He is surely a plant and connected more deeply than we know. He worked an UNRWA, he held a position with the UK that granted him a security clearance. The question is: who planted him at Columbia and was it for this reason and WHO is paying for his 19 $1k an hour lawyers…. Follow the money.
I'm confused though. If you deport people who are dangerous back to Palestihe does that not just make them more likely to shore up the ranks of Hamas? I'm not sure how that helps Israel.
That is the ‘don’t antagonize them further’ approach. It never works. He is 100% fighting for the death of all Jews. 100%. He is already at war. Yes, he will take up the battle elsewhere. Maybe. Or after his dentist wife leaves him after spending a year in Syria. Or, Palestine. He might say ‘what was I thinking?’ And move away from hate. But likely he will die somewhere.
I find it interesting who is paying him? Is he CIA? Or is he British MI6? Why does a student have a security clearance in British Intelligence?
American sovereignty, not free expression, is the most salient principle in this controversy. He is unwelcome and has no legal legs to stand upon even if his fan base may think otherwise. But what I have been struggling with in all this is how in God's name did antisemitism became fashionable? It is horrifying to observe.
From another Jewish person, and one who has been and still is, a Zionist, albeit one whose allegiance is first, second, and third to Judaism and fourth to the idea of Israel and not at all to Israel’s government—
This is remarkably wrong and un-self aware. For starters, the facts are all wrong, from the jump. This person was not accused of a crime. The neo-Nazi administration running the executive branch didn’t pretend to allege that he’d committed a crime. They detained him for the Orwellian “having goals aligned with a terror group.”
Now, does Kahlil have views I don’t like? Almost certainly. I don’t know what his precise views are, because they aren’t being reported. Protesters at Columbia, my alma mater, had views that ranged from the correct and benign “Israel’s response to the atrocity of October 7 was wildly out of proportion and they should work toward peace and end the occupation” to the very antisemitic “Jews are all oppressors and should go back to Europe.” I don’t know where Kahlil fit on that spectrum.
Nor does it matter. Because people have a wide range of views. Many are reprehensible. But our system used to protect the right to have bad views. And to due process when it comes to having other rights violated. This piece is profoundly wrongheaded and illiberal. It rejects the very basic precepts around law and due process that underpin our legal system. It’s a way that states slide into authoritarianism. Free speech isn’t only for those you agree with— it’s for bigots and racists and antisemites and Islamophobes and all manner of not great people. People like Hassan Nasrallah and Yahya Sinwar and, yes, Bazalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir and Bibi Netanyahu have profoundly nasty and terrible views. But in our system, people have the right to agree with them.
I don’t know what Kahlil’s precise views are. They haven’t been reported (probably because no one really fully knows). I probably profoundly disagree with a lot of them. But I know that my commitment to basic liberalism far outstrips any revulsion I might have for his views.
When you write screeds like this, you betray the very precepts of liberalism that have made (and, hopefully, one day will again make) America a decent (if deeply flawed) country. There’s a right side to this. That isn’t it.
A18, these barbarians burned our babies in ovens in front of the mothers while raping them, before slaughtering them and the rest of the family. They entered the bedroom of sleeping thirteen year old girls, raped them, and shot them in back of the head as they ejaculated. And the Palestinian civilians participated and cheered. And this is the tip of the iceberg. Israel's response was "wildly out of proportion"? On the contrary. They used tremendous restraint, unfortunately, not to turn the entire region into glass.
Watch the videos supplied by Hamas? Why do people play twister to disparage the victims in a democracy and support the medial Luddites who kill anyone and everyone?
It is quite possible that Hamas, or ordinary Palestinians, committed some atrocities. October 7 did not happen in a vacuum, and Palestinian folk were justifiably p!ssed off. But, and there is a but. Not all the Israeli deaths on October 7 were caused by the Palestinians. Some say that a great many were committed by the IOF. A substantial number were committed by Israeli forces. See the Hannibal Directive (the IOF commanding general confirmed that it had been applied). One Israeli child was killed by a bullet, but there is no agreement as to which side fired the bullet. There were no baby beheadings. There is no confirmation that any baby’s were put into microwave ovens. There have been no confirmed rapes. The really interesting bit is that no investigation has been held.
I believe his views are extremely clear and obvious. His hatred for the Jewish people is ingrained in every cell of his body. He will pass this hatred to his child.
Right? If you’re commenting on here that you don’t know what his views are because they haven’t been reported, you’re probably reading a particular genre of “news.” He’s only been screaming them from a megaphone for two years.
That’s not right. The Gaza protesters have a pretty broad range of views. There were those who were quite antisemitic, for sure. There was a student who declared that all Zionists should die. It was broadly reported. Israel’s knee jerk defenders want to pretend that all of the protesters hold that view. They’re not just wrong, but acting in bad faith. There are a whole lot of legitimate complaints there.
We don’t know what end of that spectrum Kahlil lies because… it hasn’t been reported. If he’d been out there yelling that all Zionists need to die, you can bet it would have been reported. Instead, he was detained under the Orwellian pretext of having goals “aligned with Hamas.”
When you declare that you know exactly what his views are, you’re spewing Trumpian and Bibian propaganda. It would be nice to do better.
He led a movement that denied Jewish students access to their classes. That movement caused damage to buildings. Estimated to be in the millions. There is evidence he is a Brit spy. Any one of these is enough to have him deported forthwith. He can fight this in court. And maybe win. Let him. From Syria. The law says however the SoS can deport someone instantly if it is believed the person is working towards destabilizing the US. They had the right to deport him. Right or wrong countries can deport non citizens for various reasons.
You clearly don’t live in New York City. And you’re spending your endless hours on free time coming after us Jews to correct us?! You need help and I truly hope you get it because this is not healthy or normal.
Ah yes, Yahya Sinwar plotted the deaths of thousands of his own people to create unwilling, sacrificial martyrs. This is one of your international poster boys for free speech? Of course he's now dead -- pity, eh? That old American saying applies: FAFO. Spare us your own ridiculous screed, and don't forget to renew your membership with JVP.
Yahya Sinwar was reprehensible. The world is better off without him in it. Targeting him was justified because of his actions, not his speech. Someone supporting him also has reprehensible views. That doesn’t make jailing them for those views right.
Same thing with, say, Ben Gvir, who’s declared that Palestine should be ethnically cleansed. He’s a miserable person. Those supporting him have reprehensible views. They should not be jailed for those views. Because we live in a liberal society. Or at least some of us aspire to that.
You can reject the basic tenets of liberalism. But then you can erase liberalism and democracy from your dictionary. Because you don’t believe in those things.
C’mon we all know your not “a Jew” -it’s a well known strategy by antisemites to declare it believing it gives you some sort of legitimacy - kinda like “JVP”which was created & controlled by a Lebanese Islamist
Not just a Jew. One whose family members were killed in the Holocaust. So save the “you’re not a real Jew” bullshit. Fact is, being Jewish does not mean being a Zionist (though I am also that). And it certainly doesn’t mean knee jerk support for the administration in Israel. Which, let’s be clear, no longer purports to care about being a safe place for Jews.
When they’re having conferences on “antisemitism” where they invite Hungarian antisemites and German neo-Nazis, they’re defining their “antisemitism” to exclude lots of actual Jews and to include Nazis, so long as the Nazis are good cheerleading blowing up enough Palestinians.
So save your BS. Im not gonna tell you that your advocating indiscriminate mass murder makes you less Jewish, but I will tell you that it’s not decent.
"Mass murder"? Lost all credibility. What a way to minimize the tragedy of your "family members . . . killed in thr Holocaust." He was formally charged with crimes and will, thanks more to judicial intervention than Trump administration admittedly, see his day in court. He is being lawfully detained however.
Wrong. He was not charged with a crime. Not a good idea to talk about credibility, then lead by getting the basics completely wrong. The administration didn’t even purport to claim that he’d committed a crime. I don’t know precisely what his views are, but “wrongthink” is not a crime.
Is it possible you have been brainwashed? Is that something you would consider? Is it at the same time possible you are not open-minded? Is that something you would consider? Is it possible that virtue signaling and identity politics drive you - and not intellectual honesty, facts and context? I ask all this because, based on what you wrote, where your starting point was to tell us your a Jewish BUT not a supporter of Israel’s government, in itself tells/signals a great deal. It suggests your agenda drives what you wrote (and I suspect, think.) And it’s hard not to pick up on an air of arrogance and condescension, too. What a shame. For starters, since that’s where you started, you think you know what’s best for Israel? What education and experiences living in Israel, puts you in a position where you know best? Oh, you read the NYT (and maybe Haaretz,) watch CNN and MSNBC…? Please try and do better. Be more open minded and draw on a broader spectrum of data points, historical fact and perspectives before you form opinions that are so embedded you can’t pivot. Are you also going to tell us that Israel bombed a hospital, that the IDF targets killing children, that over 50,000 innocent civilians living in Gaza - mostly women and children - have been killed, that Hamas only wants peace and a 2-state solution, that Hamas doesn’t use its citizens as human shields, that UNRWA is a peace-loving organization, and that the judicial reforms - which had been in the works for generations in order to implement a much needed and more common-sense check and balance in Israel’s judicial system - were not necessary?
Nope. You’re attributing a set of views to me that I don’t hold. I’m under no illusion that Hamas is some freedom fighting group. It’s a hate group. That, however, doesn’t mean the opposite— that Israel’s government is some pure freedom loving group that just wants peace and a two state solution. In fact, they declare quite the opposite. Netanyahu openly does NOT want a two state solution. His cabinet includes people who have portraits of terrorist Baruch Goldstein in their living rooms and who openly call for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. That doesn’t excuse anything about Hamas, so you can save the what aboutism that’s inevitably coming. But it does put the lie to the knee jerk narrative some people want to feed.
And yes, I’ve been to Israel more than once. In opposition to the government’s best efforts, I’ve also been to the West Bank. A place where one group of people is allowed to travel freely while another can’t so much as collect rainwater without obtaining an occupier’s permit. Where one group gets shot at for throwing rocks while the other conducts full on pogroms under an occupying army’s protection.
If you don’t recognize this, or you excuse it in the name of “but Hamas is terrible,” you’re plainly either brainwashed or a nativist. Generally, it’s the latter.
And yes, Netanyahu’s corruption and longtime effort to neuter the judiciary is a purely authoritarian effort to dismantle Israeli democracy. He’s moderately smarter than Trump, but they’re birds of a feather. When it comes to what I believe, it’s both that Israel needs to exist as a haven for Jews (which its government notably doesn’t want to be at this point, given that it invites German neo-Nazis to its “antisemitism” conferences because they share their affinity for oppressing Palestinians). But Israel cannot be that for as long as it maintains full on apartheid in the West Bank and a ghetto in Gaza.
None of that has anything to do with Israel’s safety. In fact, support for Hamas spikes when Israel tightens the noose. Which reliably tells you that Palestinians are not the bloodthirsty group of savages you’ve been brainwashed to believe, but, broadly, people whose views are malleable. Just like Israelis, whose views also shift.
So yes, I’m aware of all of the tropes both sides throw out. Those tropes are wrong coming from Palestinians, and they’re wrong coming from Israel. You’re throwing out a reliable set. I’ve heard them all. They’re wrong.
Help us understand, then. Let’s start with a 2 state solution. You say Bibi doesn’t support this. Should he? Has not Israel tried time and time and time again and only met with intifada? Why would trying yet again (especially now) have any different outcome? And with whom/what political entity would Israel negotiate this 2-state solution? Not to mention, is a 2-state solution the desired outcome of the fundamental Islamists living in Gaza and Judea and Samaria? I have never heard or read anything that suggests living in peace next to a state/country of non-Muslims is an objective of Hamas, Fatah or really anybody of Arab origin. Please share with us the sources you have who are of Arab descent living in Gaza and/or J&S and who are pining for a 2-state solution. And your comment that includes the word “apartheid” really takes the cake. On the hand you speak down on me as having heard all the tropes including what I wrote previously. And on the other you make that absurd statement. As if you have a solution. Indeed if you do please let us know. Israelis pushed for peace and let those living in Gaza into their lives and trusted them and then what? They were slaughtered, raped, etc. by those same people. Who is the apartheid state? Jews lived in Northern Africa, the land of Israel and of course in Iran and Iraq. How many Jewish people live in any place other than Israel now? Oh … that doesn’t matter. Facts be damned. Self defense be damned. Safety and security of an entire nation be damned. And “Palestinians?” What is your definition of this term? It seems as if your virtue signaling is too precious and more important. I’d say you are “brainwashed” and selective in what you draw on to take the positions you take, but I don’t know you well enough. Others will say you are a troll. Either way, it’s a shame. Idealism has a place. We can all hope for a better future. But there are stark realities we have to deal with in life. Extreme Muslims wanting to eradicate what is today the state of Israel from all Jews and infidels, and continue on geographically from there to kill or convert non-believers is one critical, stark reality. Until and unless there are moderates willing to compromise and find common ground - and none have surfaced since the beginning of Islam - then it’s pretty hard to move the “peace” ball forward, wouldn’t you agree?
Yes, Bibi absolutely should support this. To start with, your assertion of history is laughably one sided. Have there been moments where Palestinians have been roadblocks to the peace process? Yes. Have there also been moments where Israelis have been roadblocks? Also yes. Partisans on each side love to declare that the other side is a unique roadblock. They’re equally wrong.
When it comes to two states, yes, you’ll find more support among Palestinians for it than Israelis at this point. Has that always been the case? No. It’s been fluid. But again partisans love to blame the other and pretend their side is pure. Both are full of crap.
And yes, apartheid has a definition. It’s when people living under the sovereignty of a single government are subject to different legal rights. Either the West Bank is being occupied, or it’s a textbook case of apartheid. And a worse case of apartheid than what you had in South Africa, in that case. Black South Africans didn’t need whites’ sign off to gather rain water.
You talk about security. Yes, Israel needs security. Yes, it needs to project itself. What it’s doing is counter to that goal. There’s less than zero security justification for occupying the West Bank. Those settlers don’t keep Israel safer. On the contrary— they endanger it. They stage frequent pogroms. They divert military resources. They radicalize the victims of their pogroms. And those settlements keep expanding, and have been for decades.
That’s not idealism— it’s reality. Here’s the simple reality— Israel won’t be fully safe until and unless it ends the occupation. Until it does, it’s going to be under constant threat. And Palestinians will similarly be living under apartheid conditions, subject to frequent violence and pogroms. It’s bad for everyone except Hamas extremists who want to ethnically cleanse Israel and Israeli extremists who want to ethically cleanse Gaza.
You’ve chosen the side of the Israeli extremists. It’s a terrible shame, ugly and fundamentally indecent. You should think a bit about the brainwashing and propaganda you’re spewing, realize that it’s bullcrap, and open your eyes to reality. You won’t, of course, not any more than Hamas will realize the error of their ways and decide to push for peace, but you should.
You are the one who is laughably one-sided. President Bill Clinton and his Envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross have made the case many times it is the Palestinians that rejected a great deal in 2000. They rejected an even the same deal when Ehud Olmert offered his land-for-peace deal in '08. There are many more instances of rejection of land for peace and of course, don't forget that Jordan and Egypt never offered sovereignty to the Palestinians when they controlled the occupied territories. You are 100% wrong that Israel turned down land for peace. They've accepted every brokered deal going back to the 1947 UN Partition. The Arabs cum "Palestinians" have rejected every deal. You may Jewish origins but you are not a Jew because of your reprehensible denial of our sovereignty over our Jewish homeland and you're laughably one-sided view that our people have been as intransigent of Peace deals than the other side.
Nope again. The Palestinians did not have a deal that they could have accepted in either 2000 or 2008. There were a lot of issues with that process. Aaron David Miller, who negotiated each of those deals, has laid it all out in detail, if you care to read it.
Reality is, neither side has been willing to make the hard concessions needed at the same time. There’s a clear outline for how a deal should look. But there are roadblocks on both sides.
Lastly, you can take your “not a Jew” shit and shove it up your ass. I’m not just Jewish, I also fully believe in the existence of a homeland for Jewish people. Now, clowns like you, who betray the very deepest tenets of Judaism by not just denying other people’s humanity, but by knee jerk defending a government that welcomes in neo-Nazis with open arms so long as they share their commitment to blowing up Palestinians, while declaring that Jews who don’t aren’t real Jews, are Shondas.
You have no grasp of what it means to be Jewish. You have no commitment to the fundamental ideals of the faith. You’re a nationalist clown. GFY.
A18, you can cloak all of your positions with the vast and profound protection afforded by our sacred First Amendment and rattle on from your cocoon about the"slide into authoritarianism" if we are not careful......and yet, I can't help but have this vision of you, some years from now, pleading to these same persecutors who (if we follow your lead) will become YOUR persecutors: "but I was the one who fought for your right to persecute me!" This, of course, is the paradox of tolerance. But, we don't really ned to reach this quandry because ultimately this is not about this guy's views. This is about conduct. The neo-Nazis had the right to march in Skokie, but not to bar them from their homes and trespass on private property.
It is, in fact, about this guy’s views. The administration didn’t even purport to have evidence of a crime. They claimed, essentially, carte blanche to deport him based on “national security” grounds. Then realized that was a crock of shit and changed their justification to him lying on his Green Card application about… working in a British embassy office in Beirut and as an unpaid intern for the UNRWA, and also that he was a member of Columbia’s divestment student group. Which is beyond laughable.
He’s in the country at the pleasure of the American people. The American people through various legal actions long predating Trump have make support for designated terror organizations a basis for ending the residence privileges of non-citizens. Any expression of support for a designated terror organization can be enough for non-citizens to forfeit their residency rights, but actions against them have typically been taken only for overt actions of support. Kahlil was overt in his support for Hamas by organizing anti-Israel, pro-Hamas demonstrations at Columbia. What’s unclear about this?
“What it’s doing is counter to that goal.” Based on what? And are you suggesting there are moderates among Hamas or among those living in Gaza? And what percent would you say are “moderate”? And did a single moderate lift a finger to help a hostage, Jewish or otherwise? Are you aware of the education (er, brainwashing) that take place? Spend 5 minutes at www.palwatch.org and you’ll learn how deeply and pervasive the brainwashing machine operates. I questioned earlier whether you are a victim. You emphasize occupation and that alone suggests exactly where you are coming from. The mere idea that those living in Gaza, Judea and Samaria would be peaceful neighbors if only there were not security measures in place is a pipe dream based in fantasy, is it not? Since the founding of Islam the objective of the fundamentalists is to kill all Jews and any infidels that don’t convert and install a caliphate. Is that not accurate? Does Hamas’ charter not state that it wants to annihilate / eradicate all the Jews? I see how you try and come off as calm and rational, but to me you’re more clearly condescending and arrogant and think you’re a know it all. This is all about religion and ideology, not land. So many good, peace-loving Israelis were killed (murdered, raped, tortured, burned alive, etc etc) by those who live in Gaza and who they befriended in an effort to promote peace. The betrayal is beyond disgusting. And somehow you say security is important but first Israel can’t “occupy” Gaza and if that changed all would be good. Based on what evidence? Especially when there’s evidence to the contrary? I just keep shaking my head. Peace is a great objective. There have to be willing partners. Many Israeli and IS leaders thought there were, only to be met with war and betrayal (if not also laughter.) Finally, you should look up apartheid and occupation and stop trying to shove that BS narrative down my and others’ throats. Get real. Grow up. See reality for what it is. When and if there are ANY moderates in Gaza, Judea and Samaria in positions of leadership, then MAYBE there’s a chance for something that approaches peace. That’s a big “when” and “if” because Iran’s and Qatar’s leadership likely will never be on board with peace. That’s an important part of reality that needs to be acknowledged.
This is the same tired drivel. The vast majority of Palestinians, like the vast majority of Israelis, want to live safe and free lives. There are roadblocks to that on each side. Current polling indicates that Israelis have worse views of Palestinians than vice versa. This idea that peace loving Israelis are protected only by military might from vile Islamists is extremely bigoted nonsense.
Israeli security is a worthwhile goal. Occupying the West Bank isn’t just not necessary to that, it’s actively damaging. It has less than nothing to do with safety and everything to do with domination. Because it takes lots of resources to build outposts in others’ land, shut them off from moving around within that land, prevent them from building homes or gathering rainwater (imagine trying to come up with a “security” justification for that), and deploy army units to provide cover for settler pogroms while shooting at rock throwers.
Your defense of the occupation is exactly what you’ve explicitly said— that apartheid is justified because “those people” are vicious and dangerous. It’s brutally racist bullcrap, of course, but it’s pervasive.
Here’s the reality— there are three “sides” to this— the simplistic pro-Israel side, the simplistic pro-Palestine side, and the side that acknowledges the complexities of the situation and the virtues and flaws of each side. You fall into one of the simplistic sides. Your view is no more “true” than that of the Hamas apologists. You might consider that condescending. Good. You should reconsider your views and reorient yourself toward reality. I know it’s hard when that clashes with your tribal identity. Tribal identity politics is strong. It’s why we have a fascist madman at the helm of the US (and Israel has a fascist slightly less mad man at its helm), and why Hamas enjoys significant support in the Palestinian Territories. You should try to be better. I know it’s hard and counter to your nature. But it’s the right thing to do. Both morally and in terms of basic truth.
You are blinded by your Leftist Woke ideology, and you are clueless about the nazified Islamists who have been infiltrating our universities for many decades. There is now some evidence that there are some pro-“Palestinian” protesters had knowledge of the October 7th attack. If this turns out to be the case, what will you opine then?? I have no words for how duped you are.
You’re blinded by bigotry. No one is rationally under the illusion that Hamas is some freedom fighting liberation movement. Nor is anyone rationally under the illusion that Israel’s settlers are a freedom loving crew that has any regard for Palestinians’ humanity.
And no, that court filing is laughable. If you imagine that a bunch of college kids in the US had knowledge of an attack that the Mossad did not, you need to get your head examined.
There’s a bit of a legal two step here. There are broad grounds to detain someone. There are not broad grounds to revoke someone’s permanent residency. The Trump goons aren’t even pretending that the basis for proceedings is anything but unambiguously protected speech. The fact that the preliminary detention may be legal is a side show.
Thank you Ellen. You are amazing. My sister shared this and it was the first thing I read after my sublime Shabbat break from all news. I am so grateful to her for introducing us. There has been so much written about this miscreant and way too much discussion. Your essay is the first one I’ve read that actually said it all. I don’t need to read any others. You and Eve Barlow are all I need now. Shavua Tov!
Thank you Ellen! This is eloquent and spot on and needs to be posted in New York Times. Washington post. Atlantic. And across every social media venue. We need to shout your words from the rooftops and tunnels!! Am yisrael chai
Ellen. Thank you. There is nothing more that needs said. Except perhaps that he needs to teach his new child that with every right comes a responsibility.
Reading this is a salve after reading so much poison that makes terrorist supporters sound like angels.
Salve is the perfect word
Nailed it! Thank you again for so eloquently and accurately expressing what we are all feeling and thinking but don’t know how to put it to words.
He is surely a plant and connected more deeply than we know. He worked an UNRWA, he held a position with the UK that granted him a security clearance. The question is: who planted him at Columbia and was it for this reason and WHO is paying for his 19 $1k an hour lawyers…. Follow the money.
Me for one. I donated to his defense fund.
Indeed follow the money. I would not be a bit surprised if the Musilm Brothers are behind him in the dark
That was good to read.
First, deport this arseclown. Then, deport all of those poisonous foreign "students" associated with him.
The world will be a better place.
I'm confused though. If you deport people who are dangerous back to Palestihe does that not just make them more likely to shore up the ranks of Hamas? I'm not sure how that helps Israel.
That is the ‘don’t antagonize them further’ approach. It never works. He is 100% fighting for the death of all Jews. 100%. He is already at war. Yes, he will take up the battle elsewhere. Maybe. Or after his dentist wife leaves him after spending a year in Syria. Or, Palestine. He might say ‘what was I thinking?’ And move away from hate. But likely he will die somewhere.
I find it interesting who is paying him? Is he CIA? Or is he British MI6? Why does a student have a security clearance in British Intelligence?
He is from Syria. He would return there.
They’re easier to target when you group them together!
What do you offer as an alternative action?
American sovereignty, not free expression, is the most salient principle in this controversy. He is unwelcome and has no legal legs to stand upon even if his fan base may think otherwise. But what I have been struggling with in all this is how in God's name did antisemitism became fashionable? It is horrifying to observe.
From history you should remember that since two millennia it comes back in waves . Nothing new under the sun .
From another Jewish person, and one who has been and still is, a Zionist, albeit one whose allegiance is first, second, and third to Judaism and fourth to the idea of Israel and not at all to Israel’s government—
This is remarkably wrong and un-self aware. For starters, the facts are all wrong, from the jump. This person was not accused of a crime. The neo-Nazi administration running the executive branch didn’t pretend to allege that he’d committed a crime. They detained him for the Orwellian “having goals aligned with a terror group.”
Now, does Kahlil have views I don’t like? Almost certainly. I don’t know what his precise views are, because they aren’t being reported. Protesters at Columbia, my alma mater, had views that ranged from the correct and benign “Israel’s response to the atrocity of October 7 was wildly out of proportion and they should work toward peace and end the occupation” to the very antisemitic “Jews are all oppressors and should go back to Europe.” I don’t know where Kahlil fit on that spectrum.
Nor does it matter. Because people have a wide range of views. Many are reprehensible. But our system used to protect the right to have bad views. And to due process when it comes to having other rights violated. This piece is profoundly wrongheaded and illiberal. It rejects the very basic precepts around law and due process that underpin our legal system. It’s a way that states slide into authoritarianism. Free speech isn’t only for those you agree with— it’s for bigots and racists and antisemites and Islamophobes and all manner of not great people. People like Hassan Nasrallah and Yahya Sinwar and, yes, Bazalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir and Bibi Netanyahu have profoundly nasty and terrible views. But in our system, people have the right to agree with them.
I don’t know what Kahlil’s precise views are. They haven’t been reported (probably because no one really fully knows). I probably profoundly disagree with a lot of them. But I know that my commitment to basic liberalism far outstrips any revulsion I might have for his views.
When you write screeds like this, you betray the very precepts of liberalism that have made (and, hopefully, one day will again make) America a decent (if deeply flawed) country. There’s a right side to this. That isn’t it.
A18, these barbarians burned our babies in ovens in front of the mothers while raping them, before slaughtering them and the rest of the family. They entered the bedroom of sleeping thirteen year old girls, raped them, and shot them in back of the head as they ejaculated. And the Palestinian civilians participated and cheered. And this is the tip of the iceberg. Israel's response was "wildly out of proportion"? On the contrary. They used tremendous restraint, unfortunately, not to turn the entire region into glass.
No need to feed the token Jew troll.
Fake news.
https://jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/incontrovertible-proof-uk-report-details-hamas-atrocities-on-oct-7/
Wow, dude, just wow!
Nina has not been able to provide verification of her statement. Can you?
https://jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/incontrovertible-proof-uk-report-details-hamas-atrocities-on-oct-7/
Watch the videos supplied by Hamas? Why do people play twister to disparage the victims in a democracy and support the medial Luddites who kill anyone and everyone?
It is quite possible that Hamas, or ordinary Palestinians, committed some atrocities. October 7 did not happen in a vacuum, and Palestinian folk were justifiably p!ssed off. But, and there is a but. Not all the Israeli deaths on October 7 were caused by the Palestinians. Some say that a great many were committed by the IOF. A substantial number were committed by Israeli forces. See the Hannibal Directive (the IOF commanding general confirmed that it had been applied). One Israeli child was killed by a bullet, but there is no agreement as to which side fired the bullet. There were no baby beheadings. There is no confirmation that any baby’s were put into microwave ovens. There have been no confirmed rapes. The really interesting bit is that no investigation has been held.
“I don’t know what Kahlil’s precise views are”
I believe his views are extremely clear and obvious. His hatred for the Jewish people is ingrained in every cell of his body. He will pass this hatred to his child.
Right? If you’re commenting on here that you don’t know what his views are because they haven’t been reported, you’re probably reading a particular genre of “news.” He’s only been screaming them from a megaphone for two years.
So frustrating. From one Jewish mother to another -thank you for being a voice for us. I’m so happy to be subscribed.
That’s not right. The Gaza protesters have a pretty broad range of views. There were those who were quite antisemitic, for sure. There was a student who declared that all Zionists should die. It was broadly reported. Israel’s knee jerk defenders want to pretend that all of the protesters hold that view. They’re not just wrong, but acting in bad faith. There are a whole lot of legitimate complaints there.
We don’t know what end of that spectrum Kahlil lies because… it hasn’t been reported. If he’d been out there yelling that all Zionists need to die, you can bet it would have been reported. Instead, he was detained under the Orwellian pretext of having goals “aligned with Hamas.”
When you declare that you know exactly what his views are, you’re spewing Trumpian and Bibian propaganda. It would be nice to do better.
He led a movement that denied Jewish students access to their classes. That movement caused damage to buildings. Estimated to be in the millions. There is evidence he is a Brit spy. Any one of these is enough to have him deported forthwith. He can fight this in court. And maybe win. Let him. From Syria. The law says however the SoS can deport someone instantly if it is believed the person is working towards destabilizing the US. They had the right to deport him. Right or wrong countries can deport non citizens for various reasons.
We let him into our country and he decided to bring his politics with him and inflict them on Americans. Good riddance.
You clearly don’t live in New York City. And you’re spending your endless hours on free time coming after us Jews to correct us?! You need help and I truly hope you get it because this is not healthy or normal.
Ah yes, Yahya Sinwar plotted the deaths of thousands of his own people to create unwilling, sacrificial martyrs. This is one of your international poster boys for free speech? Of course he's now dead -- pity, eh? That old American saying applies: FAFO. Spare us your own ridiculous screed, and don't forget to renew your membership with JVP.
Yahya Sinwar was reprehensible. The world is better off without him in it. Targeting him was justified because of his actions, not his speech. Someone supporting him also has reprehensible views. That doesn’t make jailing them for those views right.
Same thing with, say, Ben Gvir, who’s declared that Palestine should be ethnically cleansed. He’s a miserable person. Those supporting him have reprehensible views. They should not be jailed for those views. Because we live in a liberal society. Or at least some of us aspire to that.
You can reject the basic tenets of liberalism. But then you can erase liberalism and democracy from your dictionary. Because you don’t believe in those things.
C’mon we all know your not “a Jew” -it’s a well known strategy by antisemites to declare it believing it gives you some sort of legitimacy - kinda like “JVP”which was created & controlled by a Lebanese Islamist
Not just a Jew. One whose family members were killed in the Holocaust. So save the “you’re not a real Jew” bullshit. Fact is, being Jewish does not mean being a Zionist (though I am also that). And it certainly doesn’t mean knee jerk support for the administration in Israel. Which, let’s be clear, no longer purports to care about being a safe place for Jews.
When they’re having conferences on “antisemitism” where they invite Hungarian antisemites and German neo-Nazis, they’re defining their “antisemitism” to exclude lots of actual Jews and to include Nazis, so long as the Nazis are good cheerleading blowing up enough Palestinians.
So save your BS. Im not gonna tell you that your advocating indiscriminate mass murder makes you less Jewish, but I will tell you that it’s not decent.
"Mass murder"? Lost all credibility. What a way to minimize the tragedy of your "family members . . . killed in thr Holocaust." He was formally charged with crimes and will, thanks more to judicial intervention than Trump administration admittedly, see his day in court. He is being lawfully detained however.
Wrong. He was not charged with a crime. Not a good idea to talk about credibility, then lead by getting the basics completely wrong. The administration didn’t even purport to claim that he’d committed a crime. I don’t know precisely what his views are, but “wrongthink” is not a crime.
We don't need terrorist sympathizers here. He can do that from Syria
Is it possible you have been brainwashed? Is that something you would consider? Is it at the same time possible you are not open-minded? Is that something you would consider? Is it possible that virtue signaling and identity politics drive you - and not intellectual honesty, facts and context? I ask all this because, based on what you wrote, where your starting point was to tell us your a Jewish BUT not a supporter of Israel’s government, in itself tells/signals a great deal. It suggests your agenda drives what you wrote (and I suspect, think.) And it’s hard not to pick up on an air of arrogance and condescension, too. What a shame. For starters, since that’s where you started, you think you know what’s best for Israel? What education and experiences living in Israel, puts you in a position where you know best? Oh, you read the NYT (and maybe Haaretz,) watch CNN and MSNBC…? Please try and do better. Be more open minded and draw on a broader spectrum of data points, historical fact and perspectives before you form opinions that are so embedded you can’t pivot. Are you also going to tell us that Israel bombed a hospital, that the IDF targets killing children, that over 50,000 innocent civilians living in Gaza - mostly women and children - have been killed, that Hamas only wants peace and a 2-state solution, that Hamas doesn’t use its citizens as human shields, that UNRWA is a peace-loving organization, and that the judicial reforms - which had been in the works for generations in order to implement a much needed and more common-sense check and balance in Israel’s judicial system - were not necessary?
Nope. You’re attributing a set of views to me that I don’t hold. I’m under no illusion that Hamas is some freedom fighting group. It’s a hate group. That, however, doesn’t mean the opposite— that Israel’s government is some pure freedom loving group that just wants peace and a two state solution. In fact, they declare quite the opposite. Netanyahu openly does NOT want a two state solution. His cabinet includes people who have portraits of terrorist Baruch Goldstein in their living rooms and who openly call for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. That doesn’t excuse anything about Hamas, so you can save the what aboutism that’s inevitably coming. But it does put the lie to the knee jerk narrative some people want to feed.
And yes, I’ve been to Israel more than once. In opposition to the government’s best efforts, I’ve also been to the West Bank. A place where one group of people is allowed to travel freely while another can’t so much as collect rainwater without obtaining an occupier’s permit. Where one group gets shot at for throwing rocks while the other conducts full on pogroms under an occupying army’s protection.
If you don’t recognize this, or you excuse it in the name of “but Hamas is terrible,” you’re plainly either brainwashed or a nativist. Generally, it’s the latter.
And yes, Netanyahu’s corruption and longtime effort to neuter the judiciary is a purely authoritarian effort to dismantle Israeli democracy. He’s moderately smarter than Trump, but they’re birds of a feather. When it comes to what I believe, it’s both that Israel needs to exist as a haven for Jews (which its government notably doesn’t want to be at this point, given that it invites German neo-Nazis to its “antisemitism” conferences because they share their affinity for oppressing Palestinians). But Israel cannot be that for as long as it maintains full on apartheid in the West Bank and a ghetto in Gaza.
None of that has anything to do with Israel’s safety. In fact, support for Hamas spikes when Israel tightens the noose. Which reliably tells you that Palestinians are not the bloodthirsty group of savages you’ve been brainwashed to believe, but, broadly, people whose views are malleable. Just like Israelis, whose views also shift.
So yes, I’m aware of all of the tropes both sides throw out. Those tropes are wrong coming from Palestinians, and they’re wrong coming from Israel. You’re throwing out a reliable set. I’ve heard them all. They’re wrong.
Help us understand, then. Let’s start with a 2 state solution. You say Bibi doesn’t support this. Should he? Has not Israel tried time and time and time again and only met with intifada? Why would trying yet again (especially now) have any different outcome? And with whom/what political entity would Israel negotiate this 2-state solution? Not to mention, is a 2-state solution the desired outcome of the fundamental Islamists living in Gaza and Judea and Samaria? I have never heard or read anything that suggests living in peace next to a state/country of non-Muslims is an objective of Hamas, Fatah or really anybody of Arab origin. Please share with us the sources you have who are of Arab descent living in Gaza and/or J&S and who are pining for a 2-state solution. And your comment that includes the word “apartheid” really takes the cake. On the hand you speak down on me as having heard all the tropes including what I wrote previously. And on the other you make that absurd statement. As if you have a solution. Indeed if you do please let us know. Israelis pushed for peace and let those living in Gaza into their lives and trusted them and then what? They were slaughtered, raped, etc. by those same people. Who is the apartheid state? Jews lived in Northern Africa, the land of Israel and of course in Iran and Iraq. How many Jewish people live in any place other than Israel now? Oh … that doesn’t matter. Facts be damned. Self defense be damned. Safety and security of an entire nation be damned. And “Palestinians?” What is your definition of this term? It seems as if your virtue signaling is too precious and more important. I’d say you are “brainwashed” and selective in what you draw on to take the positions you take, but I don’t know you well enough. Others will say you are a troll. Either way, it’s a shame. Idealism has a place. We can all hope for a better future. But there are stark realities we have to deal with in life. Extreme Muslims wanting to eradicate what is today the state of Israel from all Jews and infidels, and continue on geographically from there to kill or convert non-believers is one critical, stark reality. Until and unless there are moderates willing to compromise and find common ground - and none have surfaced since the beginning of Islam - then it’s pretty hard to move the “peace” ball forward, wouldn’t you agree?
Yes, Bibi absolutely should support this. To start with, your assertion of history is laughably one sided. Have there been moments where Palestinians have been roadblocks to the peace process? Yes. Have there also been moments where Israelis have been roadblocks? Also yes. Partisans on each side love to declare that the other side is a unique roadblock. They’re equally wrong.
When it comes to two states, yes, you’ll find more support among Palestinians for it than Israelis at this point. Has that always been the case? No. It’s been fluid. But again partisans love to blame the other and pretend their side is pure. Both are full of crap.
And yes, apartheid has a definition. It’s when people living under the sovereignty of a single government are subject to different legal rights. Either the West Bank is being occupied, or it’s a textbook case of apartheid. And a worse case of apartheid than what you had in South Africa, in that case. Black South Africans didn’t need whites’ sign off to gather rain water.
You talk about security. Yes, Israel needs security. Yes, it needs to project itself. What it’s doing is counter to that goal. There’s less than zero security justification for occupying the West Bank. Those settlers don’t keep Israel safer. On the contrary— they endanger it. They stage frequent pogroms. They divert military resources. They radicalize the victims of their pogroms. And those settlements keep expanding, and have been for decades.
That’s not idealism— it’s reality. Here’s the simple reality— Israel won’t be fully safe until and unless it ends the occupation. Until it does, it’s going to be under constant threat. And Palestinians will similarly be living under apartheid conditions, subject to frequent violence and pogroms. It’s bad for everyone except Hamas extremists who want to ethnically cleanse Israel and Israeli extremists who want to ethically cleanse Gaza.
You’ve chosen the side of the Israeli extremists. It’s a terrible shame, ugly and fundamentally indecent. You should think a bit about the brainwashing and propaganda you’re spewing, realize that it’s bullcrap, and open your eyes to reality. You won’t, of course, not any more than Hamas will realize the error of their ways and decide to push for peace, but you should.
You are the one who is laughably one-sided. President Bill Clinton and his Envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross have made the case many times it is the Palestinians that rejected a great deal in 2000. They rejected an even the same deal when Ehud Olmert offered his land-for-peace deal in '08. There are many more instances of rejection of land for peace and of course, don't forget that Jordan and Egypt never offered sovereignty to the Palestinians when they controlled the occupied territories. You are 100% wrong that Israel turned down land for peace. They've accepted every brokered deal going back to the 1947 UN Partition. The Arabs cum "Palestinians" have rejected every deal. You may Jewish origins but you are not a Jew because of your reprehensible denial of our sovereignty over our Jewish homeland and you're laughably one-sided view that our people have been as intransigent of Peace deals than the other side.
Nope again. The Palestinians did not have a deal that they could have accepted in either 2000 or 2008. There were a lot of issues with that process. Aaron David Miller, who negotiated each of those deals, has laid it all out in detail, if you care to read it.
Reality is, neither side has been willing to make the hard concessions needed at the same time. There’s a clear outline for how a deal should look. But there are roadblocks on both sides.
Lastly, you can take your “not a Jew” shit and shove it up your ass. I’m not just Jewish, I also fully believe in the existence of a homeland for Jewish people. Now, clowns like you, who betray the very deepest tenets of Judaism by not just denying other people’s humanity, but by knee jerk defending a government that welcomes in neo-Nazis with open arms so long as they share their commitment to blowing up Palestinians, while declaring that Jews who don’t aren’t real Jews, are Shondas.
You have no grasp of what it means to be Jewish. You have no commitment to the fundamental ideals of the faith. You’re a nationalist clown. GFY.
Still think he’s pretending to be Jewish
A18, you can cloak all of your positions with the vast and profound protection afforded by our sacred First Amendment and rattle on from your cocoon about the"slide into authoritarianism" if we are not careful......and yet, I can't help but have this vision of you, some years from now, pleading to these same persecutors who (if we follow your lead) will become YOUR persecutors: "but I was the one who fought for your right to persecute me!" This, of course, is the paradox of tolerance. But, we don't really ned to reach this quandry because ultimately this is not about this guy's views. This is about conduct. The neo-Nazis had the right to march in Skokie, but not to bar them from their homes and trespass on private property.
It is, in fact, about this guy’s views. The administration didn’t even purport to have evidence of a crime. They claimed, essentially, carte blanche to deport him based on “national security” grounds. Then realized that was a crock of shit and changed their justification to him lying on his Green Card application about… working in a British embassy office in Beirut and as an unpaid intern for the UNRWA, and also that he was a member of Columbia’s divestment student group. Which is beyond laughable.
He’s in the country at the pleasure of the American people. The American people through various legal actions long predating Trump have make support for designated terror organizations a basis for ending the residence privileges of non-citizens. Any expression of support for a designated terror organization can be enough for non-citizens to forfeit their residency rights, but actions against them have typically been taken only for overt actions of support. Kahlil was overt in his support for Hamas by organizing anti-Israel, pro-Hamas demonstrations at Columbia. What’s unclear about this?
“What it’s doing is counter to that goal.” Based on what? And are you suggesting there are moderates among Hamas or among those living in Gaza? And what percent would you say are “moderate”? And did a single moderate lift a finger to help a hostage, Jewish or otherwise? Are you aware of the education (er, brainwashing) that take place? Spend 5 minutes at www.palwatch.org and you’ll learn how deeply and pervasive the brainwashing machine operates. I questioned earlier whether you are a victim. You emphasize occupation and that alone suggests exactly where you are coming from. The mere idea that those living in Gaza, Judea and Samaria would be peaceful neighbors if only there were not security measures in place is a pipe dream based in fantasy, is it not? Since the founding of Islam the objective of the fundamentalists is to kill all Jews and any infidels that don’t convert and install a caliphate. Is that not accurate? Does Hamas’ charter not state that it wants to annihilate / eradicate all the Jews? I see how you try and come off as calm and rational, but to me you’re more clearly condescending and arrogant and think you’re a know it all. This is all about religion and ideology, not land. So many good, peace-loving Israelis were killed (murdered, raped, tortured, burned alive, etc etc) by those who live in Gaza and who they befriended in an effort to promote peace. The betrayal is beyond disgusting. And somehow you say security is important but first Israel can’t “occupy” Gaza and if that changed all would be good. Based on what evidence? Especially when there’s evidence to the contrary? I just keep shaking my head. Peace is a great objective. There have to be willing partners. Many Israeli and IS leaders thought there were, only to be met with war and betrayal (if not also laughter.) Finally, you should look up apartheid and occupation and stop trying to shove that BS narrative down my and others’ throats. Get real. Grow up. See reality for what it is. When and if there are ANY moderates in Gaza, Judea and Samaria in positions of leadership, then MAYBE there’s a chance for something that approaches peace. That’s a big “when” and “if” because Iran’s and Qatar’s leadership likely will never be on board with peace. That’s an important part of reality that needs to be acknowledged.
This is the same tired drivel. The vast majority of Palestinians, like the vast majority of Israelis, want to live safe and free lives. There are roadblocks to that on each side. Current polling indicates that Israelis have worse views of Palestinians than vice versa. This idea that peace loving Israelis are protected only by military might from vile Islamists is extremely bigoted nonsense.
Israeli security is a worthwhile goal. Occupying the West Bank isn’t just not necessary to that, it’s actively damaging. It has less than nothing to do with safety and everything to do with domination. Because it takes lots of resources to build outposts in others’ land, shut them off from moving around within that land, prevent them from building homes or gathering rainwater (imagine trying to come up with a “security” justification for that), and deploy army units to provide cover for settler pogroms while shooting at rock throwers.
Your defense of the occupation is exactly what you’ve explicitly said— that apartheid is justified because “those people” are vicious and dangerous. It’s brutally racist bullcrap, of course, but it’s pervasive.
Here’s the reality— there are three “sides” to this— the simplistic pro-Israel side, the simplistic pro-Palestine side, and the side that acknowledges the complexities of the situation and the virtues and flaws of each side. You fall into one of the simplistic sides. Your view is no more “true” than that of the Hamas apologists. You might consider that condescending. Good. You should reconsider your views and reorient yourself toward reality. I know it’s hard when that clashes with your tribal identity. Tribal identity politics is strong. It’s why we have a fascist madman at the helm of the US (and Israel has a fascist slightly less mad man at its helm), and why Hamas enjoys significant support in the Palestinian Territories. You should try to be better. I know it’s hard and counter to your nature. But it’s the right thing to do. Both morally and in terms of basic truth.
You are blinded by your Leftist Woke ideology, and you are clueless about the nazified Islamists who have been infiltrating our universities for many decades. There is now some evidence that there are some pro-“Palestinian” protesters had knowledge of the October 7th attack. If this turns out to be the case, what will you opine then?? I have no words for how duped you are.
You’re blinded by bigotry. No one is rationally under the illusion that Hamas is some freedom fighting liberation movement. Nor is anyone rationally under the illusion that Israel’s settlers are a freedom loving crew that has any regard for Palestinians’ humanity.
And no, that court filing is laughable. If you imagine that a bunch of college kids in the US had knowledge of an attack that the Mossad did not, you need to get your head examined.
You sound like a product of Columbia and that’s not a compliment.
I’m educated, yes. It helps me to live in reality. You’ll be better off if you try to do the same. Good luck!
I think you might find this article, written by a Khalil supporter, somewhat helpful in clarifying some of the issues you raised as far as in his detention and deportation proceedings. https://www.yahoo.com/news/worst-thing-mahmoud-khalil-detention-100000163.html
There’s a bit of a legal two step here. There are broad grounds to detain someone. There are not broad grounds to revoke someone’s permanent residency. The Trump goons aren’t even pretending that the basis for proceedings is anything but unambiguously protected speech. The fact that the preliminary detention may be legal is a side show.
Thank you for putting into words what most of us think. He doesn’t deserve to be here…
Thank you Ellen. You are amazing. My sister shared this and it was the first thing I read after my sublime Shabbat break from all news. I am so grateful to her for introducing us. There has been so much written about this miscreant and way too much discussion. Your essay is the first one I’ve read that actually said it all. I don’t need to read any others. You and Eve Barlow are all I need now. Shavua Tov!
Well that made my day. Thank you!!
The entire Palestinian movement is based on denying cause and effect and crybully behavior.
If their cause was just, they could win via peaceful, open debate.
Thank you for taking the time to write this factual letter.
Well this just made my day…discovering another articulate and well reasoned Substack blogger! Subscribed and forwarded this post to others.
Thank you for so eloquently encapsulating my thoughts.
Thank you Ellen! This is eloquent and spot on and needs to be posted in New York Times. Washington post. Atlantic. And across every social media venue. We need to shout your words from the rooftops and tunnels!! Am yisrael chai
Ellen. Thank you. There is nothing more that needs said. Except perhaps that he needs to teach his new child that with every right comes a responsibility.
Outstanding! Thank you for saying what I and so many also believe about this hated fueled and truly dangerous green card holder in America.
I love this