Jewish protesters flood Trump Tower's lobby to demand Mahmoud Khalil's release

Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of Mahmoud Khalil a proPalestinian activist who helped lead protests against Israel at Columbia UniversityThe demonstrators from Jewish Voice for Peace wore red shirts reading Jews say stop arming Israel and held up banners as they chanted Bring Mahmoud home now on the lower level of the Fifth Avenue buildings public atrium After warning the protesters to leave police said they arrested 98 people who stayed on various charges including trespassing obstruction and resisting arrestKhalil a 30yearold permanent US resident who is married to an American citizen and who has not been charged with breaking any laws was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation He is being held at an immigration detention centre in LouisianaPresident Donald Trump has said Khalils arrest was the first of many to come and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in proterrorist antiSemitic antiAmerican activity The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the Trump Tower demonstrationAmong those who took part in Thursdays protest was actor Debra Winger who was not arrested She accused the Trump administration of having no interest in Jewish safety and coopting antisemitismI am just standing up for my rights and I am standing up for Mahmoud Khalil who has been abducted illegally and taken to an undisclosed location Winger told The Associated Press referring to how Khalils attorney did not know his whereabouts immediately following his arrest Does that sound like America to youFounded in 1996 Jewish Voice for Peace describes itself as a grassroots movement of American Jews seeking to end US support for Israels oppression of Palestinians It is one of a number of Jewish groups around the world advocating for the rights of PalestiniansProtester Sophie Edelhart a Barnard graduate who studies Yiddish as part of a PhD programme in Canada said the building with its golden escalator that Trump rode before announcing his 2016 presidential run was a symbolic targetTrump Tower serves as headquarters for the Trump Organisation and is where the president stays when he is in New York The skyscraper often attracts demonstrations both against and in support of its namesake though protests inside are less common The multistory atrium is accessible to the public and connects visitors to eateries including the Trump GrillKhalils supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country including outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case on Wednesday Columbia University was a focal point of the proPalestinian protest movement that swept across US college campuses last year and led to more than 2000 arrestsOn Thursday the school announced that it expelled or suspended some students who took over a campus building during proPalestinian protests last spring The Trump administration has said it is revoking at least USD 400 million in funding from programmes affiliated with Columbia including medical research grants as punishment for not doing enough to curtail protest activity that the president considers antisemiticAlso on Thursday lawyers for Khalil and other students identified by pseudonyms filed a lawsuit seeking to block a congressional committee from obtaining the disciplinary records of students at Columbia and Barnard College a womens institution affiliated with Columbia Khalil whose wife is pregnant with their first child finished his requirements for a Columbia masters degree in DecemberThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever