Last Sunday, Nour Abdel -Ala traveled from her apartment in Heitsid in Morningside to St. Paul’s Church and Saint Andrew United Methodes, on the Alawite western side. She was with her sister and son, a month -old, religion; This occasion was a graduation ceremony as an alternative to students in colleges and universities in New York, who were expelled or suspended due to their protest against the Israeli war in Gaza. Inside the church, the preparations were ongoing, with pictures of the expected protests on a remote wall and hanging marks elsewhere read.War criminals off our campusAnd “and”Palestine free“Abdella has made her way to the priest’s office, where she left a debt asleep in the stroller.
Abdullah, a dentist who grew up in Flint, Michigan, is an American citizen. Her husband, Mahmoud KhalilAnd a Palestinian recently graduated from the College of International and General Affairs Faculty of Colombia, and he is the owner of a permanent green card. He was arrested in March, during Ramadan, when the couple returned to their apartment after breakfast, and he is currently being held in Ice The detention center in Louisiana. Khalil was worried for days that the authorities were after him. The theme of the Doxxing campaign was on Social mediaWith one professor in Colombia Ask Foreign Minister Marco Rubio to take a “strong work”. However, when Khalil walked and replaced home that night, Khalil looked calm. “That was the first night in which he was, like,” I am dramatic, nothing will happen, “a slave told me. Soon after reaching the lobby of the building, Khalil was bored and led. Abdullah was eight months. He had not seen him personally since then.
In the weeks that followed, at least seventy -eight students They were arrested As part of the university’s broader campaign against anti -war protests. In April, Abdullah’s waters erupted. A friend helped her during her first cramps. Her mother, who was scheduled to fly from Michigan that day, arrived a few hours before she was planned to ensure that she is with her daughter at Linux Hill Hospital when the child was born. Khalil and a list of names narrowed to three to three – it was one religion, and the other options were Yunus and Idris. Through a friend, Khalil sent her flowers with a card directed to “Oum Deen” (“Din Mother”). Abdel Ala was not sure whether Khalil, who was “on the fence” around the name, was joking. Soon after, they spoke on the phone and made a final decision. She told me: “I was so afraid that he would miss the birth of religion.” “It was something that I would feel emotionally, ended up, and I was fine.”
Khalil is one of the many supporters of the Palestinians in American colleges and universities that have been detained since the beginning of the second Trump administration. Rümeysa öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student and Volibright researcher at the University of Tats, was arrested in April, apparently to clarify an opinion article on Gaza. (It was released on bail earlier this month) (Both were released since then, Mahdawi came to graduate on Monday.) Khalil is still in detention, as the federal judge did not judge his case after either a bail or proposal to issue a preliminary judicial order. Such a ruling can come out at any time. But it can also come after it is too late. The government can decide to deport Khalil in advance, which is scheduled to hold the next immigration session on Thursday.
While the Khalil case drew her international attention, Abd al -Awlas had to struggle with fears that learned to be a mother. There were nights without sleep, and some breastfeeding difficulties. Meanwhile, she is constantly examining her phone for updates to her husband. She says the child has the mood and chin of his father. Enjoy being abroad. A slave takes him on long paths throughout the city, although she is concerned that, one day, it will be recognized, and that it will not be a “very nice interaction”. “I put a good face for people,” she told me. “I really try not to enter a small dark hole of sadness.”
Khalil and Abbad met in Lebanon, where Abdel -Ala, as a university student, met a month of volunteering with a non -profit institution for education. Her parents moved to the United States from Syria – her father for medical residency, and her mother later to teach the Arabic language. Khalil grew up in the refugee camp in Syria. He was displaced to Lebanon when he was eighteen, after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. He taught himself in English while working with Syrian refugees in Lebanon and continued to obtain a certificate in computer science from the American University of Lebanese in Beirut. When Abdel traveled there as a volunteer, Khalil was the main point of contact on the ground. Her father was working as commercial cars before he became a doctor, and she admired Khalil’s ability to advance his career with a few resources. Khalil once told her that he would not marry before the age of forty, but in the years that followed, their friendship developed. In 2023, they were married.
Study in Colombia – the home of these Palestinian scientists such as Edward said Rashid Khaldi – was always the dream of Khalil. (I am a full -time faculty member at Colombia Press College.) I was accepted at the University and General Affairs College of the University in 2022, but he could not attend. The following year, he received a scholarship and registration in January, nine months ago Hamas launched its attack In southern Israel, on October 7, 2023, the response of Israel, the invasion of Gaza, which killed an estimated fifty thousand people, sparked waves of gatherings in Colombia. Khalil, who is known for his attractiveness and the way to describe him, has become a mediator, representing demonstrators in talks with university directors. He made it clear that his face was not covered during the demonstrations. “We talked about the mask thing,” Abdullah He said the Times In March. “It always tells me,” What do I do wrong that I need to cover my face? “” “
On March 5, Colombia Daily speaking I mentioned More than twenty students were organized at the Barnard College, demanding the opposite of the commentary issued by the study’s colleagues who participated in a previous campus protest. Videos for New York police officers arrest Students went in a viral sit -in. One of the students Yunuso Chung, the permanent resident who lived in the United States since she was seven years old. It is currently targeted Ice Detention and deportation officers; After a lawsuit was filed against the Ministry of Internal Security, a federal court issued a temporary restriction order that prevents the agency from detention.
After a day of arrests in Bernard, a supporter professor of Israeli, who was temporarily prevented from the Colombia campus due to the “threat of behavior” online, posted a video of Hebron during the demonstration. “The seizure of the college illegally was not registered and the distribution of terrorist propaganda should be a crime of stage, no?” he books. “Because this is what Mahmoud Khalil did from Columbiasjp yesterday on BarnardCollege.” The publication was directed to Marco Rubio. Two days later, Ice The agents were arrested Khalil.
The ceremony was in St. Paul and Saint Andrew the work of student organizers. A year ago, A similar event It happened after insurance in Colombia. The university, after dismantling the solidarity camps in Gaza, canceled all graduation celebrations. Abda told me that Khalil was very excited to graduate, which was scheduled to be held on Tuesday, May 20, to the point that he bought his hat and dress a year ago. He was hoping to take pictures of the ceremony he would one day share with his son. “He will not be able to go to his graduation.” “It is just something else that was taken away from it.”
Instead, when the people, which were held on the main campus of the Church, were graduated, Abdullah was the guest of honor. There was on behalf of her husband, but also, she told me, to celebrate the community that helped her during her most tried life – enjoying her, while maintaining her company, and helping her prepare for her son’s arrival. Other students who are honored, friends and family who gathered with them are the people who were hoping, along with Khalil, that their organization will make a difference, will change their institution, press for change, and will stop bombs from falling into civilians in Gaza. “The main thing for this night is that I really want to make sure that people know how much they give me and Mahmoud.” “We are surrounded by a lot of love and many people who love us and support us and have been incredible in the past two months.”
Abdel -Khattaba prepared a few days ago; It was not strange to rhetoric. In 2018, it was Starter At the University of Michigan – Flent, where she graduated with honors. At that time, I talked about the facts of the war in Syria, as well as its privilege. She said, “I go to the class and know that I believe in many ways.” “I am safe to talk about my opinion whenever I feel necessary.” In Michigan, she participated in demonstrations on the campus against the Syrian war. As a university student, “told me,” What can you do? Now, in the church, I found it difficult to think about these ideas. “Is there still a level of freedom of expression here?” She said. “Yes. But when I look at what happened with my husband, and me, like, do we really have freedom of expression?”
