Cornell U Jewish Student Condemns Mahmoud Khalil, Calls Anti-Israel Mob a Predictable Threat to Free Speech

 Cornell U Jewish Student Condemns Mahmoud Khalil, Calls Anti-Israel Mob a Predictable Threat to Free Speech

By: Fern Sidman

The escalating turmoil across elite American campuses reached a boiling point this week, as protests at Cornell University mirrored a broader crisis that continues to engulf institutions such as Columbia University. At the center of the firestorm is Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate now under federal detention — and whose case, critics argue, represents not a free speech issue but one of national security and support for terrorism.

According to detailed report in The New York Post on Wednesday, Khalil, a 30-year-old Palestinian with a green card, was arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Saturday for his alleged role in organizing anti-Israel protests at Columbia. These protests, as The NYP report noted, were marked by the dissemination of grotesque flyers glorifying Hamas — a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

The federal government, under the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies, contends it has legal grounds to deport Khalil. Critics of the protests, including Jewish students from peer Ivy League campuses, argue that the issue is not about free speech but about crossing the line into advocacy for terror.

“This is not about free speech — it’s about material support for terrorism,” said Sam Friedman, a 21-year-old junior at Cornell University’s College of Engineering, in an interview with The NYP. “It’s not about free speech when you’re vandalizing and destroying stuff.”

Friedman’s comments come on the heels of a disruptive protest Monday night at Cornell’s Bailey Hall, where a public event titled “Pathways to Peace” — intended to foster dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians — was drowned out by coordinated heckling and walkouts. The NYP reported that the event featured high-profile speakers from both sides of the conflict, including former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Yet the disruption turned what was meant to be a model of civil discourse into an emblem of escalating intolerance.

“I’m a big free speech advocate,” Friedman emphasized to The NYP, “and what these people did at Cornell is the opposite of free speech. They intentionally blocked people from speaking freely.”

The protest was orchestrated by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a group whose confrontational tactics have attracted growing scrutiny. As The NYP report indicated, Cornell University’s interim president, Michael Kotlikoff, confirmed that SJP now faces suspension as a registered campus organization — a move that could mark a turning point in how academic institutions handle such disruptions.

This incident at Cornell dovetails with a broader crackdown across academia. The NYP report said that Cornell was recently named among more than 60 institutions now under investigation by the Trump administration’s Department of Education for fostering anti-Semitic environments. Other Ivy League schools under scrutiny include Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, alongside schools such as Rutgers, Sarah Lawrence, Wellesley, and multiple SUNY branches.

Friedman told The NYP that the announcement of the federal probe did not shock him. “I wouldn’t say I was particularly surprised,” he said. “It’s a little disappointing, and to be fair, at Cornell, it’s not been as bad as what we’ve seen at Columbia in particular. But I think across the board it’s really been the elite schools where we’ve seen problems.”

He also acknowledged the undeniable rise in campus tension since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, an event that continues to send political and emotional aftershocks through academic communities nationwide.

“There’s always tension, like you don’t really know what’s gonna happen,” Friedman told The NYP, capturing the uneasy atmosphere that now characterizes daily life for many students. While noting that the protests haven’t reached the intensity seen at Columbia University, where demonstrators have reportedly blocked students from attending classes and defaced buildings, he emphasized that Cornell is not immune to the same ideological hostility.

He pointed to graffiti and vandalism, including a sculpture of university co-founder A.D. White that was recently covered in red paint and anti-Israel slogans. “You go to a normal every day event and it’s interrupted with screaming and yelling,” he said. “It’s this constant tension.”

These disruptions, he suggested, are not isolated incidents but part of a growing pattern of campus intolerance, where routine student life is being regularly hijacked by politically motivated agitation.

Much of the current turmoil stems from the controversial arrest and potential deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, an activist at the center of recent protests. Supporters have framed his legal troubles as an infringement of First Amendment rights, claiming that he is being punished for political speech. But Friedman dismissed these arguments outright, when speaking with The NYP.

“That argument is completely ridiculous for a few reasons,” he said. “The most obvious being that these students that are suddenly huge champions of the First Amendment and free speech weren’t saying this before.”

He cited past examples of selective outrage, pointing out how students accepted to Harvard had their admission offers revoked over jokes in a private meme group—situations where the same vocal defenders of free speech were conspicuously silent. “So this idea that they’re now free speech warriors is totally just a façade to protect what they’re doing, and most of what’s happening is not a free speech issue.”

His comments highlight what he sees as a double standard—an opportunistic invocation of free speech principles to shield disruptive or even unlawful behavior while ignoring those rights in other politically inconvenient contexts.

In response to the escalation, Cornell University administration has taken disciplinary action. As indicated in The NYP report, 17 activists were arrested following a disruption at the “Pathways to Peace” event—an academic panel intended to foster dialogue on Middle East issues. University officials confirmed that those involved now face suspension.

Interim President Kotlikoff issued a public statement denouncing the protestors’ actions. “The hundreds of members of the Cornell community who came to Bailey Hall to listen, learn, and respectfully debate experienced an evening of information, introspection, and critical self-examination,” he said, according to The NYP report. “Unfortunately, the event was marred by disappointing disruptions. The ability of speakers to present opinions and ideas, and to engage in thoughtful dialogue with the university community, is critical to the educational process and fundamental to university life.”

He added that disruptive conduct undermines the university’s core values, and reaffirmed Cornell’s commitment to ensuring that all voices can be heard—without intimidation or censorship.

A university spokesperson further clarified Cornell’s stance, telling The NYP, “Cornell’s clear commitment to combating anti-Semitism is unequivocal. We have not, do not, and will not tolerate criminal conduct, violence, threats of violence, incitement, or unlawful harassment.”

The events at Cornell, as reported in The NYP, reflect a larger national reckoning in American academia, where the line between activism and intimidation is increasingly blurred. Students who once saw universities as bastions of open discourse now report feeling ostracized or unsafe for expressing pro-Israel views, while administrators struggle to preserve campus order without appearing to stifle dissent.

For many Jewish students, the recent unrest isn’t simply political—it’s deeply personal. As Friedman explained to The NYP, this isn’t a matter of abstract debate. It’s a daily reality shaped by hostile messaging, symbolic vandalism, and rhetorical aggression that leave many feeling unwelcome in their own classrooms.

Cornell’s disciplinary actions may signal a turning point, a moment when the university begins to reassert the difference between free expression and targeted disruption. But for students caught in the crossfire, the road back to genuine academic freedom—and basic campus civility—may still be long.