Al-Qalam 
The arrest of Colombia graduate Mahmoud Khalil by ICE officials is America’s first milestone as a country that is sliding into authoritarianism. Khalil stands accused of organising pro-Palestine protests, disrupting college classes on campus, creating an unsafe environment for Jewish American students and distributing pro-Hamas propaganda. None of these claims warrant his arrest and subsequent detention by ICE officials who are being used to suppress free speech. As an American citizen, Mahmoud is protected by the First Amendment, which protects his right to protest and to speak out against his university.
Despite being a green card holder and permanent American resident, Khalil could be deported unless Federal courts rule otherwise.
Mahmoud was kidnapped by ICE agents in the middle of the night and taken to a detention centre in Louisiana without the knowledge of his pregnant wife or attorney.
Donald Trump has promised that Mahmoud’s will not be the first or last case. He asserts that America will not tolerate any form of terrorist sympathising, a sentiment echoed by his press secretary at a recent media briefing.
Predictably, Mahmoud’s arrest caused an uproar across the congressional aisle. Democratic lawmakers such as Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez condemned Mahmoud’s arrest as illegal and warned that it was setting a dangerous precedent of repressing free speech through illegal detention or threat of deportation.
It is a little too late for moral outrage, in my opinion. Kamala Harris squandered the opportunity of redeeming the Democratic party by flip-flopping on the issue of the war in Gaza, arguably costing the Democratic party the votes it needed to oust Trump. And now, when the orange-haired fascist is setting fire to America’s beloved constitution, the Democrats are crying foul.
Mahmoud’s arrest is not just frightening for pro-Palestine supporters or activists. It is a warning for anyone who dares go against the Trump administration’s foreign policy. Anyone who dissents, be they Jewish, Muslim or Christian, could find themselves in the same position as Mahmoud.
But perhaps there is a silver lining to all of this. Mahmoud’s arrest seems to have jolted college-going Americans into action. Now that they are witnessing their often taken-for-granted privileges and rights being threatened, they appear to be in the early stages of a revolt. If Trump thinks that these kids will just surrender to his neo-fascist tendencies without a fight, he has another thing coming. He may not know it yet, but he has put America on a slow burner. Eventually, things will explode. We saw it with the Black Lives Matter movement and in the case of George Floyd. He’d better buckle up because there is an American intifada brewing, and it is heading straight for him.
Zaynab Naushaad Khan
Durban
