THE ARREST OF a Palestinian man who featured prominently during protests at Columbia University in New York last year has been condemned as an “illegal abduction” that sends a chilling message about freedom of expression in the United States when it comes to criticising Israel. Mahmoud Khalid, who was a student at Columbia until last December and is in the US as a permanent resident, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Saturday. A Department of Homeland Security official said Khalil was detained “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism”. His arrest, the first of...