WASHINGTON,  March 10, 2025 (WAFA) – More than half a million activists have called for the immediate release of Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested at Columbia University in New York after the US State Department announced plans to deport students linked to pro-Palestinian protests during the war on the Gaza Strip.

In less than 10 hours, 577,000 activists signed the petition to release Khalil, a legal resident of the United States, out of 819,000 activists, demanding his immediate release from the US Department of Homeland Security and the cancellation of Columbia University’s protocol, which allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to enter the campus without a warrant to arrest students.

The administration of US President Donald Trump decided to cancel grants and contracts worth $400 million to Columbia University, claiming “failure to address ongoing harassment of Jewish students and accusations of anti-Semitism.”

K.T