Judge Orders Mohsen Mahdawi Released on Bail

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Federal District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered Mohsen Mahdawi released on bail while his legal challenges proceed through the courts.

Mahdawi has not been charged with any crime. He has held a green card as a lawful permanent resident for at least a decade. He is Palestinian, born and brought up in a West Bank refugee camp. He has participated as a student activist at Columbia University in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.

On 14 April 2025 he went to a scheduled interview for his citizenship application. Federal agents wearing hoods took him into custody. He is contesting his arrest and detention as unconstitutional in federal court and immigration court.

Upon his release, he said, “This is what justice is. And for anybody who’s doubting justice, this is a light of hope, a hope and faith in the justice system in America.”

In an interview he has said Secretary of State Marco Rubio is treating being anti-war as being antisemitic.

“How could that be possible when my partners, most of my partners at Columbia’s campus, and beyond, are Jews and Israelis? My work has been centered on peacemaking. My hope and my dream is … to see an end to the war, an end to the killing, and to see a peaceful resolution between Palestinians and Israelis. How could this be a threat to anybody except the war machine that is feeding this?”

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