Who is Columbia’s Mohsen Mahdawi? Not the threat the US says, associates say.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a prominent Palestinian-born student activist arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Monday, is described by Columbia University classmates, professors and associates as someone who worked to bridge cultural and religious divides during a period of strife on campus.

Mahdawi, 34, who was active in Buddhist affairs on campus, worked to form a broad-based coalition of advocates for peace in both Israel and Gaza, even as other pro-Palestinian student protesters grew more radical, according to his classmates and associates.

Mahdawi condemned antisemitism during public protests and deliberately sought to include Jewish and Israeli students in discussions. Last fall, Mahdawi began weekly meetings with Israeli students to discuss their upbringing and beliefs about the long-simmering Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the associates said.

“ Meeting Mohsen reminded me that the cause of peace is a cause worth fighting for,” said Mikey Baratz, 31, a Jewish Israeli who graduated from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs in December and said he participated in Mahdawi’s weekly meetings.

The portrait of Mahdawi described by his associates contrasts starkly with Trump administration officials' portrayals of pro-Palestinian activists as purveyors of antisemitism and hate who merit deportation.

ICE agents took Mahdawi, who has been a lawful permanent U.S. resident for 10 years, into custody when he went for a naturalization interview in Vermont, where he has a permanent residence, according to his attorneys.

The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to a request for comment about Mahdawi’s arrest. An ICE spokesperson referred questions to the office of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose spokespeople have not responded.

But a memo from Rubio states that the Trump administration is seeking to deport Mahdawi because his activities could “potentially undermine” the Middle East peace process, the New York Times reported.

Mahdawi is the latest of several college students targeted by the Trump administration on grounds that their pro-Palestinian activism could cause harm, the first being Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate and protest leader who has been held in ICE detention in Louisiana since March 8. Hundreds of international college students across the country have had their visas revoked, and the Trump administration has pulled billions of dollars in grant funding for universities it claims have failed to properly address antisemitism on campus.

A federal judge has ordered that Mahdawi can’t be deported or moved out of Vermont, for now. A hearing will take place in his federal lawsuit on Wednesday.

Coming to America and Columbia

Mahdawi was born and raised in the Far'a refugee camp in the West Bank, where his family currently resides and where his grandparents fled in the prior generation, according to court documents and a lecture Mahdawi gave to a class in Santa Barbara, California, in March 2024.

Mahdawi said he suffered a series of traumas as a child. When he was 7 years old, his mother left. The next year, his 6-year-old brother died after suffering paralysis. When Mahdawi was 10 years old, he said at a November 2023 protest, he saw his best friend Hemida shot by Israeli soldiers.

When he was 11, Mahdawi said, he witnessed his uncle Thayer being fatally shot in the head and shoulder. When he was 17, Mahdawi said, two cousins were killed in a refugee camp in Jenin, also in the West Bank. And Mahdawi said he has a scar where he was shot in the leg by an Israeli soldier at 15 years old.

As other young Palestinian men were opting for more militant tactics, his uncle encouraged him to pursue education, Mahdawi said at his 2024 lecture in Santa Barbara. He enrolled in Birzeit University, in the West Bank two hours from camp, to study computer science and engineering. Outside of class one day, he met a woman who eventually became his wife and inspired him to come to the United States, he said.

Mahdawi settled in Vermont, and later separated from his wife. In 2018, he enrolled in Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where he studied computer science for two years before transferring to Columbia in 2021 to study philosophy, according to court documents.

Pro-Palestinian activism

Several pro-Palestinian protests erupted on campus in the fall of 2023, in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, and during Israel’s siege in Gaza. Mahdawi quickly emerged as a regular speaker holding a megaphone at those rallies and protests.

Around the same time, Mahdawi co-founded a cultural group for Palestinian students, called “Dar,” with Mahmoud Khalil, according to court documents.

In November 2023, Mahdawi publicly denounced an individual spewing antisemitic remarks during a pro-Palestinian rally on campus, the Columbia Spectator, the university’s student newspaper, reported in its coverage.

The individual shouted “Death to Jews,” Mahdawi said in a December 2023 interview with 60 Minutes, an appearance that further elevated his profile. In response, Mahdawi grabbed a megaphone and said, “Shame on the person who called (for) ‘death to Jews,’” according to the Spectator report, sparking chants among the crowd of “shame on you.”

In another pro-Palestinian rally, in November of 2023, Mahdawi denounced Israel’s siege on Gaza, saying “ Today we see the images of people in Gaza. Images that shock the consciousness of every human, images that shock your own consciousness. And we come here in solidarity with Gaza and the Gazan people against oppression, against genocide.”

He repeatedly chanted a quotation by Martin Luther King Jr. that his friends said he often recites: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Mahdawi’s classmates said they were at times surprised by his deep commitment to nonviolence and peace, after being exposed to so much violence in his youth.

Aharon Dardik, 24, a Columbia student, said he and Mahdawi co-wrote a 65-page paper that they hoped would be a rubric for a comprehensive peace plan for Israelis and Palestinians abroad.

The plan suggested the territories begin with a structure similar to a “two-state solution,” then transitioning to a confederacy, before merging as a single Democratic state, Dardik said.

Dardik called Mahdawi “one of the greatest peace activists I’ve ever met.”

“He lives his life with a dedication to that mission of showing love for everyone, even the people who hurt him, even the people who hate him,” Dardik said.

Mahdawi also became a target of pro-Israel groups that seek to reveal the identities of pro-Palestinian student protesters and condemn actions they label as antisemitic.

Canary Mission, a pro-Israel group that publicly posts information online about students they consider to be pro-Hamas, created an extensive profile of Mahdawi, with screenshots, videos, links to articles, and quotes from his speeches and interviews.

In one video posted by Canary Mission, purported from a November 2023 speech, Mahdawi said, “We were accused by the administration that we are calling for genocide, while the administration itself is ignoring the current genocide that is taking place in Gaza. Shame on you, Columbia!”

Mahdawi also became a target of the pro-Israel group Betar US, which has called for the deportation of certain pro-Palestinian students. In January of 2025, Betar warned that Mahdawi “is on our deport list.”

Canary Mission did not respond to a request for comment and Betar US declined comment.

'It made me a little hopeful'

But those close to Mahdawi said his was a calming voice during a time of great strife and division at Columbia.

“ He's someone who approaches every single conversation thoughtfully and in a spirit of openness and listening,” said Joseph Howley, a Columbia classics professor who met Mahdawi through their activism work.

Howley added, “He's just always thinking about how do you bring people together.”

Mahdawi was also a convener of different groups, often hosting intimate dialogues about people’s personal histories, according to Howley and his classmates. He was also president of the Columbia University Buddhist Association for two years, according to court records.

Sahar Bostock, 36, a Jewish Israeli history doctoral student, said she was struck by Mahdawi’s decision to host weekly discussion sessions with Israeli students — a choice she thought was courageous during Israel’s siege in Gaza.

“It made me a little hopeful, despite everything that’s going on,” Bostock said.

In the wake of Mahdawi’s arrest, students and professors have come forward with public letters condemning his detention. The Columbia philosophy department, in a statement posted on the department’s website, called upon the university's acting president to assist any Columbia student being targeted or detained for their activism. A supportive open letter “from a group of Israeli citizens in the U.S.” circulates on his behalf as well.

As Mahdawi prepared for his citizenship interview last Monday, he knew it might be a trap, according to classmates and friends. He alerted Vermont State Sen. Becca White, who represents the area where Mahdawi lives, and she said she alerted members of Congress about Mahdawi’s case.

Before the citizenship meeting, White said, Mahdawi gathered with a group of friends and his lawyer for coffee, and they quizzed him on the Constitution, in hopes the citizenship appointment was real.

White said Mahdawi remained calm in the moments before, as ICE agents intervened. A video shows him being escorted to a car and flashing peace signs as he is whisked away.

Ramsey Khalifeh contributed reporting.

This article was updated with additional information.