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Baklava Balaclava

@baklavabalaclava.bsky.social
44 followers 96 following 2 posts

Due to unfortunate circumstances, I am once again awake

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Reposted by Baklava Balaclava
Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
NEW: 16 months ago, a young Palestinian locksmith went to help unlock a car. He's been in detention ever since. The FBI interrogated him. After refusing to become an informant, he was put in high-security as "retribution." He's not convicted of a crime—but ICE will neither free nor deport him.
zeteo.com
A 22-Year-Old Palestinian Has Been Locked Up in 'High-Security' ICE Detention for 16 Months
Taher Mohammed Taher Hasan has faced harassment from detainees and guards and is held in a cockroach-infested cell, his legal team says.
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Reposted by Baklava Balaclava
Democracy Now! @democracynow.org · 21/07/2025
Alex de Waal has worked on humanitarian causes across the globe for over 40 years. “There is no case, over those four decades, of such minutely engineered, closely monitored, precisely designed mass starvation of a population as is happening in Gaza today.”
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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
"Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They're treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars. ... Our form of communication is gunfire."
haaretz.com
IDF soldiers ordered to shoot deliberately at unarmed Gazans waiting for humanitarian aid
***
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Thomas Frampton @tframpton.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Men in plainclothes, one in a balaclava, raided the Charlottesville courthouse today. They abducted a local painter whose case (allegedly fighting with his roommate) was being dismissed, and another who was there paying fines. They took them away in unmarked vans. dailyprogress.com/news/local/c...
dailyprogress.com
ICE detains 2 men in Charlottesville courthouse raid
Three men who identified themselves as Homeland Security officers raided a courthouse in downtown Charlottesville Tuesday, detaining two men without explanation.
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Adil Haque @adhaque.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
"The two-page memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil" "Rather, Rubio wrote Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs." Free this man immediately. apnews.com/article/mahm...
apnews.com
Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs
The U.S. government has submitted a two-page memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio as its main evidence in its deportation case against Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Wow. This is the full document submitted by Rubio against Mr. Khalil invoking INA 237(a)(4)(C). The standard in immigration court is extremely deferential; a judge must accept this so long as it is “facially reasonable and bona fide.” But this is so threadbare that it might not even satisfy that.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE
WASHINGTON
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY
FROM: Marco Rubio MA
SUBJECT: (SBU) Notification of Removability Determinations under Section
237(a)(4)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
(SBU) I am writing to inform you that upon notification from the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (DHS/ICE/HSI) on March 7, 2025, I have determined that
and Mahmoud Khalil (DOB: 01-JAN-1995; POB: Algeria),
both U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs), are deportable aliens under INA section 237(a)(4)(C). I understand that ICE now intends to initiate removal charges against them, based on assurances from DHS/ICE/HSI.
(SBU) Under INA section 237(a)(4)(C)(i), an alien is deportable from the United States if the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe that the alien's presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States. Under INA section 237(a)(4)(C)(ii), for cases in which the basis for this determination is the alien's past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful, the Secretary of State must personally determine that the alien's presence or activities would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.
(SBU) Pursuant to these authorities, I have determined that the activities and presence of these aliens in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest. These determinations are based onSENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED//LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE
information provided by the DHS/ICE/HSI regarding the participation and roles of
and Khalil in antisemitic protests and disruptive activities,
which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.
My determination for
is also based on
citations for unlawful
activity during these protests. The public actions and continued presence of and Khalil in the United States undermine U.S. policy to combat antiSemitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States.
Consistent with E.O. 14150, America First Policy Directive to the Secretary of State, the foreign policy of the United States champions core American interests and American citizens and condoning anti-Semitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective.
Attachments
Tab 1 - DHS Letter on
Tab 2 - HSI Subject Profile of |
Tab 3 - DHS Letter on Mahmoud Kha
Tab 5 - HSI Subject Profile of Mahmoud Khalil
Tab 5 - 8 USC 1227(a)(4)(C)
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Zeteo @zeteo.com · 31/03/2025
The Trump administration is apparently secretly targeting Middle Eastern students across the country. ICE is virtually deeming students ‘illegal’ with a push of a button. @premthakker.bsky.social reports. Read the full article here: zeteo.com/p/ice-manual...
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Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Palestinian Women 'Raped by Israeli Soldiers.' And the western media? Nothing. A deafening silence. As always. zeteo.com/p/palestinia...
zeteo.com
Palestinian Women 'Raped by Israeli Soldiers.' Silence From Western Media
Powerful new testimony reveals Western hypocrisy is alive and well – rape is only a crime and an outrage when it serves Western political interests.
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Reposted by Baklava Balaclava
Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 28/03/2025
UPDATE: Palestinian Red Crescent teams have recovered the body of Anwar Al-Attar, head of the Civil Defense mission in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, after coordinating with the UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) to enter the area, following five days of blocked access.
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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
A letter with half the House Democrats didn't work. Now what?
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Jeremy Scahill @jeremyscahill.com · 27/03/2025
NEW: U.S. doctors who traveled to Gaza to offer medical services in the bombed out, overcrowded hospitals & clinics have observed a horrifying pattern: scores of children appear to have been targeted—often fatally—by gunshot. Read the story/watch the film below: www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-child...
dropsitenews.com
“The Target is Unmistakable”: The Shooting of Gaza’s Children
American doctors who volunteered in Gaza report witnessing a disturbing pattern of children being shot by Israeli snipers.
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Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 25/03/2025
JUST IN | Israeli attacks have killed at least 24 Palestinians, including 7 children, since midnight in Gaza. On Monday Israeli forces killed at least 60 Palestinians across the besieged territory.
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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
New — The American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association are suing the Trump administration to block it "from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations" of students and faculty who engage in pro-Palestine or other First Amendment activity.
Announcement of lawsuit from American Association of University Professors and Middle East Studies Association against the Trump administration
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Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 24/03/2025
“100% OPSEC”
theatlantic.com
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
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Reposted by Baklava Balaclava
Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
BREAKING: Yuval Abraham, co-director of Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land," says Israeli settlers beat his co-director Hamdan Ballal, injuring his head and stomach — and then Israeli soldiers invaded the ambulance he was in and seized him. Ballal's whereabouts are now unknown.
Tweet from Yuval Abraham:
"A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co director of our film no other land. They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since."
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 24/03/2025
Israel readies plans for occupation of Gaza www.ft.com/content/40127b12-62e4-4f…
ft.com
Israel readies plans for occupation of Gaza
New military leadership, with far-right’s support, draws up drastically harsher proposal to destroy Hamas
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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
27 pages. Of babies. Whose entire understanding of what Earth sounded like was bombs dropping & people screaming at the sky
Tweet from Sharif Kouddous:
"The health ministry has released a 1,516–page document listing the names of over 50,000 Palestinians confirmed killed in Gaza since Oct 7, 2023. There are a total of 474 pages listing 15,600+ children’s names. The first 27 pages the age is listed as 0 — children under 1 year old"
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
BREAKING — The DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is being eliminated entirely via Reduction in Force (RIF), an agency source tells me. Staff have not been given reassignment options. Functions of the office will supposedly be assigned to other offices.
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Julie Ingersoll @julieingersoll.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
The plan to dismantle the department of education and redistribute the tasks that remain to HHS and SBA is taken specifically and directly from Project 2025.
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Reposted by Baklava Balaclava
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
WHOA. On March 15, a Cornell PhD student with UK and Gambian citizenship, here on a student visa, filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Trump's EO aimed at foreign students accused of "antisemitism. Last night, the DOJ emailed asking him to come to ICE to be detained and put into removal proceedings.
Last night at 12:52 AM, the Department of Justice contacted the undersigned via email. Under the subject line “Momodou Taal et al v. Trump, 25-cv-335 (NDNY),” the government informed the undersigned for the first time that the government intended to serve Mr. Taal with a Notice to Appear (NTA), and that they intended to take Mr. Taal into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Given that this information confirms the factual basis for Plaintiffs’ request for an emergency temporary restraining order, ECF No. 23, and the increased urgency with which the Court’s intervention is needed, we respectfully request the Court construe this letter as any procedurally appropriate vehicle to obtain the same. Plaintiffs’ counsel is immediately available to follow up with any submissions the Court deems appropriate in this extraordinary situation. Attached to this letter is an affidavit from Counsel Eric Lee (Exhibit 4), the government’s 12:52 AM email (Exhibit 5), and Plaintiffs’ counsel’s reply (Exhibit 6). The email reads: My colleagues and I represent the United States in this matter. The applications for admission of Messrs. Stone, Moss, and myself to the bar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York are pending, so we have not noticed our appearances yet. But we wanted to reach out to establish a line of communication, and relate some information concerning your client. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has asked us to convey to you the following. ICE invites Mr. Taal and his counsel to appear in-person at the HSI Office in Syracuse at a mutually agreeable time for personal service of the NTA and for Mr. Taal to surrender to ICE custody. Accordingly, if you are interested in proposing such a date and time, we will promptly forward it to ICE for consideration
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Yanis Varoufakis @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The Rafah crossing, where sick and wounded Gazans congregated to be evacuated, was bombed relentlessly. The intention to kill the already wounded is clear. The criminality is palpable. The complicity of the US-European rulers is mindnumbing.
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Kevin Carey @kevincarey1.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Everyone--EVERYONE--in higher education has to understand that this is Trump's plan for you, too: federal control over scholarship, curricula, discipline, admissions--everything. They want you to submit. Your only other option is to stand up, together.
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Reposted by Baklava Balaclava
Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
…this is insane????
interview between NPR (Martin) and Troy Edgar, deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

Martin: Is any criticism of the United States government a deportable offense?

Edgar: Like I said, if you go through the process and you're a student and you're here on a visa and you go through it, at any point …

Martin: Is any criticism of the government a deportable offense?

Edgar: Let me put it this way, Michel, imagine if he came in and filled out the form and said, 'I want a student visa.' They asked him, 'What are you going to do here?' And he says, 'I'm going to go and protest.' We would have never let him into the country.

Martin: Is protesting a deportable offense?

Edgar: You're focused on protests. I'm focused on the visa process. He went through a legal process ...

Martin: Are you saying he lied on his application? He's a lawful permanent resident, married to an American citizen.

Edgar: I think if he would have declared he's a terrorist, we would have never let him in.

Martin: And what did he engage in that constitutes terrorist activity?

Edgar: I mean, Michel, have you watched it on TV? It's pretty clear.

Michel: No, it isn't. Well, explain it to those of us who have not or perhaps others have not. What exactly did you do?

Edgar: Well, I think it's clear or we wouldn't be talking about it. I mean, the reality is that if you watch and see what he's done on the university …

Martin: Do you not know? Are you telling us that you're not aware?

Edgar: I find it interesting that you're not aware.
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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
I’m getting word that the International and Foreign Language Education Office at the Dept. of Ed is very likely being liquidated. In my career I’ve been a part of three successful Title VI NRC/FLAS grants, and wrote/directed a Fulbright-Hays program in 2011. A building block of my career crumbling.
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talia jane @taliajane.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
BREAKING: Hundreds of Jews and allies have taken over Trump Tower chanting “We want justice, you say how. Bring Mahmoud home now!” and “Fight Nazis, not students.” The civil disobedience is spawned by the ICE arrest of Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil.
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Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Judge Alsup is *not* happy with the government attorneys in AFGE v. OPM (preliminary injunction hearing). Gov't withdrew Ezell declaration after judge ordered him to appear for cross examination.
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Baklava Balaclava @baklavabalaclava.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
What settler colonial states do not seek to eliminate, they seek to consume -- the labor of those whom they would otherwise exclude.
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Jeremy Scahill @jeremyscahill.com · 27/02/2025
VIDEO: A joint video report from @democracynow.org and @dropsitenews.com on the ground in southern Lebanon in villages where Israeli forces inflicted widespread destruction, much of it after the signing of the supposed ceasefire. Watch below 🔽 www.dropsitenews.com/p/south-leba...
dropsitenews.com
VIDEO REPORT: Lebanon After Nasrallah
Sharif Abdel Kouddous made it into villages in southern Lebanon immediately after Israeli forces left. He discovered total devastation and destruction, most of it since the signing of a ceasefire.
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Folks are shocked that their institutions, after professing commitments to climate justice and DEI, are now caving to Trump and scrubbing all references. It's brutal. And it's the smallest taste of what our students felt when their universities called in the cops b/c they protested a genocide.
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
I know Mahmoud. Like all of these attacks, this is so heartbreaking and wrong. "Israeli police raided a long-established Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem, detaining the owners and confiscating books about the decades-long conflict. The police claimed the books incited violence."
apnews.com
Israeli police raid Palestinian bookshop in east Jerusalem and seize books they say incite violence
Israeli police have raided a long-established Palestinian-owned bookstore in east Jerusalem, detaining the owners and confiscating books about the decades-long conflict.
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Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
One devastating effect of eliminating the Department of Education: *1.4 million* homeless kids would be abandoned. The Department funds programs that support these students, guaranteeing their right to stay in school and access resources. Dismantle it, and those protections—and the funding—vanish.
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Dan Berger @dnbrgr.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
It’s a shame they turned universities into landlords & pharmaceutical companies, cuz it would be nice if institutions devoted to learning might speak up about the value of knowledge in a time when 22-year-old edgelords from 4chan have been given carte blanche to erase data from every federal agency
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Baklava Balaclava @baklavabalaclava.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
awake 🤷
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