Half a dozen Jewish Emerson staff and faculty signed a letter on March 11 denouncing the arrest of Columbia University graduate student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and the “cynical” use of antisemitism by the federal government.
The letter, signed by Jewish staff and faculty, outlined a number of recommended actions universities should take, such as to cease voluntary collaboration with federal immigration enforcement, democratize university governance through collaborations of campus community members, and protect those who speak out against President Donald Trump’s policies.
“We are united in denouncing, without equivocation, anyone who invokes our name—and cynical claims of antisemitism—to harass, expel, arrest, or deport members of our campus communities,” the letter reads.
The statement, titled “Not In Our Name,” was drafted by the group Boston Concerned Jewish Faculty and Staff. It has nearly 3,000 signatures from Jewish affiliates of universities across the United States.
Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident with a green card, was arrested by federal agents on March 8 after taking a prominent role in the pro-Palestine protests at Columbia last April. The Trump administration has claimed that Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” and his arrest marked the beginning of Trump’s efforts to crack down on campus protests.
On Wednesday, federal agents detained Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk when she was on her way to iftar, the final meal of the day during the holy month of Ramadan, according to her attorney. Ozturk, an international student from Turkey, was reportedly taken into custody and had her visa status terminated. She was sent to a detention facility in Louisiana, according to her lawyer and court records.
“DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans,” a senior spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security wrote in a statement to The Beacon. “A visa is a privilege not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security.”
Ozturk’s detainment is the first known arrest of a student activist by federal agents in Massachusetts.
In an email statement to the Tufts community, President Sunil Kumar wrote that the student was “taken into custody outside an off-campus apartment building in Somerville.” He added that “The university had no pre-knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event.” The university did not offer any new information upon request from The Beacon.
Emerson, Columbia, and Tufts are among 60 universities under federal investigation by the Department of Education for alleged “antisemitic harassment and discrimination.” Emerson restricted expression policies on campus following a pro-Palestine encampment last April that resulted in the arrest of 118 individuals. The Board of Trustees also adopted a policy of institutional neutrality to avoid federal pressure.
“Emerson College has absolutely no tolerance for antisemitism or discrimination of any kind,” college spokesperson Michelle Gaseau wrote in a statement to The Beacon. “The college remains committed to fully enforcing anti-discrimination laws, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and fully investigating any complaints of discrimination.”
“The college is carefully monitoring and managing evolving policies, actions, and investigations from the federal government that may affect Emerson directly, and higher education more broadly,” the statement added.
Dana Edell, an assistant professor of performing arts, says she feels a need to speak up and “claim that this is not really about antisemitism.”
“We as Jews feel unsafe because of the actions of [the Trump] administration, and not because of antisemitism on campus,” she said.
Edell found out about the letter and the Boston Concerned Jewish Faculty and Staff through a conference about the Jewish left at Boston University last month. This letter, she said, aligns with her progressive views in support of social justice and human rights.
While saying she has not experienced antisemitism on campus herself, Edell believes antisemitism is a real issue that needs to be addressed separately from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I absolutely stand by any Jewish student or faculty who is naming instances of discrimination or violence or anything related to their religious identity,” she said. “I feel the issue of antisemitism is so tangled in the conflict in Israel and Gaza right now, and that we as a community have not had enough opportunities to unpack that and untangle the ways that Jewish identity and Israeli politics are deeply complicated for many Jews.”
At Emerson, some faculty and staff have raised concerns over increasing antisemitism, and at least ten Jewish students transferred out of the college following last year’s encampment. Other Jewish students and faculty who identify as anti-Zionists have held conversations about their identity and complicated relationship with the state of Israel and the definition of antisemitism.
While the Boston Concerned Faculty and Staff is a left-leaning group, the letter emphasizes that the signatories “hold various views about Israel and Palestine, politics in the Middle East, and student activism on our campuses.”
“While we can disagree about what is happening in Israel and long-term solution[s], we can agree [on] the ways in which this issue has created division and rupture,” Edell said.
“Expelling, arresting, wrecking diplomas and degrees is not about the politics of whether you think Israelis have a right to live on that land or not,” she said. “It’s about basic human rights.”
