish I had the Kool-Aid concession at the rally in that video. Those people are main lining it (except for about one or two more or less rational interviewees.
I got a good chuckle at "if you haven't thrown up in your mouth lately..."
It reminded me of a comedian who had a bit about someone tasting milk that had gone sour, saying "that's disgusting, taste it"
“For all I know, some of these demonstrations may be advocating for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs.”
To include this statement in your article you lose all credibility. You’re a journalist? If you have evidence of any demonstrations advocating for the peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs then write about it, show it to us. But instead you include this lame statement of “for all I know”. Surprised, and disappointed that Matt would publish this on Racket.
This made me laugh out loud, I gotta say.
The way it works is that the government should provide evidence of their claim that Khalil personally supports Hamas or that he's actually a threat to the government's foreign policy objectives - a claim that would be absurd except for the fact that Trump wants to forcibly get all Palestinians out of Gaza (and probably all of Israel), making anyone who supports their rights a "threat".
At a press conference on April 23, 2024 (1), Khalil says (starting at 27:07) "We are here to affirm that we believe that the struggle to achieve liberation - Palestinian and Jewish liberation - is intertwined and go hand-by-hand. And after all, this is a movement of equality, social justice, and liberation for Palestine and the rest of the world."
That's inconsistent with the claims made here, wholly without evidence, that he supports terrorism, the destruction of Israel and/or Jews, etc.
As another example, a woman at a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University said (2; 0:38 - 0:45) "Clearly we're all against violence, but we're just asking for the lives of Palestinian civilians to be acknowledged as well."
So there's some evidence for you. Do you have any evidence supporting the claims made by the majority of readers here? Don't you find it curious that they don't present any such evidence?
The blatant indifference to facts and truth is most egregious on Canary Mission's web page on Khalil. For example, they condemn him for standing next to Maryam Iqbal at a protest, claiming that Iqbal led the chant calling for Israel’s destruction. In the video, neither of them is leading a chant, and the fact that Khalil happens to be standing next to Iqbal, among many other people, obviously proves nothing - it's a pathetically weak "guilt by association" argument.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/live/kI3VrmZCVfY?t=2190s
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL-pIpnaixA&t=5s
Thank you for bringing facts to this otherwise fact-free thread. Very refreshing. It's telling that after 3 days, none of the pro-zionists have bothered to try refuting your comment.
Arguing with Zionists makes pushing sharp sticks under your fingernails sound fun.
Matt has a one-sided view on Israel/Palestine, sadly.
But you don't, right?
Kinda shocking. I had to read that over and over, looking for the obvious typo or something that would let my boy off the hook. Teaches me another valuable lesson: don’t be too keen to fall in line behind someone. Thanks for jolting me back to reality, Matt. You can say some stupid shit just like the rest of us.
The author's intense hatred for President Trump and his folding this irrelevancy into his narrative as if all would agree makes one distrust anything he has to say. I am surprised you would select this as a guest post, Matt.
Kids ( your word ) chanting from the river to the sea find it inspirational. Few of the chanters are kids. What would fulfillment of the inspirational chant look like? I suggest Genocide.
You're lucky you only have to "suggest" or imagine genocide. The people of Palestine have lived it every day for near on a hundred years. I suspect you couldn't handle for 10 minutes what Palestinian children endure year after year after fucking year, for fuck's sake.
You know how I know it isn’t genocide? Because it has lasted “near on a hundred years” and there are more Palestinians now than ever. They are born and raised with the entire goal of hurting Israel, and many die to hurt Israel and are celebrated by their families for doing so.
I see. Can we have your list of authors and historians who've informed your views? I assume you've looked at the work of Israelis like Milo Peled and Ilan Pappe, as well as Chris Hedges (who speaks Arabic and lived in the Middle East as a journalist), Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate, and too many others to list? How do you square your views with theirs?
Tell me about the population of Gaza and the changes since 2005... you know since Hamas took over, err, was voted in, killed their political rivals in Fatah (and anyone else they deemed undesirable like gay people) and stolen the money given by the dupes internationally for torture tunnels. Yes, they are so misunderstood innocents those Hamasniks.
Do you have an actual point? Naming people that disagree with me isn’t even an argument, and it took you at most a few minutes to do but would take probably at least hours to try to counter in detail. What specifically do you even disagree with?
You're unfamiliar with the definition of "genocide." No one even has to die for the definition to be met. If you're going to say that Palestinians are "born and raised with the entire goal of hurting Israel," you should be able to support it. That it is Israelis who are raised to despise and want to hurt and/or kill Palestinians was brought home to me by Max Blumenthal's book "Goliath," which he wrote after spending months in Israel. He documents the indoctrination--reminiscent of how the Nazis talked about Jews--that Israelis undergo from a very young age against Palestinians, as does Nurit Peled, the daughter of an IDF general during the 1967 war. As for the supposed Palestinian hatred for Jews, I've listened to many hours of interviews with Palestinians, quite a few of whom express gratitude for American and European Jews who call for an end to the genocide. That said, think about this: some Jews have regularly come to Gaza, ever since you were born, to "mow the lawn." Some of them have tanks with the Star of David on them. How would you feel about Jews under those circumstances? I understand how important it is for defenders of Israel to deny Palestinian suffering and magnify Jewish suffering, which has indeed been considerable throughout history, but it was not Palestinians who committed the Jewish holocaust. It was Europeans, and they're the ones who should pay for that crime instead supporting Israelis in taking the land and lives of Palestinians.
Er, there are many definitions of some of which are very self-serving. The Britannica, however, defines it as follows, "Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race. Learn about the history, legal aspects, and criticisms of this crime against humanity from Britannica's experts." I would say destruction contemplates people dying. The "cide" is the giveaway as in homicide, patricide, matricide, infanticide, regicide, etc.
You beat me to it.
Oh please, Jews have experienced it forever. Nobody knows what started this nightmare. They both talk a good story. Palestinians are far from peace loving people.
That's the logic of a woman who beats her child and says "Shut the fuck up! I had it worse as a kid!" If resisting the theft of your land and the killing of your people by violent settlers makes you not a "peace loving people," so be it. The Israelis should have a tiny fraction of the honor and courage Palestinians have.
Oh please. Listen to you attacking Jewish people with no understanding of their historical plight. Nobody knows for sure what started this and I doubt highly you were there. Were you there when Hamas murdered those people, raped children and women and filmed it? And the "child" parallel is absurd.
There is no genocide in Palestine
Then you disagree with the vast majority of scholars, experts, and professionals on the subject. Personally I don't care what you call it when civilians, journalists, aid workers, and doctors are being deliberately targeted with horrific weapons and a medieval siege.
If this was supposed to be a genocide, then someone has seriously fucked up because the "Palestinian" population has multiplied many times over since 1948, right up to recent years.
No, he disagrees with a collection of leftist anti-western Jew haters. That's a far cry from the unearned labels of Scholar and Expert. I'm sure however you have cherrypicked your data to support your own predisposition of hatred of Jews.
Oh, please. Twenty percent of Israel is Palestinian Arab. The Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria and Gaza has quintupled since 1948. Some "genocide." But you are right in one regard. I couldn't endure being taught to hate and kill people from my earliest age like "Palestinian children are.
Look up the actual definition of "genocide" and see my comment above in response to Charre.
You go look it up, since you keep misusing and abusing this word. Try a real dictionary.
If this was supposed to be a genocide, then someone has seriously fucked up because the "Palestinian" population has multiplied many times over since 1948, right up to recent years.
Here in our Country, all citizens have the right to speak.
Interesting that he should compare it to lyrics from Woody Guthrie, a shill for Stalin.
I think the issue is much more complicated than laid out here. Unfortunately, we don't have the details of what these people have actually done or not done (though you can go through the trial documents here: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69719040/mahmoud-khalil-v-william-p-joyce/)
The issue is obviously complicated by the fact these people are here as guests and hosts typically don't need much reason to throw out a guest.
Thanks for posting the link to the court documents regarding Mahmoud Khalil. Do you know if any of them contain the government's evidence, if there is any, that Khalil did anything meriting his arrest and deportation? I've read quite a few articles and watched some videos with him at protests or interviews, and I've seen no evidence whatsoever of the government's claims.
🎯
I haven't read the court documents, but I've read dozens of comments, here and elsewhere, by people claiming that Khalil personally supports Hamas, terrorism, the destruction of Israel, etc., but not a single one that provided a single piece of evidence as opposed to mere "guilt by association" arguments. Yet these same people demand evidence that Khalil is innocent of the government's charges, rather than citing evidence that he's guilty. This indifference to facts and evidence is very disturbing. It's the same attitude I argued against with Democrats during the Biden administration.
My comment focused on articles and reader comments about Khalil, none of which (among those I've seen) provided any evidence supporting their claims against Khalil. It's remarkable to see how certain people can be of things they apparently have no evidence of. It remains to be seen if the government has any such evidence, but based on what I've seen so far, I doubt it.
Khalil explicitly denied being a "leader" of CUAD in the sense of directing the protestors. CUAD is a coalition of about 80 student groups. Some of the protestors explicitly called for peaceful means, others called for or used violence. He described himself as a spokesman and negotiator for a student protest groups (1). The claim that that means he supports everything that any of the protestors support or did isn't even logically consistent, given the wide range of viewpoints among the protestors. It's analogous to claiming that Donald Trump was personally responsible for the Jan. 6 protestors who were violent, a claim that I argued against though I don't support him. Some of those protestors were violent, some were peaceful. Does the fact that Trump called for the protest make him guilty of the violence?
The statements I have seen from Khalil are contrary to the claims made abuot him. For example, he says in an interview (2 at 27:07), "We are here to affirm that we believe that the struggle to achieve liberation - Palestinian and Jewish liberation - is intertwined and go hand-by-hand."
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/nyregion/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university.html
[2] https://www.youtube.com/live/kI3VrmZCVfY?t=2190s
It's worth pointing out this isn't Matt's writing, it's a guest post.
Huge difference. These people are NOT citizens and they are compromising Jewish students who ARE citizens. And this guy was the spokesperson for a group who broke laws. Way over simplified here. Ridiculous, actually.
This is pro-Israeli money doing it's work -- the big donors like Miriam Adelson and others of the pro-Israeli lobby. Trump isn't the first to mouth their words -- Biden funded the deaths of thousands of innocent children and civilians, and almost all of Congress is beholden to the lobby.
The evidence is simple: not a single charge has been filed against this man -- because there likely is no evidence he had anything to do with Hamas. If they had any evidence, they would have bombarded us with it.
The comments here look like pro-Israel money doing some work as well. No way are there actual human beings behind all of these genocide apologetics.
I’m pro Israel and did t get any money from Israel. How do I get in on that pro Israel money. DM me.
Contact AIPAC.
He was distributing Hamas literature, and helped organize mob vandalizing and intimidation.
I understand you *believe* that he was doing that. My point is about *evidence* -- the law of the land we live in does not operate on what anyone thinks or believes, and certainly our government must have evidence -- and file charges in a court of law -- before deporting a legal resident.
No, Khalil himself did NONE of those things.
Indeed. THAT is material.
So how long you, and your kind, been on Qatari payroll ?
Exactly.
There doesn’t need to be a criminal charge for him to be deported.
But there does need to be SOLID EVIDENCE that he violated his permanent resident status. So far, DHS and State Dept have not provided any. And their public claims that Khalil is a "threat to national security" is rhetoric, NOT evidence.
Very mushy and scattered logic. Pointless post.
I’m only here to see this insanely degenerate piece get torn to shreds. Is it troll day? This is the second troll article from respected sources that I’ve read this morning. I’m not even including TGIF.
Read the room, also known as Planet Earth. This is not just what we want, but what we need.
It's so sad to see what is a perfectly rational piece be characterized as "insanely degenerate." so many have gone bonkers.
It’s more sad to see that you fail so hard at reading comprehension and cannot distinguish between editorialized claptrap and real journalism. There’s definitely a way to write an article like this, but the author chose violence. Which is fine, but Newton’s Third Law still applies - even to “words.”
So maybe take your tampon out and enjoy the show.