Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent pro-Palestinian activist facing deportation by the Trump administration, described his March 8 arrest by immigration authorities as an "abduction" in an op-ed published Saturday in the Columbia Spectator. The piece, titled "A Letter to Columbia", was verified by his attorney and sharply criticizes the university's stance on the Gaza conflict and its handling of student activism. "Since my abduction on March 8, the intimidation and kidnapping of international students who stand for Palestine has only accelerated," Khalil wrote, citing other student activists facing deportation, including Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk. Khalil, a Syrian refugee, likened his current ordeal to fleeing Bashar al-Assad's regime, saying, "The situation is oddly reminiscent of when I fled the brutality of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and sought refuge in Lebanon." He accused Columbia of enabling repression, writing, "Columbia has not only refused to acknowledge the lives of Palestinians sacrificed for Zionist settler colonialism, but it has actively reproduced the language used to justify this killing." The student also criticized the university's approach to campus protests, claiming it suppresses dissent "under the auspices of combating antisemitism." Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said over 300 student visas had been revoked. "Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas," he said. — Agencies
