Mohsen Mahdawi was member of college Students for Justice in Palestine

Note: an earlier version of this news story incorrectly stated that Mohsen Mahdawi was a co-president of Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine. In fact, he was a member of CSJP, and a leader and co-founder of the Palestinian Student Union, which he co-founded with fellow detainee Mahmoud Khalil.

By Guy Page

Mohsen Mahdawi, a foreign national with a green card and a former member of the Columbia University Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and leader in another campus po-Palestinian organization, has become a cause celebre among state elected officials and activists after he was detained when he appeared April 14 for a scheduled citizenship exam at the field office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Colchester.

Not only elected officials, but many Vermonters of all political persuasions who knows Mahdawi from his time living in Vermont as a part-time resident say that the depiction of him as a backer of Hamas is at odds with the gentle, bridge-building person they know.

Yesterday, Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas issued the following statement:

One of the highest honors of my job is that I get to be one of the first people to welcome newly naturalized citizens to our country.

Since I took office in 2023, I’ve welcomed hundreds of new American citizens who have come from all over the world and have chosen the United States as their home. I’ve witnessed their tears of joy as they complete the long, rigorous process of naturalization – a journey they began because they cherish the civil rights and liberties that America stands for on the world stage.

Vermonters and the nation watched this week as those very rights and liberties – like free speech, and due process – were flagrantly undermined. Mohsen Mahdawi was in the final stages of the naturalization process when he was arrested by masked agents and detained without charge in the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans.

When new citizens come up to speak at their naturalization ceremonies, it’s a beautiful moment. They look out to their family and friends and speak of their gratitude for the freedom and safety that our country represents. They know very well how special that freedom is – it’s why they chose to become a U.S. citizen. It’s evident that this freedom is under threat for all of us and must be defended.

I join my fellow statewide officials and our congressional delegation in demanding that Mr. Mahdawi, a legal resident of the United States, be afforded due process under the law and immediately released from detention.

It is possible, even likely these officials are unaware of SJP’s alleged participation with Hamas of spreading pro-Hamas propaganda immediately following the attack, according to a March, 2025 lawsuit filed by victims of the attack that killed more than 1,000 Israelis and an estimated 45 Americans.

Weinstein Haggai V. Kiswane, a civil lawsuit filed 3/24/2025 in U.S. District Court in New York, alleges that National Students For Justice in Palestine [NSJP] immediately implemented a Hamas-written playbook for domestic activists in the U.S. to influence public opinion and suppress pro-Israeli opinion. 

Here’s an excerpt:

While the attack was still underway, Hamas initiated its call for the “resistance abroad” to “join the battle in any way they can.” The [defendants] resoundingly and knowingly answered Hamas’ call to action. 

The suit says that on October 8, 2023, Students for Justice in Palestine distributed a manifesto (“NSJP Toolkit”) that included materials that appear to have been created before October 7. The NSJP Toolkit:  

• Identifies Students for Justice in Palestine as “PART of” a “Unity Intifada” governed by Hamas’ “unified command” of terrorist operations in Gaza;  

• calls on SJP’s partners and allies to organize a “Day of Resistance” using specified graphics and marketing materials; and  

• directed its allies to sign what was, effectively, a loyalty pledge to Hamas.

The suit claims the Columbia SJP followed the NSJP Toolkit to the letter. 

“Since October 7, these organizations have only been more aggressive and more militant in their efforts to, in coordination with Hamas and AMP/NSJP, distribute Hamas-created and affiliated propaganda, incite fear and violence, and attack critical academic, economic, and infrastructure centers in New York City.

The suit claims the student groups “have distributed pro-terror propaganda produced by and literally stamped with the logo of the “Hamas Media Office.” They also secretly and directly coordinated with Hamas’ terror patron, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”), to institute a blockade of critical infrastructure and institutions in New York City to support Hamas” and “have also repeatedly terrorized and assaulted Jews across New York City and on Columbia University’s campus, physically assaulted Columbia University employees, and illegally seized and damaged public and private property.”

The 79-page, footnoted civil complaint includes many specific examples of Hamas-SJP collusion. Here’s one example: “Immediately after its October 7 attack, Hamas called on its supporters to join in a “Day of Rage” scheduled for the next week. In the NSJP Toolkit, AMP/NSJP called on their supporters to join in a “Day of Resistance” on the same day.”

A civil lawsuit is, after all, just an organized allegation. But the suit does provide claims and evidence that leave Vermonters wondering, just how deep was the Columbia SJP – Hamas collusion? And how involved was Mohsen Mahdawi? As long as the Mahdawi arrest story is in the Vermont news, VDC will continue to report details on this and other angles so that Vermonters have all sides of the story.