A Fifth Column

Unwinding the Khalil case while spotting the same dynamic in Europe

Crises come to a head. Certain dynamics accelerate to a point where they are no longer sustainable. Counterforces align and something breaks. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later. The Pro-Palestinian protests that took little time to spread and morph into pro-Hamas and terror feasts which included violence, property damage, Jew hatred and intimidation are finally getting some serious pushback.

At least, in the US where things have moved rapidly ever since Trump took office and last week we witnessed the arrest of one of the protest’s ring leaders while earmarking him for deportation. Syrian-born Mahmoud Khalil is a legal resident, a green card holder, but the government found a statute that enables it to exit individuals who act in ways that are “adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States” so they can be sent back to their country of origin. Fair or not?

On the both the left and the right sides of the spectrum we could hear the ‘free speech’ argument against Khalil’s arrest and impending deportation. However repulsive we may find his views, he is as a legal resident entitled to expose his views under the First Amendment, at least that’s the core point being made here by some. And those articulating it often add the claim that the Trump administration is not tolerant of anti-Israel views and therefore drastically suppresses all such views with whatever tools at its disposal. Trump is actively stifling criticism of foreign policy, something that breaches US Constitution, at least that is the argument we hear.

Now these activists and protestors are not slated for deportation because of their anti-Israel views, although the use of the law under which they are dispatched seem to indicate that. Think about it, their actions have among other things consisted of undermining the daily functioning of universities, issuing threats including overt antisemitism and indeed violence and it is therefore not a foreign policy issue, but rather one of domestic law and order that is now under a justifiable level of scrutiny. We should also add that the protests have even escalated over time in the face of progress on the ground: the ceasefire the protestors wanted initially is now in place while talks are being consumed, even with Hamas directly, yet the violence and rhetoric are amped up?

Now let’s take the foreign policy angle. The protests are actively supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, even the Houthis at times, terrorist organizations that are declared US enemies. This akin to open support for Nazi Germany in America during World War II. Or consider this: would anyone tolerate a pro-Putin encampment organized by Russian green card holders on a college campus where the protestors harassed Ukrainian students? The question answers itself.

As America cracks down, the reverse is true for Europe unfortunately. Last week in The Netherlands we witnessed how two university visits (in Nijmegen and Maastricht) by Lebanese-Syrian peace activist Rawan Osman were violently disrupted by protestors. In one case it was actually one of the faculty members that was instrumental in organizing these disruptions, in the true spirit of ‘open debate’ at academic institutions. He was not reprimanded, nor fired, in fact he carries on spewing anti-Israel on his X account with few consequences. Now here is an Arab woman, open to discussion on how to find ways to enhance understanding between Jews and Arabs, but no, it is not worthy of even listening too. It needs to be shouted down, shut down, the speaker harassed all the way to her car and her license plates photographed. University leaders are perplexed and unable to take the necessary action, while those responsible for local security like mayors and police unable to act (Oswan had to rely on private security). All of this has consequences.

Because these protests and disruptions actually do get results. The University of Amsterdam after months of protests and damage caved recently as the spineless board of the institution announced it would sever relationships with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Last year the renowned Dutch Rietveld Academy suspended relations with Israel’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, and the School of Visual Theater in Jerusalem. The Rietveld Academy added that Israeli students were always welcome as the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, nationality or religion. Right.

And these are just a few examples of a phenomenon where a fifth column of radical anti-Israel forces undermine the fabric of democratic institutions who seem uninterested and incapable in fighting back. And it does not stop at universities acting at a multi-national level. There are too many reports to mention about identifying and harassing former IDF soldiers living in North America and Europe as well as boycotting and intimidating Jewish businesses. We are back into a very dark chapter of history.

And that is why pro-actively rolling back the chaos caused by campus protests and violence is unescapable. Free and open societies have to confront the insidious activities with whatever legal tools available, because if they don’t the damage will become irreversible and may well extend beyond Israel and affect other groups and nationalities. The US stepping up against all this is an overdue and necessary reaction. There is more to come, although it would be hard to expect to see this on both sides of the ocean.

Photos: Rawan Osman and Mahmoud Khalil; Riots in Amsterdam last year. If you have time watch this interview with Osman to see how as an Arab she came to realize how the narrative about Israel and Jews she was fed was a false one, and that exactly that has prevented the Middle East from finding peace and co-existence.