Nearly 100 people chanted to the beat of a snare drum at Presidents Circle Wednesday evening as part of a protest in solidarity for Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil is a Palestinian activist and Columbia University student who was recently detained for his involvement in a series of pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University last year.
Khalil was detained by federal immigration agents March 8, and he’s facing potential deportation under Executive Order 14188, Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism. President Donald Trump stated on X that Khalil’s detainment was the “first arrest of many to come.”
Wednesday’s protest was hosted by Mecha and the Salt Lake branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. But Khalil’s arrest wasn’t the only thing the demonstration called attention to. Another inciting incident was Utah’s passage of HB267, which bans collective bargaining for unions. Representatives were present from the United Campus Workers of Utah throughout the event, gathering signatures to oppose the bill. They will need a total of 200,000 signatures in 30 days to reach their goal.
Student Organizers
The event opened with a statement from Christopher Loera-Peña, a student organizer with Mecha and PSL.
“I want to welcome everyone here today in solidarity with Mahmoud. In solidarity with immigrants. In solidarity with our unions, students and for Palestine,” he said.
Loera-Peña continued by explaining Khalil was detained unjustly.
“Mahmoud Khalil is a Palestinian student organizer at Columbia University. Like thousands of students across the country, he was a leader in the fight for a free Palestine and demanding an end to this oppression by our government and our universities,” Loera-Peña said. “Mahmoud committed no act of violence. All he did was raise his voice against a broken and criminal system.”
Another speaker named Jaz, who’s a leader for Utah March‘s immigration committee, addressed the crowd next. She spoke of her generation being the ones to teach their parents their rights regarding ICE and using the power of social media to organize and to stand in community with one another.
“We’re getting too loud for them to silence us. It’s almost like they are realizing that their scare tactics aren’t making us conform to their ideology anymore,” she said. “Our generation is different. We don’t back down from the fight. We organize. We boycott. We call our reps. We educate. We advocate for marginalized communities. We rally. We protest.”
Educators Showing Their Support
Dr. Dalia Salloum is an associate professor at Salt Lake Community College in the biology department.
Salloum began her speech by recognizing those fasting for Ramadan, those “who welcome the fast from food and from water as a mercy and as a rest from worrying about where their next meal will come from.” She then spoke of the pride she has for her students who are “walking the path of righteousness in one of the most repressive states.”
Then, speaking generally to other educators, Salloum asked, “When will you all have been against this genocide? Your hushed whispers of solidarity in private messages and behind closed doors are no longer sufficient.”
The Daily Utah Chronicle spoke to Salloum after the event and asked what prompted her to attend this event.
“I think the reverse question is much more important. What are you doing at home while a live-streamed genocide, funded by your tax dollars, is killing babies? There’s no reason any of us should be at home. We have been fighting this. We have been organizing against the ongoing genocide since October of 2023,” she said, speaking on her own behalf.
Salloum described why it’s her duty to participate in events like these.
“As a Palestinian American, it’s my duty, living in a country that is presiding over this genocide, to do the bare minimum, which is to come out and support our students. As an educator, is it my job to teach and it is my job to guide students into being critical thinkers, civically engaged learners and this is how we show up for them,” she said.
Salloum also especially emphasized the importance of fostering this growth in “Small Lake City,” where educators continue to interact with their students in the community long past graduation. Students view their educators as “mentors and guides for how to behave in the world.”
“I want to reiterate how important I think it is for faculty to speak up, especially faculty in humanities, social sciences, who study international politics, who are well-versed in the law, to speak up and help students and help them organize and support them in their efforts to speak up for truth and justice,” she said.
Community Partners
Several speakers followed, including Liz Maryon, a representative from PSL and the Salt Lake Community Bail Fund. Maryon wanted to spread the word about this community resource to those who may not be aware of it.
“Salt Lake Community Bail Fund stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine as they fight for freedom in the world’s largest open-air prison,” Maryon said.
She said also wanted to spread the word about this fund for those who may not be aware of it.
Later, she read an excerpt from Khalil’s recently released “My Name is Mahmoud Khalil and I Am a Political Prisoner.”
“I am a political prisoner. My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza,” Maryon quoted.
Maryon went on to connect the oppression of the Palestinian people and the oppression of all marginalized people to a “system of capitalism that seeks to exploit workers all over the world in order to expand the profits of a small group of billionaires.”
“This is why they target protest leaders like Mahmoud. They think that if they come after leaders of resistance movements, that the resistance will stop. But people living under occupation, people living under exploitation, will never stop resisting,” Maryon said.
