Imaan Bayoumi

REPORT: The Trump administration is attempting to deport non-citizens due to their perceived pro-Palestinian support or criticism of U.S.-Israeli genocide in Gaza. Here’s an updated list of those known to have been targeted by the U.S. government: 🧵🔽 1. Mahmoud Khalil (Targeted: March 8, 2025) Khalil, a 30-year-old Syrian-born Algerian citizen and Columbia University graduate student (master’s in international affairs), was arrested on March 8, 2025, at his Manhattan apartment. He’s detained at the ICE facility in Jena, Louisiana, facing deportation after the Trump administration accused him of risking “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States,” per a DHS document cited by The Guardian. On March 23, DHS filed additional claims, alleging he “withheld that he worked for [UNRWA]” and “failed to disclose continuing employment by the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut” on his 2024 green card application, per Reuters. In Newark federal court on March 28, Judge Michael Farbiarz said he’d rule “as quickly as I can” on jurisdiction and bail, leaving Khalil in custody pending a decision.

I’m free! I wrote this on the plane and I’m posting it just after landing at Istanbul. On Monday evening I was brought to Zurich airport in handcuffs, in a small metal cage inside a windowless prison van and led all the way to the plane by police. This is after three days and two nights in a Swiss prison cut off from communication with the outside world, in a cell 24 hours a day with one cell mate, not even permitted to contact my family. On Saturday in a police interview in the presence of my lawyer they accused me of “offending against Swiss law” without ever telling me what crime I had committed in Switzerland or listing any charges. As far as I know I have not been charged with any crime whatsoever and I was held in “administrative detention.” On Sunday morning, they took me from my cell for questioning by Swiss defense ministry intelligence agents without the presence of my lawyer, and they again refused to allow me to contact her or my family. I refused to talk to them without my lawyer and told them take me back to my cell. During my imprisonment I refused every meal and every cup of coffee or tea they offered me except the last meal, after I knew I would be going home. I accepted only water, which is the right of every human being. All of this was after I was abducted off the street around 1:30pm on Saturday while on my way to the Palestine teach-in by undercover agents, handcuffed, forced into an unmarked car and sped straight to the prison. My “crime”? Being a journalist who speaks up for Palestine and against Israel’s genocide and settler-colonial savagery and those who aid and abet it. I came to Switzerland at the invitation of Swiss citizens to talk about justice for Palestine, to talk about accountability for a genocide in which Switzerland too is complicit. But while I was hauled off to prison like a dangerous criminal before I even had a chance to say a word, the Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who declared at the start of the genocide that there are no civilians in Gaza, no innocents, received a red carpet welcome in Davos, a carpet soaked in the blood of the more than 47,000 known victims of the genocide and the thousands more still under the rubble, or who died of deliberately inflicted starvation and denial of medical care. And on this very day Netanyahu freely travels to Poland to make a mockery of the Auschwitz commemoration despite an outstanding ICC arrest warrant. That is the perverse, unjust world we live in. This ordeal lasted three days but that taste of prison was more than enough to leave me in even greater awe of the Palestinian heroes who endure months and years in the prisons of the genocidal oppressor. More than ever I know that the debt we owe them is one we can never repay and all of them must be free and they must remain our focus. The police gave me my phone back only at the gate of the plane so I’m only seeing now the extent of the overwhelming support and solidarity from all over the world. I’m deeply grateful to each and every person who stood up for me. I’m especially grateful to my lawyer Dina Raewel and her team, to our friends in Zurich who I learned afterwards demonstrated outside the prison, to my family and my colleagues at EI and so many others. I honestly had no idea what was happening outside that concrete room! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I want to tell the whole story of what happened, perhaps in an @intifada livestream in the next day or two, because I think it’s important for people to know the depths to which their Western so-called “democracies” have sunk in the abject service of genocidal Zionism. Right now I’m glad to be on my way home. I’m looking forward to hugging my mom and dad, taking a shower and sleeping in my own bed. Journalism is not a crime! Speaking out for Palestine is not a crime! Standing against racist genocidal Zionism is not a crime! Say it with me: From the River to the Sea Palestine Will Be Free! ❤️🇵🇸✌️

Something beautiful and powerful happened in London today. First some context: A national day of action was called by @PSCupdates and our coalition partners.Protests took place in over 40 towns and cities, from Oxford to Orkney- From Liverpool to Luton.

Israel has arbitrarily denied 7 international aid organizations access to the Gaza Strip, which means they can no longer send in healthcare workers. This is an alarming decision that will cause significant loss of life. A 🧵

Who tells a starving child that she has to wait 30 days to eat? Monstrous policy.

The spread of misinformation & disinformation continues to be used as a weapon in the war in #Gaza. As part of its campaign to undermine & discredit @UNRWA, the Government of Israel has been buying ads on @Google to block users from giving donations to the Agency + undertake a defamation campaign. @UNRWA is the largest humanitarian organization responding to the crisis in #Gaza. This does not just hurt the agency’s reputation but most importantly it puts the lives of our staff at risk. These deliberate efforts to spread misinformation should stop + be investigated. Companies including social media platforms continue to make profit through spreading misinformation. More regulations are needed to combat disinformation + hate speech. @WIRED @UNRWAUSA 👇 wired.com/story/israel-u…

Shocking. @UNRWA headquarters in #Gaza, turned into a battlefield & now flattened 👇 Another episode in the blatant disregard of international humanitarian law. United Nations facilities must be protected at all times. They must never be used for military or fighting purposes. Every war has rules. #Gaza is no exception.

It is with mixed feelings that I receive the Young Leaders Award from @CMA_Docs. I am appreciative of this recognition. I am grateful to my nominators, which include mentors and learners. To be nominated in the first place by these wonderful people has meant the world to me. /1

The life of one Child is reason enough to #CEASEFIRE_NOW @UNICEF @UN @amnesty @antonioguterres

"What do you tell them?" "I listen."

Damning, damning indictment of CBC over its coverage of Israel-Palestine by a staffer who resigned in protest. There’s simply too much to quote so pls read yourselves, but I’m hearing similar examples from journalists in various newsrooms. breachmedia.ca/cbc-whitewashe…

Bisan Owda has just won one of broadcast journalism’s highest honors – the Peabody Award – for her work with AJ+. Bisan is currently facing intense Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the occupied Gaza Strip. This is her message to the world:

“Art in its purest form is resistance” This is an amazing speech. Macklemore is a free man.

Whatever voice or influence you have, now is the time to leverage it. Speak up. Time is of the essence. The cost of inaction is too high. We must stop the inhumanity. We must stop the genocide. Permanent #CeasefieNow .🧵9/9

Remember when journalists were questioning whether it is OK to attack a hospital?

Healthcare is #NotATarget. Stop bombing hospitals. #GazaGenocide #CeasefireNOW

❌❌ Say no to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism in healthcare and academic spaces 1/6