By Guy Page
Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), an anti-Israel organization co-founded by Vermont resident Mohsen Mahdawi, issued the statement “Death to America!” following the U.S. attack on Iran Saturday.
According to the Daily Mail, Saturday Feb. 28 CUAD wrote on X: ‘Marg bar Amrika.’ In Persian, the statement means ‘Death to America.’
The post was deleted, apparently under duress. A follow-up post said ‘X forced us to delete our “marg bar amrika” tweet in order to gain back access to our account but the sentiment still stands.’
Mahdawi is a Windsor County resident who moved from the West Bank of Israel more than 10 years ago. Shortly after moving to the U.S., he posted on social media photos of family members slain in conflict with Israeli military forces.
Federal court documents in connection with his arrest for crossing from Canada into Vermont in possession of illegal drugs show a Vermont businessman said Mahdawi told him he wanted to buy a machine gun.
Subsequently Mahdawi was involved in anti-Israel campus activism, reportedly becoming a Buddhist and seeking peaceful solutions to conflict. He was detained for deportation by ICE last year, but a Vermont federal judge soon released him and this February terminated his deportation case on the grounds that federal documentation was inadequate.
The State Department pledged to continue efforts to deport Mahdawi.
CUAD photo credit- Reddit