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A Letter from the Jewish Community in Support of Mohsen Mahdawi
We write this letter in support of Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia University student and activist whom the Trump Administration is attempting to deport. We are Jews of different religious orientations and political views who, in a time of communal division, come together to support the case of Mr. Mahdawi. Some of us know him well; others don’t know him at all. Some of us admire his activism and share his general political outlook, while others do not.
We believe that such differences of perspective do not matter in this case. The United States government is attempting to remove from this country a Palestinian student because of his support for the Palestinian cause. In doing so, the government is violating the principles of free speech and the right to express a political opinion that are rooted in the American democratic tradition.
We also believe that it is incumbent on us as Jews to apply the insights from our own past to this case. Mohsen Mahdawi is a Palestinian born in a refugee camp in the West Bank who came to this country for educational opportunity. He calls to mind the Biblical “stranger who resides with you” (Leviticus 19:34). Rather than treating the stranger as an alien to be sent away, we are enjoined, on the basis of our experience as exiles in Egypt, to embrace and accept him as one among us.
The stakes are high in this case. At this critical moment in the life of a young man who faces deportation to a country he does not know (Jordan), we stand together as one in support of Mohsen Mahdawi’s legal struggle to remain in his home of over a decade: the United States.
Please reach out to your elected officials to urge them to speak out in support of Mohsen Mahdawi.
Help us reach 1,000 signatures.
List of Signatures (as of Friday, July 31st at 8 am ET)
