On Monday evening, thousands of Jewish demonstrators and their allies held an emergency Passover Seder outside of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices in Manhattan, in protest of the U.S. government’s abduction of student activists who are opposed to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The Trump administration has falsely categorized noncitizen protesters against Israel’s genocide — both with and without legal resident status — as “antisemitic” and in support of “terrorism” in order to justify abducting and trying to deport them.
Participants in the Seder gathered around 5:30 pm Eastern Time, calling for the “immediate release of Columbia student activist and permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil,” according to a press release from Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which organized the event. The protesters condemned a ruling by an immigration judge in Louisiana last week, which accepted the Trump administration’s baseless argument that Khalil was somehow a danger to the country for organizing against the U.S.’s support of genocide and stated that the deportation proccess could move forward.
The protest on Monday came just weeks after JVP staged a sit-in protest in Trump Tower, which also demanded Khalil’s release from ICE custody.
The demonstrators also called for the release of Columbia student leader Mohsen Mahdawi, who also took part in protests against Israel’s genocide. Mahdawi was detained by ICE this week as he was attending a meeting regarding becoming a citizen.
“Throughout history, Jews have interpreted Passover to respond to grave injustices of the current moment,” JVP said in a press release regarding their protest action, adding that the “fight against political repression and the disappearance of student activists…goes hand in hand” with the Trump administration’s continued support of Israel’s actions.
The emergency Seder was in part inspired by the 1969 Freedom Seder organized by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, which was held on the first anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., to promote civil rights in the U.S. and call for an end to the Vietnam War.
Donning red shirts with the words “Not in our Name,” the protesters on Monday participated in a Passover Seder, using a plate that featured traditional items along with a strawberry to symbolize solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The demonstrators also unfurled banners that read, “Come for One, Face Us All,” “You Can’t Deport a Movement,” and “Hands Off Immigrants, Gaza, Students, Trans People.”
Leaders of the protest said the traditional Passover holiday cannot be recognized as Israel continues slaughtering Palestinians and the White House is disappearing students who are opposed to the genocide.
“As Jews of conscience, we remain steadfast in our commitment to Palestinian freedom, to protecting the right to protest, and to defending immigrants, trans people, and all those under attack by the Trump regime,” said JVP political director Beth Miller.
“This Passover, the Jewish festival of liberation, we cannot celebrate as usual while Palestinians in Gaza face famine and the U.S.-backed Israeli government uses starvation as a weapon of war,” JVP’s Jay Saper said. “The seder ritual cannot be theoretical: it calls us to strengthen our commitment to the liberation of the Palestinian people.”
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