Trump administration has frozen a massive $2.2 billion in aid to Harvard University, along with $60 million in government contracts, due to the university’s refusal to respond to pressure to punish students who oppose Israel’s war of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The freeze was imposed by a task force formed by Trump, which stated that the university administration had ignored clear demands to impose punitive measures on students participating in protests calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
In an official response, Harvard University President Alan Garber rejected the pressure, stating that “the government’s demands exceed the authority of the US administration and violate constitutional rights.” He noted that attempts to curtail freedom of expression on campus set a dangerous precedent.
Students Arrested
In a disturbing escalation, US authorities arrested Palestinian student Mohsen al-Mahdawi while he was at the Vermont Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office to complete his application for US citizenship, despite having been a legal resident for 10 years.
Attorney Lona Droubi told ABC News that her client is a well-known activist in the Columbia University protests, and that “his arrest was solely due to his anti-war stance on Gaza, and this is a direct violation of the US Constitution.”
The legal team filed an urgent appeal in federal court, seeking to halt his deportation. Judge William Sessions granted the request by issuing an injunction preventing his transfer outside the state or the country.
Mohsen, who was born in the West Bank and entered the United States in 2014, is set to graduate from Columbia University next month. He recently withdrew from leading the student movement, despite his prominent past involvement in organizing protests on campus.
Mahdawi was not alone. On March 9, 2024, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who led widespread student protests last year at Columbia University as part of the movement against the genocide in Gaza, was arrested.
The protests began at Columbia University and quickly spread to more than 50 American universities, in what was described as the largest student movement in years. More than 3,100 people, mostly students and faculty, were arrested for participating in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
These developments come amid the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, which has resulted in the death and injury of more than 167,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in addition to more than 11,000 missing, amid unlimited American political and military support.
