Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student, accused Columbia University of eroding democracy with its handling of campus protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza after his release from prison on April 30, 2025. Claire Shipman, the acting president of Columbia University, stated that the university called the police to manage a protest in the library that disrupted students during final exams.
Mahdawi asserted that authorities arrested him to silence his free speech and criticized the university for backing the Trump administration’s policies against student activism.
He stated his intention to attend graduation at Columbia, emphasizing that education is hope, education is light and there is no power in the world that should take that away from us.
