On Tuesday, a group of Jewish demonstrators held a protest on Low steps, condemning the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil and affirming that “immigrants are welcome here” amid ICE presence around Columbia’s campus.

At 12 pm on Tuesday, March 11, demonstrators held a protest on Low Steps, condemning the arrest of recent Columbia alum and Gaza Solidarity Encampment organizer Mahmoud Khalil and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence around Columbia’s campus. Many of the protesters wore red shirts reading “Jews say ICE off campus” on the front and “Not in our name” on the back while holding signs bearing a variety of messages including “Jews against ICE,” “Jews <3 Mahmoud,” and “Jews say free Mahmoud.” There was also a sign that read “First, they came for Mahmoud,” most likely in reference to the famous poem “First They Came,” by Martin Niemöller, which ends with the lines, “then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Protesters shouted a series of chants as they sat on the steps behind barricades set up by Public Safety. Chants included, “The students are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” “Armstrong, we know you. You detain your students too,” and “say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here.” 

One protester spoke to the crowd, saying that “as Jews we know that … detaining students and silencing their free speech will never keep us safe; never has, never will.” They called on any faculty or administrator with “a shred of conscience” to join their cause.

During the protest, some demonstrators distributed pamphlets advertising a media publication called The Worker, which has “the aim of uniting revolutionaries under Maoism, serving the effort to reconstitute the Communist Party.” 

At around 4:45 pm, a group of protesters approached Low Library and taped various letters and messages to the windows. The majority of these letters were addressed directly to Interim Columbia President Katrina Armstrong, with some being addressed to “Columbia leaders” or “admin” more generally. The letters called for the University administration to prohibit ICE presence on campus, with one writer expressing their “deepest outrage” and another detailing the University’s “failure to protect Mahmoud Khalil.” Many of the authors also spoke about their Jewish identity, with one writing that the events of the past several days have made them “terrified and depressed,” condemning the University for the way that they “sold…out” Khalil, whom they were “obligated to protect.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the Trump administration has given Columbia University the names of several individuals engaging in “pro-Hamas activity,” but the University is “refusing to help” the Department of Homeland Security identify individuals for arrest. 

Forward, an independent Jewish media outlet, also published a report stating that pro-Israel groups had “targeted” Khalil for arrest, with pro-Israel activist Ross Glick alleging that Columbia board members had also taken part in reporting Khalil to authorities. 

During protests where the majority of participants covered their faces using masks or keffiyehs, Khalil kept his face bare and visible. “Pro-Israel activists” circulated photos of Khalil shortly after the Milstein Center sit-in on Wednesday, March 5 and spread information that he was “known to have been on a foreign visa last year.”

Photos via Madeline Douglas, Renee Bales, and Bwog Staff