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September 27, 2024

Cornell University Student Facing Deportation for Participating in Gaza Solidarity Protest
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A Cornell University student is facing deportation to the United Kingdom
after administrators suspended him for taking part in a campus protest
calling on Cornell to divest from companies that support Israel's
assault on Gaza. Momodou Taal, a Ph. D. student in Africana studies,
says he was advised to leave the U.S. "promptly" after his academic
suspension led Cornell's immigration office to cancel his F-1 student
visa. Democracy Now! spoke with Momodou Taal on Thursday.

Momodou Taal: "Yes, it's about freedom of speech, but that cannot be
divorced from Palestine. The issue why we're facing such repression and
such repressive tactics is because it's about Palestine. It's because
you're speaking anti-Israel and anti-Israel's genocide in Gaza. These
issues are not, like, separate. So, absolutely, I think I'm a visible
person. I'm quite outspoken on this issue. And I think this is the
reason why I'm being targeted."



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