Released non-violent Palestinian activist sends chilling six-word statement to Trump
Palestinian Columbia University student Moshen Madhawi broke his silence after being released from ICE detention for speaking out against Israel's war in Gaza.
Palestinian Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi broke his silence after he was released from ICE detention Wednesday.
Taking aim at the Trump administration amid its crackdown on college campus free speech against Israel, the non-violent activist said outside the courthouse: “I am saying it clear and loud. To President Trump and his cabinet: I am not afraid of you.”
Mahdawi, a green card holder born in an occupied West Bank refugee camp, was freed on bail after a judge scrapped a request from the government to halt his release.
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Mahdawi has issued a legal challenge to his government-issued detention as the White House seeks to deport him.
The high-profile arrest of Mahdawi as well as fellow Palestinian-American Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and Turkish Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, among others, have sparked nationwide protests in defense of free speech and criticism of Israel, which some Zionists seek to make an illegal form of antisemitism.
Look at this video: a *huge* crowd of Vermonters swaying alongside Mohsen right after he was freed, singing "We Shall Overcome"
— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) April 30, 2025
Signs reading "Hands off our students" & "free speech" are peppered in between large Palestine flags https://t.co/hDdYcKm8Tp pic.twitter.com/yFQjjttKeP
The trend has not been contained to the United States, Israel's greatest ally, as similar arrests have also occurred abroad in places such as Germany.
Mahdawi was welcomed by a huge crowd of supporters who were seen embracing and chanting, "The people united will never be defeated," in emotional footage posted to social media.
Mahdawi made clear his long-held beliefs in non-violent activism as a Buddhist, defending the Free Palestine movement.
“We are pro-peace and anti-war,” Mahdawi told the crowd. “To my people in Palestine: I feel your pain, I see your suffering, and I see freedom and it is very very soon.”
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Meanwhile, across the country, over 35 community members at the University of California, Los Angeles, have filed a lawsuit against the campus for its handling of the Gaza war protests, which devolved into violence and captured national attention.
Several students and faculty, among others, are seeking financial compensation for the physical and emotional duress experienced during the protests.
Pro-Palestine protestors allege in the lawsuit that the campus failed to protect them against counterprotests, who resorted to acts of violence, including local law enforcement.
