Portside

That was the week that was

Demonstrators are protesting in support of Mahmoud Khalil, calling for “the names of the trustees who facilitated the abduction” of Khalil.

Columbia has long been run more as a business empire than as an educational institution. Now it’s acting like Vichy on the Hudson. It was never about eliminating antisemitism. It was always about silencing Palestine.

The following is a press statement from Mahmoud Khalil’s wife. Khalil was unconstitutionally arrested by ICE agents over the weekend. "I am pleading with the world to continue to speak up against his unjust and horrific detention ....."

In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump made it clear that Mahmoud Khalil was snatched because of his activism. “This is the first arrest of many to come,” wrote Trump.

Filling in for services under attack

The focus on Columbia University has overshadowed the extent of protests—and police brutality—at public schools. Those charged with occupying a Columbia building are facing misdemeanors, while those charged with occupying CCNY buildings face felonies

Fear on campus

I have never understood the trope that Israel made generous offers to the Palestinians (it never did) but that the Palestinians rejected them, and therefore the Palestinians should be deprived of all their basic rights forever.

Holocaust scholar and pro-Palestine activist Norman Finkelstein expresses his support for the student protests, insisting on the importance of free speech and uniting the majority of Americans around solidarity with Gaza.