Supporters say Wisconsin mosque president was detained over Israel criticism

On March 30, Salah Sarsour, a 53-year-old Palestinian legal permanent resident living in Wisconsin, was detained by ICE agents.

Authorities claim that Sarsour, who is the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and has been living in the United States for 30 years, lied on his green card application. They also point out that Sarsour was convicted of crimes in Israel before he entered the United States in 1993, and allege that he is “tied to terrorist organizations”.

The Muslim Legal Fund of America, which is representing Sarsour, has filed a writ of habeas corpus on his behalf.

In a statement from the Homeland Security Department, spokesperson Lauren Bis said Sarsour had been convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at the homes of IDF members and had “failed to disclose his criminal history on multiple immigration applications.” 

However, according to federal documents and government records, Secretary of State Marco Rubio targeted Sarsour because he posed an alleged threat to the Trump administration’s purported goal of combating antisemitism, which it classifies as a foreign policy interest.

This is the same justification that Rubio used to kick off a vast crackdown on Palestine activists across U.S. campuses last year. Sarsour’s lawyers say he was targeted over his criticisms of Israel and that Trump is “doing the bidding of a foreign government.”

“We consider him a political prisoner, targeted for being a leader in his community and for speaking out against the injustices that have taken place in Gaza, Palestine, where tens of thousands of children have been killed in the latest genocide committed by Israel,” Sarsour’s daughter-in-law Seema Oweisi told Mondoweiss.

“It is clear to us, and to the majority of Americans, that a foreign entity is influencing decisions in our country and targeting American families,” she added. “This is a threat to our constitution and every American family.”

Community support

In a press conference last week, Milwaukee community leaders condemned Sarsour’s arrest and called for his release.

“This appears to be just the latest example of how this administration seeks to silence opposition and intimidate those who speak and act differently,” Rev. Paul D. Erickson, bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, told the crowd.

“Salah is active in the movement for the liberation of Palestine,” said Rachel Ida Buff, a professor of immigration history and a co-founder of the Milwaukee Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, “His advocacy for the cause is the true cause of his arrest and detention because this administration tolerates no dissent. His detention is intended to scare him, to scare all of us, to silence the voices of resistance, but we are not afraid.”

Othman Atta, executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, said that decades ago, Sarsour returned to occupied Palestine as a teenager, where he was arrested and imprisoned by Israeli forces. Young Palestinian men in the West Bank face routine arrest and imprisonment under Israeli martial law and a military court system that lacks due process and sees conviction rates over 99% against Palestinians.

“He served two years,” said Atta. “Many of you who know him know that his passion for Palestine, his passion for justice, was based on the experience he had and that his family and friends had. He would talk to us many times how for 80 straight days, he was interrogated, and brutalized, and tortured while he was in Israeli military custody.” 

Local political leaders have also condemned the arrest.

“The detention of Salah Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, is an outrage,” tweeted Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. “He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong. This is another example of overreach and harm from the U.S. Immigration authorities.”

“Until free expression and free speech are protected, not treated as a privilege of the Trump Administration’s loudest supporters, this openly fascist government should be neither trusted nor obeyed,” said Wisconsin State Assembly member Ryan Clancy in a statement. “We must abolish ICE and hold those responsible for these repeated acts of state violence accountable.” 

“This is completely unacceptable,” said Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI). “Salah Sarsour is a respected leader in the Milwaukee community, and his detention raises serious concerns about the continued targeting of lawful residents based on the color of their skin or their political beliefs.”

Just two weeks ago, Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank who has lived in the United States for decade, was finally released from an immigration facility in Texas after being detained for over a year over her Palestine activism.