Trump is repackaging the ‘War on Terror’ to stop Palestine activists, but you can’t deport a movement

At first glance, the assault on Mahmoud Khalil and other pro-Palestine organizers may seem like a terrifying rupture—something unprecedented. But to those who have studied the U.S. government’s response to dissent, particularly in Arab and Muslim communities, it is chillingly familiar. This is not a new phenomenon. It is the resurrection of the post-9/11 “War on Terror” playbook, this time aimed not at a constructed foreign enemy, but at the growing, domestic movement for Palestinian liberation.

In fact, the playbook and narrative are strikingly similar. When former President George W. Bush declared the “War on Terror,” his administration ushered in a new era of expanded executive power at the expense of civil liberties, adopting a “detain first, ask questions later” approach. Early in his presidency, Bush authorized the President’s Surveillance Program in secret, directing the National Security Agency to engage in warrantless electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens—including phone tapping and internet data mining—targeting primarily Arab and Muslim communities. Congress subsequently passed the Patriot Act, dramatically expanding government surveillance powers and paving the way for heightened, unchecked criminalization and further erosion of civil liberties.

Dozens of organizations were shut down under the guise of national security – most notably of which is the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The Holy Land Foundation was shut down by the Bush administration after 9/11 and labeled a terrorist organization, even though it donated to Palestinian charities also funded by the U.S. government. Its leaders received sentences of up to 65 years, despite not being accused of directly funding terrorism or terrorist attacks. Instead, they were prosecuted under “material support” laws based on the claim that the social services they funded helped build support for Hamas. The case relied on FISA wiretaps, foreign intelligence from Israel, flawed translations, and testimony from anonymous Israeli military witnesses.

The “disappearing” of Muslims and Arabs on U.S. soil is also nothing new. Such is the case of Muhammad Salah. On January 23, 1995, President Clinton declared a national emergency targeting foreign terrorists seen as obstructing Middle East peace. Six months later, the Treasury designated Muhammad Salah as a Specially Designated Terrorist without informing him or providing any factual or legal basis. Salah and his family only learned of the designation when his wife discovered their bank account had been frozen. The government imposed these restrictions indefinitely without trial, hearing, or notice—denying Salah due process in violation of the Fifth Amendment. To this day, he has never been told why he was designated, even after his death.

While the Trump administration’s strategy is not new, its target is broader. Where the post-9/11 playbook focused on Arabs and Muslims, today’s iteration criminalizes any visible support for Palestine, regardless of ethnic or religious identity. That is because the movement for Palestinian liberation has become too large, too diverse, and too mainstream to be dismissed as the agenda of a single minority group. From campus encampments to congressional offices, the people have found their voice – a threat too terrifying for those in power to dismiss without deploying their most aggressive silencing tactics. 

In a recent interview, the Secretary of Homeland Security struggled to articulate any legitimate basis for Mahmoud’s deportation, offering only the vague suggestion that “if he had declared himself a terrorist, we wouldn’t have let him in.” When pressed, he could not identify a single act of terrorism Mahmoud committed. This is not an isolated communication failure—it is the core feature of a framework that substitutes evidence with insinuation, law with fear-mongering, and justice with collective punishment. The government increasingly relies on dubious foreign intelligence—often from Israeli or Zionist-aligned sources—to justify sweeping actions without due process.

Some may argue that comparisons to the War on Terror are inapt because that era was driven by a fear of foreign actors threatening U.S. national security. But this assumes a separation between U.S. and Israeli interests that does not exist in practice. The uncritical deference to Israeli security narratives—even when they contradict U.S. intelligence or violate constitutional norms—reveals the extent to which Israel functions not merely as an ally, but as a projection of American power. In this sense, a threat to Israeli dominance is treated as a threat to the U.S. itself, and any challenge to Zionism becomes an act of domestic subversion.

However, this attempt to replicate the post-9/11 framework will fail, as Trump fails to recognize that, unlike the earlier era, the Muslim and Arab communities are no longer caught off guard. Today, they have a robust defense infrastructure, are more united and stronger than before. They no longer suffer in silence due to stigma and shame; instead, they are prepared to confront this battle head-on, knowing that even if overpowered, their voices will be heard and their resistance will persist.

But here, Trump and the Zionist entity have made a fundamental and grave miscalculation: the youth have nothing to lose. This is the same generation that grew up with active shooter drills, surveillance, mass incarceration, and a constant state of fear. They have witnessed how, at every turn, their institutions have failed them. But this time, they have pushed us too far. We have seen too many innocent lives lost—babies in body bags, burned and beheaded bodies, all funded by our tax dollars—to care for our own comfort. What we see now is the youth are acting with complete moral clarity, one that recognizes no tactic, no matter how aggressive or threatening, will silence their call for the people of Palestine.

And while the cases of Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, Leqaa Korida, and others should alarm every student, organizer, and advocate for Palestinian liberation we must understand:  Their criminalization is neither incidental nor indicative of our vulnerability—it is a deliberate response to the movement’s growing strength and reach. The attempted deportation of Mahmoud and Leqaa is only the latest in a series of desperate retaliatory acts. From Executive Order 13899 to the firing of pro-Palestinian employees, the Zionist entity and its collaborators—including Trump—have deployed a full spectrum of repressive tools to silence the movement. From doxxing to surveillance, from campus crackdowns to immigration raids, they are weaponizing every mechanism of state power to crush dissent.

It is no coincidence Mahmoud was kidnapped a week before the resumption of Israel’s violence in Gaza. It is meant to be an example for those who dare to speak up against the continued genocide in Gaza. However, the more aggressive and repressive the tactics become it is only a reflection of the pressure they feel now more than ever. It is to say that the movement for Palestine has been so impactful and transformative in making Palestine an American issue, that Trump was forced to rewrite our legal order to suppress and criminalize Muslims and Arabs in this country. Naturally, the greater the threat, the greater the violent force deployed to suppress that threat.

However what we see now is that this intense repression and criminalization has backfired, it has emboldened these very same targets to hold firm to their principles and values no matter the cost. 

In its chaotic and indiscriminate attacks on the Palestinian movement, the Zionist entity undermines its own position, distancing itself from the social appeal and public legitimacy it relies on. These actions are making Zionism increasingly unpalatable to the American public. In the end, it may come to realize—too late—that it drove the final nail in the coffin of the war for public consciousness in the United States. The stark injustice and hypocrisy of its tactics have only deepened the divide between popular opinion and government policy.

However, a primary feature of combating such criminalization and repression, is just in fact to carry on, to stay the course, to do what we have always done – to struggle. Anything short of that, risks greater criminality as it will signal that these tactics are working and further push greater repression. Most fundamentally we cannot betray Gaza, for if we betray and turn out backs on Gaza, we betray ourselves, and the global struggle for justice.

All their attempts will fail, because you cannot deport a movement.