Columbia student of Palestinian origin Mohsen Mahdawi, who was arrested by the ICE agents when he went for his citizenship interview, said he knew he was trapped for the arrest and it was not surprising at all. After his recent release, he wrote for the New York Times that he is probably the first to have been freed from detention.
Mahdawi said he was arrested after he signed a citizenship document saying that he was willing to take an oath of allegiance.
“The trap was not a complete surprise to me. It came after other arrests of students for exercising their right to free speech in opposing Israel’s relentless killing and destruction in Gaza. I had prepared by contacting lawyers, my Vermont senators and my House representative, the media and a group of community members,” Mahdawi wrote, adding that he had the privilege to seek justice.
“Despite spending 16 nights in a jail cell, I never lost hope in the inevitability of justice and the principles of democracy. I wanted to become a citizen of this country because I believe in the principles that it enshrines,” he wrote.
“The American government accuses me of undermining US foreign policy, a patently absurd pretext for deportation for political speech that the Trump administration dislikes. The government is scraping the bottom of the barrel in its attempts to smear me. My only “crime” is refusing to accept the slaughter of Palestinians, opposing war and promoting peace. I have simply insisted that international law must be respected. I believe the way to a just and long-lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis is through diplomacy and restorative justice.”
“I was born a third-generation refugee in Al-Far’a camp in the West Bank under Israel’s apartheid system. When I was 8 years old, I buried my brother when he died a few years after an Israeli military siege blocked his access to medical care, ultimately resulting in fatal health issues. Instead of celebrating my 11th birthday, I walked in my uncle’s funeral after he was killed by the Israeli military. I witnessed an Israeli soldier kill my best childhood friend when I was 11,” Mahdawi wrote about his personal tragedies.