Authorities in Vermont on Monday arrested a Palestine protest organiser after he arrived at an immigration office to complete a final step towards becoming a US citizen.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a green card holder who has lived in the US since 2014, had walked into the federal office for an interview but was instead arrested by plain-clothed agents.
“These individuals refused to provide any information as to where he was being taken or what would happen to him,” Vermont senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch said in a statement, along with Vermont Representative Becca Balint.
“This is immoral, inhumane and illegal. Mr Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, must be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from prison.”
One of Mr Mahdawi's lawyers, Andy Delaney, told The National that he had never seen anything like this happen before.
“This is atypical,” he said. “I’ve seen [immigration authorities] show up when people are charged with crimes and they show up to court and detain someone … but this was supposed to be a naturalisation interview.”
Mr Delaney and other lawyers filed a petition in federal court seeking an order barring the government from removing Mr Mahdawi from the state or country. Mr Delaney said his client was being held in the Vermont city of St Albans and a judge had issued a temporary restraining order blocking his transfer.
According to the court filing, Mr Mahdawi was born in a refugee camp in the West Bank and moved to the US in 2014. He recently completed coursework at Columbia and was expected to graduate in May before beginning a master's degree programme there in the autumn.
“Prior to and following Mr Mahdawi’s detention, the government has made clear that it intends to retaliate and punish individuals such as Mr Mahdawi who advocated for ceasefire and ending the bloodshed in Gaza,” the filing states.
The arrest “plainly violate[s] the First Amendment, which protects Mr Mahdawi’s right to speak on matters of public concern and prevents the government from chilling constitutionally protected speech".
The habeas corpus petition describes Mr Mahdawi as a committed Buddhist who believes in “non-violence and empathy as a central tenet of his religion.”
In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that called for the revocation of visas of foreign students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses.
As a student, Mr Mahdawi was an outspoken critic of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and organised campus protests until March 2024. He co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia with Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian permanent resident of the US and graduate student who was recently detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Christopher Helali, a friend of Mr Mahdawi who lives near him in Vermont, was outside the immigration office when Mr Mahdawi was detained and recorded a video of him being led away by authorities. In the video, which Mr Helali posted on X, Mr Mahdawi is shown giving a peace sign with his hands and being led away to a car.
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- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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%3Cp%3EThe%20Royal%20Navy%20raid%20is%20the%20latest%20in%20a%20series%20of%20successful%20interceptions%20of%20drugs%20and%20arms%20in%20the%20Gulf%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMay%2011%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUS%20coastguard%20recovers%20%2480%20million%20heroin%20haul%20from%20fishing%20vessel%20in%20Gulf%20of%20Oman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMay%208%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20US%20coastguard%20vessel%20USCGC%20Glen%20Harris%20seizes%20heroin%20and%20meth%20worth%20more%20than%20%2430%20million%20from%20a%20fishing%20boat%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMarch%202%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Anti-tank%20guided%20missiles%20and%20missile%20components%20seized%20by%20HMS%20Lancaster%20from%20a%20small%20boat%20travelling%20from%20Iran%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EOctober%209%2C%202022%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERoyal%20Navy%20frigate%20HMS%20Montrose%20recovers%20drugs%20worth%20%2417.8%20million%20from%20a%20dhow%20in%20Arabian%20Sea%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESeptember%2027%2C%202022%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20US%20Naval%20Forces%20Central%20Command%20reports%20a%20find%20of%202.4%20tonnes%20of%20heroin%20on%20board%20fishing%20boat%20in%20Gulf%20of%20Oman%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Details
Through Her Lens: The stories behind the photography of Eva Sereny
Forewords by Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling, ACC Art Books
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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