Philadelphia rally for Mahmoud Khalil

Philadelphia

Over 1,000 people gathered outside City Hall in Philadelphia on March 17 for a rally to defend free speech, immigrant rights and to protest the politically motivated detention and threatened deportation of anti-genocide, Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil. The lead banner for the event read: “You can’t deport a movement.”

Philadelphia, March 17, 2025. Many people consider Mahmoud Khalil’s seizure a test case aimed at silencing student protesters.  WW Photo: Joe Piette

Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate who participated in campus protests against Israel’s U.S.-backed war in Gaza, was detained by federal officials outside his New York City home on March 8. Federal agents later transported him to a detention center in Louisiana, even though Khalil faces no criminal charges and is in the U.S. legally.

Many see this as a test case in a growing government effort to silence student protesters. Nearby Swarthmore College punished 15 students on March 6 for their participation in Palestine solidarity activism between October 2023 and March 2024. One senior, set to graduate soon, was suspended on the charge of “assault” for using a megaphone indoors — the first such suspension of its kind in the U.S.

Rally for Mahmoud Khalil, Philadelphia, March 17, 2025. WW Photo:  Joe Piette

Over 20 speakers addressed the rally. Among them, Pennsylvania State Senator Nikil Saval stressed that people have a fundamental right, a duty, to speak out, expose and protest injustice. He cited the examples of the Civil Rights Movement and the overwhelming opposition to the U.S. war against Vietnam.

City Councilmember Nicholas O’Rourke asserted that resistance can be the very definition of democracy. O’Rourke pledged that even if the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) money costs him his office, he will still speak up when he sees injury and people being wronged.

Called by the Philadelphia chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Philadelphia), the demonstration was supported by over 20 organizations, including Amistad Movement Power; Asian Americans United; Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO; Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance and Community Action Relief Project.

Other endorsing groups included Free Migration Project; Freedom Road; Fridays @ Fetterman’s; IfNotNow Philadelphia; HIAS-Pennsylvania; Irish for Philly; Jewish Voice for Peace Philadelphia; Make the Road Pennsylvania; Mennonite Action; New Sanctuary Movement; ​​Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America; Philadelphia Palestinian Americans; Communist Party USA – Pennsylvania; Philly Families for Ceasefire; Philly Palestine Coalition; Philly Socialist Alternative; Prayers for Peace Alliance; Rabbis for Ceasefire; Reclaim Philadelphia; SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania.

Cindy Lou contributed to this article.