First They Came For The Muslim Activist

Mahmoud Khalil, one of the organizers of the anti-genocide protest at Columbia University, was detained and taken by ICE. Now, he is facing deportation—even though he is a legal green card holder. The reason for his arrest? He spoke out against his university’s support of the genocide committed by Israel.

Even Trump’s administration admitted that Khalil isn’t being charged with a crime. That means he is being targeted just for speaking out—just for using his freedom of speech. The First Amendment is supposed to protect people from situations like this. But instead, Trump has made it clear that Khalil won’t be the last person arrested for standing up for a cause he doesn’t like.

What happens to Mahmoud Khalil will shape the future of free speech in America. Yet, despite so many so-called “free speech advocates” on conservative radio and TV, none of them have defended him. Instead, they make excuses and spread propaganda to justify what is happening.

If someone supports this kind of arrest, they don’t actually believe in free speech—they believe in free speech only for themselves. They are hacks and hypocritical, but hypocrisy a feature of fascism, not a bug.

This cartoon is inspired by the famous poem First They Came by Pastor Martin Niemöller. He wrote it as a reflection on how he and many others in Germany failed to speak out against the Nazi Party’s illegal and fascist actions until it was too late. The poem is a warning: if we don’t stand up for others when their rights are taken away, there may be no one left to stand up for us.

Mahmoud Khalil’s situation is a modern example of this same danger. If we allow people to be punished simply for speaking out, we risk losing the very freedoms that define democracy.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

—Martin Niemöller