Freed Palestinian student accuses Columbia University of inciting violence

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Palestinian pupil arrested arsenic helium was astir to finalize his U.S. citizenship accused Columbia University connected Thursday of eroding ideology with its handling of field protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, who led anti-war protests astatine the Ivy League schoolhouse successful New York successful 2023 and 2024, spent 16 days successful a Vermont situation earlier a justice ordered him released connected April 30. He spoke to The Associated Press connected Thursday, a time aft pro-Palestinian protestors clashed with field information guards wrong the university’s main library. At slightest 80 radical were taken into custody, constabulary said.

Mahdawi said alternatively of being a “beacon of hope," the assemblage is inciting unit against students.

“Columbia University is participating successful the demolition of the antiauthoritarian system,” Mahdawi said successful the interview. “They are supporting the initiatives and the docket of the Trump administration, and they are punishing and torturing their students.”

A spokesperson for Columbia University, which successful March announced sweeping argumentation changes related to protests pursuing Trump medication threats to revoke its national funding, declined to remark Thursday beyond the effect of the school's acting president to Wednesday's protests.

The acting president, Claire Shipman, said the protesters who had holed up wrong a room speechmaking country were asked repeatedly to amusement recognition and to leave, but they refused. The schoolhouse past asked constabulary successful “to assistance successful securing the gathering and the information of our community,” she said successful a connection Wednesday evening, calling the protestation actions “outrageous” and a disruption to students for last exams.

The Trump medication has said Mahdawi should beryllium deported due to the fact that his activism threatens its overseas argumentation goals, but the justice who released him ruled that helium has raised a “substantial claim” that the authorities arrested him to stifle code with which it disagrees.

Mahdawi, a ineligible imperishable resident, was calved successful a exile campy successful the Israeli-occupied West Bank and moved to the United States successful 2014. At Columbia, helium organized field protests and co-founded the Palestinian Student Union with Mahmoud Khalil, different Palestinian imperishable nonmigratory of the U.S. and postgraduate pupil who was arrested successful March.

On April 14, Mahdawi had taken a written citizenship test, answered verbal questions and signed a papers astir the pledge of allegiance astatine an migration bureau successful Colchester erstwhile his interviewer near the room. Masked and equipped agents past entered and arrested him, helium said. Though helium had suspected a trap, the infinitesimal was inactive shocking, helium said, triggering a cascade of contrasting emotions.

“Light and darkness, acold and hot. Having rights oregon not having rights astatine all,” helium said.

Immigration authorities person detained assemblage students from astir the state since the archetypal days of the Trump administration, galore of whom participated successful field protests implicit the Israel-Hamas war. Mahdawi was among the archetypal to triumph merchandise from custody aft challenging his arrest.

In different case, a national appeals tribunal ruled Wednesday successful favour of Tufts University pupil Rumeysa Ozturk, upholding an bid to transportation her from a Louisiana detention halfway backmost to New England to find whether her rights were violated and if she should beryllium released.

Mahdawi said his connection to the Turkish pupil and others was “stay affirmative and don’t fto this injustice shingle your content successful the inevitability of justice.”

“People are moving hard. Communities are mobilizing,” helium said. “The justness strategy has signaled to America with my case, and with Rumeysa’s yesterday with the Second Circuit, that justness is functioning and checks and balances is inactive successful function.”

Mahdawi's release, which is being challenged by the government, allows him to question extracurricular of his location authorities of Vermont and be his graduation from Columbia successful New York aboriginal this month. He said helium plans to bash so, though helium believes the medication has turned its backmost connected him and rejected the enactment of a pupil diplomacy assembly helium served connected alongside Jewish, Israeli and Lebanese students.

“I program to be the graduation due to the fact that it is simply a message," helium said. "This is simply a connection that acquisition is hope, acquisition is light, and determination is nary powerfulness successful the satellite that should instrumentality that distant from us.”