I probably don't agree with anything Mahmoud Khalil has to say about Israel. He's the Columbia University student activist who has been arrested and threatened with deportation in the name of fighting antisemitism.
Trampling on free speech rights is no way to fight antisemitism. Neither is cutting off funding for much-needed medical research.
Khalil, who holds a green card, and is married to an American citizen who is pregnant with their first child, is being held at this writing in Louisiana in a naked attempt to shift his case from the courts in New York, where he was arrested, to the uber-conservative Fifth Circuit, where he is being held.
Not so fast. His lawyers had already filed a petition for his release in New York, where he has drawn a smart, tough and fair judge who just might not let the Trump administration get away with this.
But the damage is being done anyway, not just to Khalil but also to Jews and the fight against antisemitism.
Khalil's arrest comes against the backdrop of the administration's decision to pull some $400 million in support from Columbia because of its supposed antisemitism, including much-needed funding of Jewish researchers doing medical research. It comes as a letter is being sent by the Office of Civil Rights to some 60 colleges and universities telling them they are under investigation as well for not doing enough to combat antisemitism on campus.
Just what Jews need least. Clinical trials being canceled in the name of fighting antisemitism. Blame the Jews. This from an administration whose top aides have to keep explaining that they are not giving Nazi salutes, even though that is exactly what they look like.
I sympathize with Jewish students who, especially last year, felt vulnerable and unprotected on their campuses. Many colleges should have done better. They did not enforce their own rules guaranteeing students secure access to classes and activities.
But we don't need ICE to solve that problem.
We don't need to cut off federal funding in the name of protecting Jews from antisemitism. Doing so is only going to feed antisemitism.
Khalil opposes Israel's war in Gaza. Does that make him "aligned" with Hamas, a terrorist organization, as the administration alleges? I don't even know what that means.
It is a crime, for which one should be punished and deported, to provide material aid to a terrorist organization. But there has been no allegation that Khalil provided any such aid. Indeed, there has been no allegation that he engaged in any crimes at all.
So why is he under arrest?
If you can't speak freely on a university campus, where can you speak freely? What does free speech mean if you can be arrested and deported because the administration doesn't agree with the contents of your speech?
If Khalil violated any of Columbia's rules and regulations for on-campus protests, he should be suitably punished -- by Columbia, not ICE or the Department of Homeland Security.
Colleges and universities, committed to liberal education and the values of free speech, should have the courage to stand up to this administration's efforts to squelch free speech. But they don't, for a very simple reason. Money. They are afraid of losing federal funds.
They are being bullied — successfully — by an administration that has no use for the Constitution and the rule of law. And when they don't get their way, they just double down and do it again.
They may not get away with deporting Mahmoud Khalil. He has a good lawyer, who got his habeas corpus petition into the New York court before the administration could spirit him away to Louisiana in the hopes of finding more hospitable courts.
Precedent is on his side. That may slow the Trumpers down, but it will not stop them.
But don't let anyone tell you that this is being done to help Jews. It isn't — and it won't.
Susan Estrich is a politician, professor, lawyer and writer. She has appeared on the pages of The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. Ms. Estrich has also appeared as a television commentator on CNN, Fox News, NBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC. Her focus is on legal matters, women's concerns, national politics, and social issues. Read Susan Estrich's Reports — More Here.