Lawyer for Radical Columbia Grad Student Repped Al Qaeda Members—Including 'Close Associate' of Bin Laden
Alana Goodman
March 13, 2025

When Hamas-supporting Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil appeared in court on Wednesday, he was represented by, among others, Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer perhaps best known for defending al Qaeda terrorists.
The Syrian-born Khalil had his green card revoked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the weekend as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on foreign nationals involved in pro-terrorist demonstrations at universities.
Kassem has represented terrorists including Ahmed al-Darbi, an al Qaeda member convicted in 2017 for the bombing of a French oil tanker, as well as several other Guantanamo Bay detainees, including a "close associate" of Osama bin Laden. He went on to serve as an immigration policy adviser to former president Joe Biden as a member of the White House's Domestic Policy Council.
Like his new client, Kassem was also involved in anti-Israel activism as a student at Columbia, where he lobbied to rename a sandwich called the "Israeli wrap" in the student dining hall, claiming the terminology was offensive to Muslims. He attended Columbia Law School on a fellowship funded by Paul Soros, the elder brother of Democratic megadonor George Soros.
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https://freebeacon.com/campus/lawyer-for-radical-columbia-grad-student-repped-al-qaeda-members-including-close-associate-of-bin-laden/