Freed Palestinian Activist Slams U.S. Crackdown on Pro-Palestine Students
Mohsen Mahdawi, recently released from U.S. detention, condemns anti-Palestinian policies as a betrayal of the Constitution and vows to continue his advocacy.
Watan-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, who was arrested in the United States for supporting Palestine and later released, stated that what is happening to pro-Palestinian students is a “betrayal of the American Constitution.”
In his first media statement following his release on April 30, Mahdawi affirmed that no one would be able to silence him, and he was confident that justice would prevail.
He explained that the reason he addressed U.S. President Donald Trump with the words “I’m not afraid of you” upon his release was because the Trump administration follows a “philosophy of intimidation.”
Mahdawi also criticized U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s policies toward students supporting Palestine, stating they are fueling “antisemitism” in the country.
He asked: “Does speaking loudly for justice and peace undermine U.S. policy?”
Columbia Graduate Freed Amid Growing Pro-Palestine Campus Arrests
Despite objections from government lawyers—who claimed local courts had no role in such cases—the judge granted his release.
Court documents reveal that Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and moved to the U.S. in 2014.
Mahdawi, who recently completed his graduate studies at Columbia University, was scheduled to receive his diploma this May.
He was detained in an immigration facility in Louisiana. Along with fellow Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil, Mahdawi co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia—both were arrested for similar reasons.
The pro-Palestine protests that began at Columbia have since spread to over 50 universities across the country, with police arresting more than 3,100 individuals, most of whom are students and faculty members.
