Anti-Israel student has visa revoked after second suspension for disruptive activity, may get deported
The student, Momodou Taal, faces possible deportation after his participation in a protest in which activists were so loud they allegedly caused hearing damage to innocent bystanders.
The school called the disruption an ‘unacceptable, a violation of university policy, and illegal.’
Cornell University recently revoked the visa of a student from the United Kingdom because of his disruptive behavior in an anti-Israel protest.
The student, Momodou Taal, was twice suspended by the Ivy League school this year, once for his role in planning an anti-Israel tent encampment protest, and more recently for causing chaos at a school-organized career fair.
On Sept. 18, anti-Israel activists swarmed a career fair that the school administration held at the Statler Hotel. The protesters attacked police officers, disrupted the experience for students, and, according to the university, “screamed into bullhorns and banged cymbals, pots and pans, resulting in medical complaints of potential hearing loss.” The activists were protesting the presence of certain employers who have connections to the Jewish state.
The school called the demonstrators’ behavior “unacceptable, a violation of university policy, and illegal,” and said that “[t]hese individuals will also be subject to potential criminal charges.”
School leadership also announced that “[i]ndividuals who entered the Statler and disrupted the career fair face immediate suspension or employment sanctions up to and including dismissal. Any protesters who engaged in criminal activity will be referred to the Tompkins County District Attorney. Behavior of this kind cannot be allowed to disrupt and harm our community.”
Cornell police stated that Taal, who took part in the disruptive protest at the career fair, did not comply with their instructions during the demonstration, according to The Washington Times. A school official said Taal showed “escalating, egregious behavior and a disregard for the University policies.”
A Cornell spokesperson told The Washington Times that Taal, along with all other holders of the F-1 student visa, “are obligated to comply with federal requirements to maintain their visa status,” and that universities are legally mandated to end “the F-1 status for any student who is not permitted to be enrolled due to a disciplinary action.”
Taal now faces potential deportation due to the loss of his visa. In response, Taal bashed the university and condemned Israel’s campaign against the terror group, Hamas.
“They are doing this to shift the focus away from their complicity in genocide,” he said. “It’s telling that they think it’s more important to suspend me than taking seriously their investment in the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians.”
In addition to the career fair disruption, Cornell has experienced multiple other controversies related to anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments.
It was recently revealed that Cornell Professor Russell Rickford, who praised Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre of Jewish civilians, will be permitted to resume his job at the school.
A Cornell alumnus has also recently been sentenced “to serve 21 months in prison for posting anonymous threats to kill Jewish students,” according to a New York attorney.
The student, Patrick Dai, “threatened to ‘stab’ and ‘slit the throat’ of any Jewish man he saw on campus, to rape and throw off a cliff any Jewish women he saw and to behead any Jewish babies.”
Campus Reform has contacted Cornell University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
