David Collier (
@mishtal) and Rachel Feldman just published a 101-page investigation into Mohsen Mahdawi.
Among the posts the attributed to him is: “Soon, very soon, we will annihilate the Jews.”
Now take a look at how Mahdawi was sold to us by our politicians and media:
@nytimes headlined its profile: “He Wanted Peace in the Middle East. ICE Wants to Deport Him.”
@CBSNews and
@60Minutes presented him in a segment titled “Columbia student on the fight for a free Palestine and the fight against antisemitism.”
@theintercept built its defense of Mahdawi around an Israeli colleague asking: “How can I take anyone seriously talking about Mohsen being antisemitic?”
@tricyclemag published a piece describing him as “a young leader in the Gandhi/MLK mold” who repudiated hate speech.
@ColumbiaSpec headlined its profile of his friends defending him: “‘Thoughtful, compassionate, intelligent.’”
@jdforward published an op-ed by
@DavidNMyersUCLA calling Mahdawi “a unifier, not a divider” and “an advocate of peace, not war.” Myers also insisted that Mahdawi was especially fierce in his opposition to antisemitism.
@DAWNmenaorg called him “The Peacemaker They Failed to Silence.”
@democracynow headlined an interview with the claim that Mahdawi’s arrest showed “Peacemakers Are Not Welcome.”
And it wasn’t only the media.
@bradlander called Mahdawi a “powerful example” of “compassion & peacemaking,” said he was honored to call him a friend and looked forward to celebrating his American citizenship.
@SenSanders said he was “delighted” when Mahdawi was released.
@SenSanders,
@SenPeterWelch and
@RepBeccaB jointly called his detention “immoral, inhumane, and illegal.”
@jstreetdotorg rallied support for this “young Palestinian activist facing deportation.”
@PENamerica called his release a “vindication for free speech.”
@jvplive called for his release as one of the activists imprisoned for “defending Palestinian rights.”
The
@ACLU represented him and published a statement calling him “a peaceful man and a valued member of his communities.”
Bhikkhu Bodhi, president of the Buddhist Association of the United States, said he was convinced “beyond even the tiniest dust-mote of doubt” that Mahdawi was “a man of peace.” He also called him “an extraordinary asset” and urged that he be granted American citizenship.
A coalition of 135 Buddhist leaders similarly claimed that Mahdawi had demonstrated a “consistent commitment” to nonviolence and compassion and had “directly confronted antisemitism.”
These people and institutions didn’t merely remain silent because they didn’t know who Mahdawi was.
They put their names and reputations behind him, demanded that he remain in America and helped construct an entire public image of a gentle peacemaker who opposed antisemitism.
Now that the record has been placed in front of them, let’s see how many corrections, retractions and apologies we get.
My guess?
None.