Yesterday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Palestinian Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi for his involvement in pro-Palestinian activism, and he is now facing deportation back to the war torn occupied West Bank. [00:00:17] So just like in the case of Mahmoud Khalil, Mahdawi is a green card holder who has been in the U.S. For ten years. So here's this. According to drop site, Mahdawi grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Israeli [00:00:32] occupied West Bank, where his childhood was shaped by the Second Intifada. He experienced significant personal losses, including the death of his best friend during a confrontation with Israeli soldiers when he was just ten years old. He later studied computer engineering at Birzeit University in Palestine [00:00:51] before enrolling at Columbia University in New York, where he pursued studies in philosophy at the School of General Studies. So it's important to reiterate here, Medowie was a green card holder. He was not here on a student visa, and he was actually in the process [00:01:06] of obtaining full citizenship, which I used to their advantage later, which we'll get to in a second. So, Jake, what are your initial thoughts on this? Where do you think this is going? Yeah, I know where it's going, where Israel locks up everyone who disagrees with them here in America. So first they started with student visas. [00:01:24] Then they went to legal residents who have green cards, who have every right to be here, every right to freedom of speech. The Supreme Court has declared that over and over and over again. Well, now, not unless you disagree with Israel, in which case you'll be whisked away by masked men, [00:01:41] and they're thinking of sending him to back to the West Bank, where if settlers murder him, they will. There's no chance they'll be convicted. They have kangaroo courts there where they have 99% acquittal rates. So we're going to send this guy to his [00:01:58] death, potentially because Israel said no one should disagree with Israel. Here in America, your freedom of speech. Well, the Supreme Court says resident aliens that are legal residents here in America have the same exact rights to freedom of speech as U.S. [00:02:15] Citizens. So if they no longer have that right, we no longer have that right. And we all have to bow our heads to that foreign government. Oh, sorry. Oh, no. Okay. Keep slaughtering. Keep slaughtering. You haven't murdered enough Palestinian children. That's what we're supposed to say. [00:02:31] No, I'm not a dog of another government, okay? I don't care who the government is. So they're going to start keep kidnaping, snatching these people off the streets. So the. So that I was about to say Joe Biden. It's also true of Joe Biden. He didn't do this much. [00:02:47] This is a whole nother level by Trump, right. But Joe Biden said, hey, whatever Israel says blank check blank check blank check, keep slaughtering, keep slaughtering. Now Trump comes in. Oh, I can't believe Joe Biden is for war. Oh me, I love war. If Israel's doing it, keep slaughtering here. Blank check, blank check. [00:03:03] Oh, Israel, you want more because you're Adelson family gave me $337 million in legalized bribes for for that kind of money. He's like Israel. What do you need? You need me to shred the US Constitution, light it on fire so that all American citizens have to serve Israel, and no one is allowed to dissent. [00:03:20] No problem. Give me the Constitution. Light it on fire. As long as you give enough bribes to Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, all of them. I'm sick of this country serving another country. I don't give a damn what country it is. So now we're going to tell you more about this, brother, and you're going [00:03:37] to find out even their BS excuses of, we are not doing this for Israel. We are doing it because we are so concerned about anti-Semitism. Is that right? Well, you picked the wrong guy because that guy has spoken out against anti-Semitism. [00:03:52] So as you'll see here. But they don't care. They I think yes, that they partly picked this guy knowing he's on tape, speaking out against anti-Semitism so they could make it clear to everyone, you see, that we all know that that's a BS excuse. [00:04:07] We're telling you, this is our sign to all American citizens. You must bow your head to Israel. If you don't bow your head to Israel. It doesn't matter how obvious our lies are. We will arrest you, deport you, or do whatever Israel commands of us. [00:04:23] Tell. Tell them more about the case. It really does feel like gaslighting, and I know it's obviously nothing new, but it's appalling that this foreign country has so much power and influence in this country, the most powerful country in the world, supposedly. So anyway, let's get into why Mahdawi was targeted. [00:04:39] According to The Intercept, Mahdawi was one of the leaders of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia University following the October 7th attacks. Here's the reporting. It says. In December of 2023, Mahdawi asked Columbia professor Shai Shy David I. A controversial pro-Israel figure at the school to go get some coffee. [00:04:58] The two met, but Mahdawi later said that David, I left in the middle of the coffee. Less than two months after the meeting, David, I posted a video of Mahdawi to Twitter in a thread characterizing him and other protest organizers as anti-Semitic and Pro-hamas. [00:05:14] So here is that video and tweet. Take a look. Because there is nothing, nothing more honorable than dying for a noble cause, for freedom, for humanity and for justice. [00:05:36] So Mahdawi also appeared on a December 2023 edition of 60 minutes to discuss antisemitism on college campuses, so criticizing Columbia's previous president Minouche Shafik response to the attacks and stating pro-Israel factions were trying to silence [00:05:53] those who were protesting the genocide. But to be clear, he was not anti-Israel. He continuously emphasized empathy and dialog as pathways to justice and peace, per the drop site. So Mahdaoui recalled during a walkout that occurred on November 9th. [00:06:09] One person was yelling Death to Jews and this is how he responded, he said, I was shocked, and I walked directly to the person and I told him, you don't represent us because this is not something that we agree with. And I took the megaphone and I gave a speech and I said, we we here [00:06:25] are conscious, educated students and we know how to separate right from wrong. What this guy has said is clearly anti-Semitic against Jews. To be anti-Semitic is unjust, is unjust, and the fight for the freedom of Palestine and the fight against anti-Semitism go hand in hand, because injustice anywhere [00:06:45] is a threat to justice everywhere. That's what he said on 60 minutes. Badawi Dowie helped lead the pro-Palestine movement at Columbia until last spring, which is when the gears started to shift and, you know, things started to focus more on building bridges with Jewish and [00:07:01] Israeli communities at the university. However, he was still a target for multiple Zionist groups like the Canary Mission and Betar, which later worked with the Trump administration to identify students they wanted to deport. So here's more. Even before his friend and fellow Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil [00:07:20] was arrested by immigration authorities, Mahdawi asked university administrators to help him find a safe place to live so that he would not be taken by Ice agents, according to emails reviewed by The Intercept. The school did nothing in response, Mahdawi said. [00:07:37] When Khalil was abducted by Ice last month, Mahdawi sheltered in place for three weeks, only coming out when he was scheduled for his citizenship test. And remember when we said earlier that Ice would use this to their advantage. So here's that. Earlier this month, Medowie received an email from USCIS notifying him that he [00:07:57] was scheduled to conduct an interview to obtain his US citizenship. He said he was expecting the interview to take place in December or January, in line with the expected timeline to move from his green card status through the naturalization process. And then, in the middle of his appointment, guess what happened? [00:08:14] Ice agents came in and arrested him. Mahdawi was smart enough, though, and he prepared himself for this. He warned Vermont lawmakers like Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch and Representative Rebecca Balint about the situation. [00:08:30] And they all responded, and they were on standby pending the appointment. So Jenk, at least he's getting some support from somewhere. He got zero support from Columbia, even when he said, this is a threat, they're threatening me. Columbia did nothing to protect him. So he had to call in Bernie Sanders for backup. [00:08:47] Yeah, looks. I'm Columbia alumni. I went to Columbia Law School, and I'm disgusted by some of the other alumni and some of the so-called professors there that secretly are working for, like, their Israeli thought police. They got their little groups and they're like, who should we get next? [00:09:03] Okay. It's like a mccarthyite, disgusting group of people who are like, okay, any Israeli critic must be driven out, right? Oh, he says he anti-Semitism is unjust. He's the guy who's defending us. [00:09:18] Oh who cares? Who cares? Because this isn't about Jews in America. A lot of Jews were in the peace protests. This isn't about being Jewish at all. This isn't about anti-Semitism at all. It's a giant lie. And this case proves that it's a lie. It's all about everyone. Bow your heads to Israel. [00:09:35] How dare you try to what you think you're. Because you're in America, you have freedom of speech. You think you could criticize Almighty Israel when you're in America? No, we own this place. I'm not saying it. They're saying it. [00:09:52] They're saying, go round up anyone who dares to criticize that foreign government. The people at Canary, like the Canary Mission group, the bitter group. This professor who goes and meets with a guy who's trying to help on anti-Semitism, leaves in the middle of a meeting when the guy is trying to reach out [00:10:09] and help and says no, and then goes back and rats him out like some sort of disgusting brown shirt. Yeah, I said it. If you don't want to be called a brown shirt, don't act like a brown shirt. And you do not represent all Jews in America at all, so stop speaking for them. [00:10:29] So even look, guys, there are people who I get super mad at. And you guys have seen it with Bill Maher, massively pro-Israel. I don't mind people being pro-Israel. That doesn't even mean anything. I want it to be a safe haven. Okay. And I want two independent, beautiful, loving states. [00:10:46] The problem is when people like Bill Maher then say, yeah, but the war crimes of Israel, whatever, whatever the always an excuse. The Palestinians had it coming, the Palestinians and the Muslims are savages, etc.. I can't stand Bill Maher's opinions on Israel. But even Bill Maher says no, what are we doing? [00:11:03] We're rounding people up like this in America because of what they think. No thank you, Bill, thank you. That's. But we need the Bill Maher's of the world because it's. These guys aren't going to listen. The politicians aren't going to listen to us. We haven't even bribed them. I haven't said to check the Donald Trump or Joe Biden. [00:11:21] Why would they listen to me? Right? Why would they listen to any of us? The only options are some other government comes in and finds a way to funnel money just like Israel is, and they bid higher than Israel. Purchase our govt. I hate this system. I don't want Saudi Arabia coming in and buying our government either. [00:11:39] I don't want the Russians doing it. I don't want the Chinese doing it, and I don't want Israel doing it, by the way, you know, all those other people. You can say anything you want about them the Russians, the Chinese, the Norwegians, Americans, Christians, Muslims. It doesn't matter. You can say anything you want here in America because we got freedom of speech, except not Israel. [00:11:56] So we since they won't listen to us, the politicians and those awful, terrible people at Columbia and this and now the administration bowing their heads to Trump and saying, yes, sir, we'll rewrite the Middle Eastern history. [00:12:14] We'll say Israel's right about everything. We'll never be honest. I swear to God. We'll never be honest. We'll let you run this stupid department. You're trashing our diplomas. What a waste. What a. It's worth nothing now, because now Columbia has turned into Israeli propaganda central. [00:12:32] And cowards who bow their heads to Donald Trump. And then quietly, apparently in their secret little groups, these alumni and these professors screaming yes, yes! Take away all the Israeli critics. Make sure that no one dares disagree with Israel. [00:12:48] God damn it, man, this is America. And if you don't like it, then why don't you take your ass and go back to Israel? You already do enough damage over there. You already slaughter enough Palestinians there. You already enslaved them for 58 years. What? Are you going to let them go? [00:13:04] This would all change if those disgusting, far right Israeli Netanyahu supporters would for one second, just one second, think what if those Palestinian children were Israeli children? [00:13:21] If they were Israeli children and someone had just slaughtered 15 to 20,000 Israeli children, who wouldn't? Israel nuke? Who wouldn't Israel absolutely annihilate? They would see such unreal rage. [00:13:40] But when they see the Palestinian children, they go, who cares? Who cares? They're just children. So we bomb them in the concrete, fell on their head and crush their skulls. We lit them on fire with our bombs. Who cares? [00:13:57] The only thing that matters is all mighty beloved Israel. The only. The real crime is not killing those children, not enslaving those people for 58 years and taking more and more and more of their land. Nothing matters. The only thing that matters is if you criticize Israel, we'll deport you, will [00:14:16] arrest you, deport you have masked men kidnap you in the middle of the street, take you out of America, send you to the West Bank where likely Israel will murder that poor guy. And they've murdered now, how many Americans there? And Biden didn't care. Trump didn't care as long as the checks clear. [00:14:35] They never care. And one last thing. Just like Mahdawi said. And he was 100% right. Do not ever assume that somebody thinks that because they're Jewish, that that is totally and utterly wrong. Those are Jewish American brothers and sisters. [00:14:51] Okay. Even if they're supporters of Israel, don't assume it. Look, Bill Maher is an enormous supporter of Israel, and he doesn't agree with this. But for the people who say, yes, snatch up people from the streets of America and arrest and deport them because they didn't bow their heads to Israel. Well, yeah. Okay. [00:15:07] You're you are the bad guys. And and if you say no, we can't be the bad guys. We're right wing Israelis, and we have the most moral army in the world. And when we slaughter people 40 times larger now, [00:15:23] 50 times as many innocent civilians murdered by Israel as murdered by Hamas, when Hamas does it, they're terrorists. When we do 50 times worse, we're the most moral army. Those people are disgusting. Disgusting. [00:15:39] Go back to Israel. Go serve the country you want to serve. Not America. We shouldn't be deporting those folks. By the way, I wouldn't deport these people either, because I believe in freedom of speech. I'm not a hypocrite like these disgusting people who are trying to get us [00:15:54] to serve a foreign government. I'm done with it. All right. Sorry. Yes, that's all I got. - We got to go. - It's, So just really. Quickly want to wrap up the story for the audience. A federal judge has already signed a temporary restraining order to keep Maddow [00:16:11] in Vermont while his case is pending, and his lawyers have filed a habeas corpus petition on Monday morning challenging the legality of his detention. So we will see what happens. We'll see if Congress is able to get involved, because this does involve a lot of really ethical issues and constitutional issues. [00:16:28] And of course, there this guy doesn't deserve any of this. So yeah, our Constitution is crystal clear and the Supreme Court has been crystal clear. It applies to legal residents like Mahdawi. Okay, so if you want to trash our constitution, [00:16:43] get the hell out of our country. Get out! Get out! Get out! Okay. Go to a dictatorial, like authoritarian gross government as the current government of Israel who says, oh yeah, we got the best democracy in the Middle East. [00:16:59] I mean, we have 5.5 million people imprisoned. And we started the starvation of all Palestinians in Gaza six weeks ago. And and we hope they die of of malnutrition and they starve to death. [00:17:14] But we're a democracy. No you're not. Okay. So if you want to have junk laws and a tyrannical government that is deeply racist and bigoted, good. There's a country called Israel for that. Not here, not here. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets its wings. [00:17:31] Totally not true. But it does keep you updated on our live shows.