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When a Columbia Student I Knew Was Detained, the Smear Campaign Began. I Almost Believed It. - Slate
A Columbia student who I met said, “Oh, you need to meet my friend Mohsen.” Mohsen reached out to me. And he wrote ,“I am a student at Columbia University and currently co-leading the Palestinian movement on campus. It would be a pleasure to hear your thoughts and intentions.” Mohsen and I met a number of times. It turned out that his high school principal, in the refugee camp where he’s from, is one of my very dear Palestinian friends and students—an amazing peacemaker.
I’m Jewish. Mohsen grew up Muslim. It turns out that we both are practitioners of Buddhist meditation, so we had all this sharing of activism and connections in the West Bank, as well as Buddhism. In January 2024, I invited him to a Friday night Shabbat service in the Harlem Jazz Museum, but he already had a Shabbat dinner that night.
What is so just horrifyingly outrageous is that the entire justification for arresting him is that his stance is a threat to U.S. foreign policy. This is someone who is just an open, free human being. And at the same time, that he’s a fierce leader, an advocate for Palestinians, he’s such a teacher. He is really modeling peacemaking to me, for me. Because not only does he stand for everyone’s humanity and not to demonize anyone, he stands firmly for Palestinian rights. So, from my perspective, he’s not watering down the Palestinian liberation struggle—he’s just sourcing it in a bigger playing field.
After the arrest, the first thing I did was reach out to some rabbis and Buddhist communities I know in Vermont to mobilize them. And there was this horrible disinformation campaign from this Jewish self-proclaimed journalist, just picking apart his life and his statements. I felt sick to my stomach. It was just how it was all so demeaning of this human being that I know, who has been on a journey for 15 years to make sense of what’s happened to him in a way that embraces his own and everyone’s humanity. I really felt sick to my stomach. And then I learned that some of the rabbis I know were actually affected by that. And for me, it’s humbling to see how fragile people’s goodwill is.
I’m Jewish. Mohsen grew up Muslim. It turns out that we both are practitioners of Buddhist meditation, so we had all this sharing of activism and connections in the West Bank, as well as Buddhism. In January 2024, I invited him to a Friday night Shabbat service in the Harlem Jazz Museum, but he already had a Shabbat dinner that night.
What is so just horrifyingly outrageous is that the entire justification for arresting him is that his stance is a threat to U.S. foreign policy. This is someone who is just an open, free human being. And at the same time, that he’s a fierce leader, an advocate for Palestinians, he’s such a teacher. He is really modeling peacemaking to me, for me. Because not only does he stand for everyone’s humanity and not to demonize anyone, he stands firmly for Palestinian rights. So, from my perspective, he’s not watering down the Palestinian liberation struggle—he’s just sourcing it in a bigger playing field.
After the arrest, the first thing I did was reach out to some rabbis and Buddhist communities I know in Vermont to mobilize them. And there was this horrible disinformation campaign from this Jewish self-proclaimed journalist, just picking apart his life and his statements. I felt sick to my stomach. It was just how it was all so demeaning of this human being that I know, who has been on a journey for 15 years to make sense of what’s happened to him in a way that embraces his own and everyone’s humanity. I really felt sick to my stomach. And then I learned that some of the rabbis I know were actually affected by that. And for me, it’s humbling to see how fragile people’s goodwill is.
https://slate.com/life/2025/05/donald-trump-columbia-international-student-mohsen-mahdawi.html
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