What is Betar US, the group pushing to deport pro-Palestinian students?

President Donald Trump’s demand that students who engage in pro-Palestine protests on US campuses be expelled and deported has received the support of a number of pro-Israel organizations.

One of the most prominent among them is Betar US, a group that says it is sharing the names of pro-Palestinian protesters with the Trump administration.

Badar Khan Suri, an Indian postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University, and Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate of Columbia University, have been detained by the Trump administration, who is attempting to deport them.

Trump has made a promise to deport students who protested last year against Israel’s occupation of Gaza and demanded that US universities stop funding Israeli-linked businesses.

So what is Betar US, why is it pushing for the deportation of pro-Palestinian protesters, what criticism has it faced, and what are the other groups supporting Trump’s moves against campus protests?

Betar US: What is it?

Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s Zionist youth movement, Betar US, which supported the idea of strong Jewish militarism and territorial expansion, was a component of Betar US. The group says it has branches across the world, including chapters throughout the US.

The course of the Jewish world has been altered by our movement. With more than 35 chapters spread throughout Europe, Latin America, Australia, and the United States, Betar US’s spokesperson Daniel Levy, an executive for Al Jazeera, stated in an email to Al Jazeera. “We are the fastest growing Zionist movement worldwide.

“We are loud, proud, aggressive and unapologetically Zionist. The organization states on its website that we are not the nice, polite Jews but rather the loud, proud Zionists.

Zionism, a nationalist and political ideology that was first introduced in Europe in the 19th century, called for the establishment of a Jewish state.

Betar US works “on campus, in cities, in the media, in business communities and on the streets”, according to its website.

However, some people have questioned the gap between the group’s pro-active advocacy and the lack of details about Betar US leaders and members on its public platforms, including its website.

The secrecy, according to civil liberties and free speech lawyer Jenin Younes, is “unusual.”

“They claim to be loud and proud”, she said, “but their website does not say who their employees are. That is unusual for a nonprofit that has New York’s state’s tax exemption.

According to Younes, “it suggests that they are trying to hide themselves from accountability.”

Betar US, however, rejected suggestions that it had anything to hide. Levy told Al Jazeera, “Betar in the US is a 501c3 non-profit and is in full compliance with all rules, regulations, and filings.”

Betar US is aiming at whom?

Since the campus protests erupted last year, Betar US has doxxed pro-Palestinian students. We’ve given the government his name, the statement read. And many more,” Betar said in a January post on X about Khalil.

In the same X thread, the group posted a video with Khalil giving an interview, and accused him of saying “Zionists don’t deserve to live while he’s on a visa”. Khalil does not specify that in the video shared by Betar US, though.

In a message posted on X two days after Khalil was detained, Betar US publicly stated their intention to have pro-Palestinian students expelled. In the widely shared post, the group said: “We told you we have been working on deportations and will continue to do so. Expected arrival of naturalized citizens in the month.

Betar’s Levy confirmed in a statement to Al Jazeera that “we gave the Trump Administration hundreds of names of foreigners and naturalized Middle Easterners,” adding that they “support US designated terrorist organizations” without providing any proof.

“Those who come to the United States on visas or as naturalized citizens and encourage hate and violence will be deported”, Levy said.

The organization also asserts that the people on its lists are anti-Semitic. However, many civil rights organizations have recently expressed concern that pro-Israeli organizations and their supporters are confusing anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel and Zionism, which they claim impedes free speech in the US and other nations.

“Betar US is acting as a nonprofit organisation here in the US”, Abed Ayoub, executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), told Al Jazeera. However, they engage in hostile harassment practices, challenging First Amendment rights [which grant free speech]”.

Ayoub described Betar US as a “problematic entity that is causing a lot of concern.”

What has Betar US said on Gaza?

Israel has resumed its devastating war in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip, where the group has publicly called for a bloodbath. In a now-deleted post, Betar US responded to a list of names containing the names of hundreds of Palestinian children who had been murdered in the town by saying, “Not enough. We demand blood in Gaza”!

A 501 (c) (3) non-profit called Betar accepts donations that are tax-deductible while proudly waving the Jewish terrorist movement’s flag outside of mosques and demonstrations.

The Kach party was only delisted for… picture, which the United States had designated a terrorist organization as of 2004. twitter.com/T5xR0DhQie

More than 400 people were killed in the second stage of the ceasefire when Israel launched a pre-awn strike on Gaza on Tuesday, including 174 children and women. Israel has killed more than 50, 000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. After Hamas carried out an Israeli attack that killed 1, 139 people and held some 250 captive, dozens of whom are still in Gaza, the brutal Israeli response was announced.

Palestinians have been threatening the Palestinians’ lives on several of Betar’s social media accounts, which have repeatedly posted messages urging them to use violence and leave their land. In one post, the group said it “firmly supports the plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza”.

The civil liberties lawyer Younes recalls how Betar US announced in a post on X in January that they would disrupt a vigil for Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza last year.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish advocacy organization established more than a century ago to combat anti-Semitism, has labeled Betar US an “extremist group.”

However, Levy said in his statement to Al Jazeera that the group was a “mainstream” Zionist organisation and represents “the majority of the Zionist and Israeli public”.

Levy refrained from ADL’s definition of Betar as “extremist”. He claimed that the ADL was a “radical, left-wing, woke” organization. “Anyone calling Betar extremists is calling Zionism extremism”, he said.

Is Betar US in favor of Trump’s deportation plans?

It says absolutely.

“Those who come to the United States on visas or as naturalized citizens don’t have the right to come participate in Hamas events or support terrorist organisations”, Levy said. The Trump Administration’s strategy is supported by us.

However, Trump administration officials have yet to release any proof that those detained, including Khalil, have any connections to Hamas or other US-listed “terrorist” organizations.

Khalil, who has been lodged in a detention facility in Louisiana, said on Tuesday he was a “political prisoner” in his first comments since his arrest by Department of Homeland Security officers on March 8. He wrote, “My arrest was a direct result of exercising my right to free speech by calling for a free Palestine and the end to Gaza’s genocide, which raged on in full force on Monday night.”

Prior to his arrest, Khalil had sent an email to Columbia University’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, urging her to “protect international students from doxing and deportation” in response to Betar’s threats.

Younes, the free speech lawyer, said the arrest “speaks to the sheer insanity and terror of the current moment”, especially if “the president of the United States” was taking Betar’s advice about whom to deport – something that has not yet been confirmed.

Betar, in contrast, wants the Trump administration to do even more.

We want many more deportations and more quickly, according to Levy, a spokesperson for Betar.

Are there other groups supporting Trump’s crackdown?

Yes, but in varying degrees.

• ADL – The organization supports Trump’s executive orders to stop anti-Semitism on campuses and has labeled the protests as anti-Semitic. However, it did&nbsp, not publicly support mass deportation campaigns.
• Mothers Against College Antisemitism (MACA) – The organization supports Trump’s executive orders and claims to stop alleged anti-Semitism on campus. It supports Khalil’s deportation, which it refers to as Hamas supporters, and other pro-Palestinian activists.
• Canary Mission – It is an online database that “documents individuals and organizations that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses and beyond”. It publishes personal information about individuals and organizations it think are anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. It praised Khalil’s arrest and demanded that more faculty and students be detained.

Are Trump’s planned deportations legal?

Trump’s deportation threats are still a contentious matter.

Trump’s deportation orders technically enforceable, according to Ayoub from the ADC. The administration has the authority to revoke the visas of foreign students under certain conditions – namely if a person is engaging in fraud, or has been deemed a national security threat, say experts.

Younes argued, however, that applying to be deported without regard to immigration status is prohibited by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Khalil’s attorneys have requested that his deportation be prevented.

More broadly, civil rights groups are alarmed over what they perceive as a crackdown on free speech, which is protected under the First Amendment.

Ayoub argued that protecting students is a responsibility of universities.

“Universities must support the freedom of expression for all students,” according to the statement. They can’t engage in vilifying students or spreading information about them”, Ayoub said.

He warned that this circumstance “chilling effect,” which affects all other activists as well as Palestinian activists, results from.

Similar concerns were expressed by Osama Abuirshaid, the executive director of American Muslims for Palestine, who claimed that universities have “completely capitulated to pressure from big donors and the Trump administration.”

“These are some of the most difficult times to be a student of conscience and global citizen”, he told Al Jazeera.

With Trump’s executive orders in effect and groups like Betar US targeting students, foreigners, in particular, should seek legal counsel right away, according to Younes, a free speech lawyer.

Source: Aljazeera