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Why Some Progressives, Jews, and Others Support Mahmoud Khalil
A pro-Palestine protester holds a sign that reads: “Faculty for justice in Palestine” during a protest urging Columbia University to cut ties with Israel. November 15, 2023 in New York City. Photo: Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects free speech. But misusing the First Amendment as a defense weapon for propaganda and activities supporting illegal endeavors enabled pro-Palestinian protesters to ignite disruptive, and at times violent, protests on many university campuses, most notably on the Columbia/Barnard campus.
Progressive and left-wing activists, including some liberal Jews, expressed little or no concern for threats against Jews, and the protestors’ support for Hamas, which committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. These voices were also silent when confronted with the fact that Hamas aims to kill every single Jew in Israel.
Yet many of those same voices were outraged when Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of these protests, was arrested on Saturday, March 8, 2025.
His lawyer said that Khalil was “identified, targeted and detained” because of his advocacy for Palestinian rights, which he says constitutes protected free speech.
But Khalil is not just advocating for “Palestinian rights.” He is active in Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), an organization that supports Hamas and Hezbollah. He organized an event where literature that said it was produced by the “Hamas Media Office” was distributed, according to The New York Times.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, and New York Attorney Letitia James, just to name some of Khalil’s defenders, denounced the arrest of Khalil as a serious attack on free speech — but none of them had any concerns about antisemitism, the chilling effect on free speech by disruption of certain classes and events at Columbia, and the intimidation and harassment of Jewish students and faculty. All of this constitutes the denial of civil rights to Jewish students and faculty.
It should be obvious to anybody that aiding terrorist organizations is illegal. CUAD’s participation in attacks on Jews, the occupation of university buildings, and the destruction of property — along with its clear support of Hamas — makes it clear that aid is being given to Hamas. Whether or not that falls under the legal code’s definition of aid, Khalil’s CUAD leadership should be a sufficient reason for deportation.
Why Columbia tolerates CUAD’s presence and activities on its campus is inexplicable. Engulfed in chaos since October 7, Columbia had done almost nothing to stop it until Federal grants and funding were suspended.
What is perhaps even more mysterious is why Khalil is able to arouse sympathy and support among liberal and leftist activists, including Jews. Some are perhaps not aware what free speech means within the First Amendment framework. Some may support him because of strong antipathy towards Trump. It gets murkier when it comes to Jewish supporters, but many of those are Jews who have no real connection to their faith, but use it as a means to justify their (and others’) hatred of Israel.
While thinking about why Khalil’s case aroused so much support and sympathy, I reminded myself of Luigi Mangione, the alleged murderer of the UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione commanded and is still commanding huge support.
There are some commonalities between these groups: some supporters claim to be peaceful, but support violence (against health care CEOs or Jews); many in both camps are anti-American, at least to some degree; and many are just getting caught up in social media trends and mass hysteria.
Perhaps the case of Khalil is not so strange; perhaps some members of our tribe are strange. The “peaceful” Jewish camp for Khalil is gaining steam. A child of Holocaust survivors wrote in The Forward that she is terrified for Khalil, and is reminded of life in Romania where she grew up. I myself grew up in a communist country and I think her fears and concerns are not substantiated. Many in the media are blaming Jews for “targeting Khalil” before his arrest.
Are we back in the ghetto where we wait to be slaughtered – is it OK to be killed rather than to defend ourselves, letting Hamas to murder and rape, and Khalil and company to rave? Or is it possible that the same people, who are convinced that peace at any price should be maintained, yearn for battle ready heroes/antiheroes, be it Luigi Mangione or Mahmoud Khalil?
Dr. Jaroslava Halper has been a professor of pathology at The University of Georgia in Athens, GA for many years. She escaped from communist Prague because of antisemitism, and lack of freedom and free speech. The gradual increase of antisemitism and anti-Zionism in certain circles in her second homeland, and the devastating October 7 massacre by Hamas, led her to realize that more active engagement is necessary to combat antisemitism, including anti-Zionism.
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US Vetoes UN Security Council Demand for Gaza Ceasefire
Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from Israel, June 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The United States vetoed a UN Security Council demand on Wednesday for an “immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire” between Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the enclave.
“The United States has been clear we would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,” Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote.
“This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground, and embolden Hamas,” she said of the text that was put forward by 10 countries on the 15-member council.
The remaining 14 council members voted in favor of the draft resolution.
Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza. It has renewed its military offensive in Gaza – also seeking to free hostages held by Hamas – since ending a two-month ceasefire in March.
The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in Israel in an Oct. 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave.
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Trump Picks Lawyer Who Called Oct. 7 Attack a ‘Psyop’ to Lead Federal Watchdog Agency
Paul Ingrassia. Photo: Screenshot
Paul Ingrassia, a 29-year-old lawyer who was recently nominated by US President Donald Trump to lead a federal agency dedicated to combating corruption and protecting whistleblowers, seemingly dismissed the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2o23, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel as a “psyop,” or “psychological operation, in resurfaced social media posts.
“This ‘war’ is yet another psyop to distract Americans from celebrating Columbus Day,” Ingrassia wrote on X/Twitter on Oct. 8, 2023.
“I think we could all admit at this stage that Israel/Palestine, much like Ukraine before it, and BLM before that, and covid/vaccine before that, was another psyop,” he posted a week later. “But sadly, people fell for it. And they’ll fall for the next one too.”
On the actual day of the Oct. 7 massacre, Ingrassia compared illegal immigration into the US to the Hamas-led onslaught.
“The amount of energy everyone has put into condemning Hamas (and prior to that, the Ukraine conflict) over the past 24 hours should be the same amount of energy we put into condemning our wide open border, which is a war comparable to the attack on Israel in terms of bloodshed — but made worse by the fact that it’s occurring in our very own backyard,” he posted. “We shouldn’t be beating the war drum, however tragic the events may be overseas, until we resolve our domestic problems first.”
Trump announced last week that he picked Ingrassia to serve as head of the US Office of Special Counsel, a position that requires confirmation by the Senate.
The Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal ethics agency that works to ensure fairness and accountability within the government. Ingrassia’s role, if he is confirmed, would involve investigating claims of wrongdoing, such as retaliation against whistleblowers or improper political activity in the workplace. The official can recommend disciplinary action and reports serious findings to Congress, helping to protect federal employees and uphold the integrity of the civil service system.
Ingrassia also maintains a relationship with and defends alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate, who has promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media. Tate wrote on X/Twitter that he refuses to “listen to women, Mexicans, or Jews” and that Jewish people are “subverting Western populations into mass genetic suicide” by advancing what he described as misguided immigration policy. Tate has also accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza against Palestinians and engaged in Holocaust denialism.
The furor surrounding Ingrassia is the latest dustup the Trump administration has had regarding controversial personnel and antisemitism.
The Trump administration’s appointment of Kingsley Wilson as deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense also sparked widespread criticism due to her history of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories and extremist views. Wilson, formerly associated with the Center for Renewing America, has a documented history of social media posts endorsing white supremacist ideologies, including claims about the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank — a Jewish man whose wrongful conviction and subsequent murder galvanized the founding of the Anti-Defamation League. In 2023, she tweeted that Frank “raped & murdered a 13-year-old girl,” a statement aligning with neo-Nazi narratives.
Late last month, the Pentagon announced that Wilson will be promoted and serve as the department’s new press secretary.
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US Congress Pushes to Designate Muslim Brotherhood as a Terrorist Organization
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Members of the US Congress are moving quickly to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as an official terrorist organization.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced on Tuesday that he will reintroduce an updated version of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act.
“In the coming days, I will be circulating and re-introducing a modernized version of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, which I have been pushing for my entire Senate career,” he posted on X/Twitter. “The Muslim Brotherhood used the Biden administration to consolidate and deepen their influence, but the Trump administration and Republican Congress can no longer afford to avoid the threat they pose to Americans and American national security.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) sent a letter to the White House on Tuesday asking US President Donald Trump to open an investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood, saying that the group maintains “a documented history of promoting extremist ideologies.”
“Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE all declared the Muslim Brotherhood an FTO [foriegn terrorist organization] over a decade ago, and France is considering its own action. Following suit would help the US disrupt the Muslim Brotherhood’s ability to recruit and finance terror around the globe,” Moskowitz wrote on X/Twitter.
The push to proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood gained momentum last month, when the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) organized a meeting to help members of Congress develop “strategies to ban the growing threat of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States,” the research group said in a press release.
“The Muslim Brotherhood appears to be the intellectual inspiration behind all Islamist groups (and their jihadist offshoots) that operate today, such as ISIS, al Qaeda, and Hamas,” ISGAP wrote in a 2023 report. “Sunni jihadist groups are grounded in the firm ideological roots that key MB [Muslim Brotherhood] ideologues pioneered in the last century.”
Hamas, the internationally designated terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades and perpetrated the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust with its invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, is a Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Both Cruz and Moskowitz noted that Hamas is a “branch” and an “affiliate” of the global Islamist movement.
While several countries in the Middle East have already classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, the United States has yet to do the same, despite several attempts by Congress over the years. During Trump’s first term in office, officials in both the White House and Congress took initial steps toward sanctioning the group’s international branches, but a formal designation was never finalized.
US lawmakers believe they have identified multiple pathways to economically cripple the internationally designated terror organization. Congress could combat the Muslim Brotherhood by designating it a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) or placing it on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list. Both options would levy heavy penalties on the group through methods such as freezing its assets or sanctioning its leadership.
The post US Congress Pushes to Designate Muslim Brotherhood as a Terrorist Organization first appeared on Algemeiner.com.