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jamaal bowman
Cornell Under Fire as Suspended Pro-Palestinian Student at Risk of Deportation
"This is a deliberate targeting of a Black Muslim student at an institution where those two identities are increasingly unwelcome," said the Ph.D. candidate, Momodou Taal.
Sep 28, 2024
Two members of Congress on Friday joined the growing chorus of voices criticizing Cornell University for the administration's treatment of Ph.D. student Momodou Taal, a U.K. citizen who could be deported as a result of his pro-Palestinian activism on the Ithaca, New York campus.
"It is appalling that Cornell University appears ready to deport an international student without regard for due process, simply because of their presence at a protest. It is wrong, and I urge the university to reverse course immediately," U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a top congressional critic of Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, said on social media early Friday.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.)—another opponent of genocide in Gaza who is set to leave the House of Representatives at the end of this term after losing his primary to a pro-Israel candidate—spoke out in support of Taal Friday evening.
"Momodou Taal participated in a peaceful student protest against weapons contractors' presence in a career fair—Cornell set into motion his deportation."
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the November election, "showed us how he felt about Black immigrants, and I urge Cornell to refrain from doing the same," Bowman said on social media.
"Momodou Taal participated in a peaceful student protest against weapons contractors' presence in a career fair—Cornell set into motion his deportation," he explained. "Cornell must reverse his suspension. Student protest and free expression are critical rights that universities need to uphold for students and faculty alike."
Joel M. Malina, Cornell's vice president for university relations, has told multiple media outlets this week that "universities can disallow enrollment and bar a student from campus, but do not have deportation powers."
In response, Taal's attorney, Eric Lee, has called that statement "a cynical sleight of hand," given that "the administration has made the decision to persecute Mr. Taal for free speech activity knowing full well that doing so will subject him to serious immigration consequences," which sets "a dangerous national precedent."
Taal, 30-year-old a Ph.D. candidate in Africana studies who was teaching a writing seminar at Cornell, is part of the Coalition for Mutual Liberation. He was among over 100 students who marched into the on-campus career fair last week due to participation from Boeing and L3Harris, defense contractors that students targeted for "supporting the ongoing war in Gaza."
In a video interview with Taal published on Friday, The Cornell Daily Sun's Gabriel Levin noted that the newspaper does not know of any other students suspended because of the career fair protest. Taal suggested that he is being targeted because of his identity as a Black Muslim man and he is seen as a leader of pro-Palestinian campus activism.
Early Monday, Taal received an email about a Cornell police complaint against him related to the career fair protest—which contains allegations that the graduate student denies—and his resulting suspension. He has been barred from campus.
Because Taal has attended the Ivy League school with an F-1 visa, the suspension means he could soon be deported. As The Nationreported on Wednesday:
The F-1 visa program allows foreign nationals to reside in the United States if they are enrolled in an academic educational program, a language-training program, or a vocational program. Those with F-1 visas can also work on campus and in limited off-campus training positions. According to the Department of Homeland Security, suspension from an academic program is a valid reason for the termination of a record, which changes the immigration status of someone holding a F-1 visa.
Cornell University did not respond to questions about its policies and procedures regarding the suspension of a student with an F-1 visa.
As of publication, the university still refers to disciplinary action against Taal as a "temporary suspension." But by suspending Taal, the university set in motion immigration procedures without having to provide the level of evidence that due process would require, if the charges against Taal were criminal, which they are not.
Taal said on social media Thursday that "the VP of student and campus life, Ryan Lombardi, rejected my appeal after one business day. This demonstrates once again that my ability to stay in this country is being hastily handled without due process in a continued attempt to silence me. I have until 5:00 pm tomorrow to appeal to the provost. If the provost rejects this appeal, then I believe my withdrawal will be processed and I will promptly have to leave the country."
"Once again, there has been no investigation, nor have I had a chance to even respond to the allegations against me," he continued. "I maintain that all my actions have been peaceful and in accordance with my First Amendment rights. This is a deliberate targeting of a Black Muslim student at an institution where those two identities are increasingly unwelcome. When it comes to Palestine the university will abandon all commitments to academic freedom and free speech to protect its corporate interests."
Taal's next appeal goes to Cornell's interim provost, John Siciliano—who, in a Monday email to students, "advocated for severe punishments against pro-Palestinian activists, including legal action," as the Sunnoted in a Thursday editorial.
Cornell is facing mounting pressure from students, professors, alumni, and campus groups as well as advocates and organizations in Ithaca and across the country to stop "unjustly" punishing Taal—who was also involved in pro-Palestinian advocacy at Cornell during the last academic year, as protests over Israel's assault on Gaza were held on campuses across the United States.
"What should make Taal's suspension troubling to every member of the Cornell community is not at all about whether one agrees with his beliefs—it's that the university hasn't shown Taal the due process that all students deserve," the Sun's editorial states. "Without an independent party weighing the evidence, this can't be called anything other than a kangaroo court in which the provost serves as judge, jury, and executioner."
"To make matters worse, Cornell may have violated labor law, too," the newspaper detailed. "Cornell breached an agreement it had signed just three months ago with Cornell Graduate Students United, which requires the university to bargain with the union when graduate students might be de-enrolled or suspended. Here, no bargaining took place. The university simply chose to impose its will unilaterally."
Although the consequences of Taal's on-campus activism may be severe, he made clear on social media Friday evening that he "will never regret going hard for Palestine."
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'Uncommitted' Backs Israeli-American Speakers at DNC, Says Palestinians Must Have Voice Too
"Excluding a Palestinian speaker betrays the party's commitment in our platform to valuing Israelis and Palestinian lives equally."
Aug 21, 2024
While welcoming a scheduled Democratic National Convention speech by the Israeli-American parents of a young man kidnapped in Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, the co-founders of the Uncommitted National Movement on Wednesday implored the DNC to ensure that Palestinian voices are also heard on the event's main stage.
Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin, whose 23-year-old son Hersh was abducted from the Nova rave near the Gaza border, are set to speak Wednesday night in what Forward, a progressive Jewish news site, described as "a counterpoint to the powerful appearance at last month's Republican convention by Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of hostage Omar Neutra, who led the crowd in Milwaukee in chants of 'Bring them home!'"
In a Wednesday statement, Uncommitted National Movement co-founders Abbas Alawieh and Layla Elabed said the 30 Uncommitted delegates attending the DNC "urge the Democratic Party to reject a hierarchy of human value by ensuring Palestinian voices are heard on the main stage."
"We are learning that Israeli hostages' families will be speaking from the main stage. We strongly support that decision and also strongly hope that we will also be hearing from Palestinians who've endured the largest civilian death toll since 1948," the pair continued, referring to the year in which the modern state of Israel was established amid the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs from Palestine, an event known among Palestinians as the Nakba, or "catastrophe."
"Excluding a Palestinian speaker betrays the party's commitment in our platform to valuing Israelis and Palestinian lives equally," Alawieh and Elabed asserted, adding that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, "must unite this party with a vision that fights for everyone, including Palestinians."
The Democratic National Committee's 2024 platform states that "Democrats recognize the worth of every Israeli and every Palestinian."
However, the platform also opposes human rights-based protests against Israel including the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, as well as efforts to hold Israel accountable at the United Nations. Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice, a U.N. organ, amid an ongoing assault on Gaza that has left at least 143,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and most of the coastal enclave flattened.
The U.S. has provided Israel with tens of billions of dollars worth of military aid—including the bombs used in some of Israel's deadliest massacres in Gaza—and diplomatic cover like United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolution vetoes.
With the exception of a vocal minority of pro-Palestine voices led by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American member of Congress and Elabed's sister, most elected Democrats—from Harris and President Joe Biden to a majority of U.S. lawmakers—support Israel, making it difficult for Palestine defenders to secure DNC stage time.
Following sustained activist pressure, the DNC provided space for the
first-ever panel on Palestinian rights on Monday. On Tuesday, the Uncommitted National Movement—which won nearly 20% of the Democratic primary vote in Minnesota and over 13% in the key swing state of Wisconsin—hosted another panel featuring doctors who volunteered in Gaza hospitals.
"The difficulty in approving even a single Palestinian American speaker among the dozens of speakers on the convention stage sends a troubling message to our anti-war voters, suggesting they aren't truly included in this party," Alawieh and Elabed said Wednesday. "The pain and loss of an Israeli or a Palestinian are no different, b ut there is an added sting in our communities when we know that it is our tax dollars funding the killing of our loved ones."
"We have provided the Democratic Party with a list of names and stand ready to provide more if needed," the pair added. "There is no reason not to get this done."
Backing Uncommitted's demand for Palestinian inclusion at the DNC, Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.)
said on social media Wednesday that "as Democrats, we must commit to uplifting the shared humanity of all people and recognize that the loss of human life is always tragic, regardless of nationality, religion, or race."
"I'm calling on the DNC to live up to these values and invite Palestinian speakers to the convention," he added.
There have been large and small pro-Palestine protests in Chicago and throughout the nation leading up to and during the DNC.
According to a May Zeteo-Data for Progress poll, a majority of Democratic voters believe Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
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'Shameful': Omar Rips Late Effort by Pro-Israel Donors to Boost Her Primary Opponent
The progressive Minnesota congresswoman said her Democratic challenger is "actively courting Republican votes and desperately seeking funding from AIPAC."
Aug 12, 2024
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar on Sunday condemned a last-minute effort by pro-Israel donors to boost her Democratic primary opponent in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District following the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's successful campaigns against two other progressive Squad members.
"It is shameful that my opponent is actively courting Republican votes and desperately seeking funding from AIPAC," Omar wrote on social media in response to reporting by Jacqueline Sweet in The Intercept. "MN05 deserves someone who will champion their values, not seek support from vile MAGA Republicans like Laura Loomer and Royce White."
Sweet reported Sunday that "members of a WhatsApp group founded by wealthy pro-Israel donors coordinated to infuse cash" into the primary campaign of Don Samuels, a former member of Minneapolis City Council who fell just short of defeating Omar in 2022—a race that also attracted right-wing super PAC spending against the incumbent.
This year's primary—in which voters of any party affiliation can participate—will be held on Tuesday.
According to Sweet, members of the WhatsApp group—including "a consultant who at the time was working for the Samuels campaign as well as far-flung political donors"—recently "discussed raising six-figure sums for a political action committee, strategies for campaign phone banks, and an effort to marshal Republican voters to boost Samuels in Tuesday's open primary."
"One participant in the WhatsApp group, Michael Sinensky—a wealthy entrepreneur who on the chat justifies support for 'alt-right Christian neo-Nazis'—said he has worked with Make a Difference MN to raise over $120,000 for Samuels since July 31," Sweet reported, citing messages in the group chat. "Make a Difference MN, a super PAC, was used by AIPAC in 2022 to route $350,000 into Samuels' race."
Sweet pointed to a message posted to the group chat by Alex Minn, who was working for the Samuels campaign at the time he sent the message. Minn called Omar "public enemy #1 to Jews, Israel, and America" and wrote that "we all have the power to help get rid of" the Squad.
Minn also said "he had been in touch with AIPAC," Sweet reported. "In one case, a Samuels supporter in the group had an email to an AIPAC regional office bounce back, and Minn offered to check the address."
On July 25, Minn wrote that the Samuels campaign "is in regular and will continue to be in regular communication with AIPAC." (The Samuels campaign told Sweet that Minn no longer works for the campaign.)
Justice Democrats, an advocacy group that helped form a coalition aimed at combatting AIPAC influence in the 2024 primaries, wrote Sunday that "AIPAC, its allies, and Don Samuels are building coalitions with Trump donors and neo-Nazis to attack" Omar.
"As AIPAC becomes the single largest source of GOP donor spending in Dem primaries," the group added, "Ilhan Omar is on the frontlines of defending our democracy—the choice is easy in MN05."
Last week, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) lost her primary against a Democratic opponent backed by millions of dollars from AIPAC's super PAC, the United Democracy Project, which also spent big to defeat Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) in New York's 16th Congressional District.
Bush, Bowman, and Omar have been among Congress' most vocal critics of U.S. support for Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which is now in its 11th month with no end in sight. Their criticisms of the war and calls for a permanent cease-fire—which align with the views of a strong majority of the U.S. public—have intensified efforts by pro-Israel donors and organizations to deny the progressive lawmakers another term in Congress.
Jewish Insiderreported Monday that Samuels' campaign "saw an influx of contributions" in the hours after Bush's defeat.
But Omar "has significantly outraised Samuels" this year, Axiosnoted, and "has spent more than $2.7 million on TV and digital ads, per Ad Impact, compared to the roughly $185,000 from the Samuels campaign."
According toThe Cook Political Report, Omar "looks like she's in a strong position to fend off another primary challenge."
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