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Georgetown University researcher Mobashra Tazamal called the ICE arrest of Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil an "abduction." Tazamal, further said that under both the Biden and Trump administrations, "pro-Hamas" was used as "a smear to delegitimize rightful political dissent" and to "drive fear into people," and that a similar rhetoric was used post-9/11. Just being Muslim, Arab, or Palestinian is viewed by the U.S. government as a threat, especially if you are a vocal critic, Tazamal said, adding: "I think that where we are headed is very dangerous and is a very scary place."
Tazamal is the Associate Director of the Bridge Initiative of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service. Saudi Prince Bin Talal is the founder of Al-Resalah TV, a television channel dedicated to anti-West and pro-jihad rhetoric. MEMRI TV has reported extensively about Al-Resalah TV's content, which espouses antisemitism, promotes the Islamic permissibility of slavery, chopping off the hands of thieves, and wife beating, and claims that fighting Jews is a religious Islamic duty.
Mobashra Tazamal's statements were made during a March 11, 2025 community briefing by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) on its new civil rights report titled "Unconstitutional Crackdowns," and the program was uploaded to CAIR’s YouTube channel.
Farah Afify: "I hear you talking about how this particular moment sits in the history of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism, but I'd also like to hear what this particular moment – knowing what we know about Mahmoud Khalil's unlawful detainment... What does this say for our moment now, and where we are going in the future?"
Mobashra Tazamal: "I think a lot of us in this space – most of us – are thinking about Mahmoud Khalil right now, and I think it's important to know that he was abducted. I think that is the word I would use.
[...]
"So Mahmoud Khalil... The narrative that Trump has been putting out is that he is 'pro-Hamas' or a 'Hamas sympathizer' - whatever the words are. What we've seen over the past year, under the Biden administration and now with the Trump administration, is that the Hamas label is a smear to delegitimize rightful political dissent. It is a smear and a label to drive fear into people, and it is the same sort of rhetoric that we heard post 9/11: 'you're a terrorist,' an 'extremist,' a 'fundamentalist,' a 'radical' - that sort of narrative.
[...]
"Do you see how when we talk about securitization, and how Muslims are framed as a threat, the very existence of being Muslim, or Arab, or Palestinian in this moment is viewed by the government as a threat – especially if you are vocal, especially if you are vocal about the government's actions, and especially if you are critical. So I think that where we are headed is very dangerous, and it is a very scary place."
