Getting Tough on Tufts: Zero Tolerance of Terror Supporters

Last week, continuing with the zero toleration of terror supporters of this administration, US Secretary of State Mario Rubio continued to revoke the student visas of more terror supporters, including that of Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk.   The ensuing furore is interesting for several reasons.  Tufts president, Sunil Kumar, issued a statement demanding her release and Secretary Rubio doubled down on the reasons for her arrest.  I decided to do some research and understand what she had written in her op-ed in the university paper that led to her detainment.

In a letter to the students and parent body of the university following her detainment, Kumar wrote that Tufts University confirmed that doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk was detained by federal authorities on March 25, 2025, and her visa was revoked despite her being in “good academic and immigration standing.” He added, somewhat irrelevantly, that she was reportedly on her way to an Iftar dinner. Tufts, he wrote, supports Ms. Öztürk, noting she is a “dedicated student with no known policy violations.” He then added that the University emphasizes the importance of international students to its mission and expresses concern over increased fear among them.  He urged due process for Ms. Öztürk and concluded,

The University seeks relief so that Ms. Öztürk is released without delay so that she can return to complete her studies and finish her degree at Tufts University.

He wrote that “all she did” was co-author an op-ed about the war in Gaza.  I decided to research the op-ed in question in the University newspaper, The Tufts Daily (“Try again, President Kumar: Renewing Calls for Tufts to Adopt March 4 TCU Senate resolutions.”) and found that, it referred to the Tufts Community Union Senate which passed three resolutions urging the University to:

1. Acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,
2. Divest from ties to Israel, and
3. Apologize for President Kumar’s statements (supporting Israel).

The op-ed highlighted how the graduate students criticized, in their opinion, the university’s dismissive response, citing its contradiction of Tufts’ stated values of “free speech” and “civic engagement.” They emphasized students’ right to challenge injustices and called for action aligned with historical precedents like divestment from apartheid South Africa. The resolutions, in their opinion, reflect the student body’s collective voice, demanding accountability and urging Tufts to uphold its commitments to “justice, democratic expression, and meaningful dialogue on global issues.”  It also mentioned,

Credible accusations against Israel include accounts of deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausable  genocide.”

The  Secretary of State’s response when questioned last week about his administration’s decision to revoke the student visa of the Tufts student, and other terror supporting students, was  to remind the questioner that visas are not a right; they are granted at the discretion of the U.S. government, which regularly denies or revokes them for various reasons, including concerns about overstaying or national security. He declared that student visas should be for education, not anti-American activism. He added that recent campus protests, viewed as disruptive and aligned with hostile groups, have raised concerns.  He stated that:

I just think it’s crazy to continue to provide visas so people can come here and advocate for policies that are in direct contradiction of our national interest.

According to Rubio, if a student on a visa supports movements opposing U.S. interests, their visa may be denied or revoked.  Those who undermine U.S. values or institutions shouldn’t be allowed entry. Visas can and will be denied when deemed appropriate.  Of those who support Hamas, a US prescribed terror entity he had the following harsh words:

It is a [student] movement that is supportive of the group that…deliberately targeted and slaughtered babies and civilians and took hostages and killed hostages.  That’s the group they’re aligning with.”

After the tsunami of hate witnessed on US college campuses over the past year and a half the policy of the administration is long overdue and much welcomed.  Jewish students need no longer be afraid of the ignorant thugs threatening them and deliberately creating an atmosphere of fear, intimidation and violence on campuses.  Ms. Öztürk is not an innocent student quietly honouring the conditions of her student visa.  She, by using the old antisemitic canard of “the Jews committing genocide,” and deliberately starving and slaughtering innocent Palestinians, as well of demanding a boycott of Israel, is not only acting as a Hamas spokesperson by broadcasting their patently false accusations and propaganda, but also stirring up the flames of hatred, violence against Jews and supporting a terrorist entity.  She is no innocent flower and, after having breached the terms of her student visa, was justifiably arrested and, after due process, subject to deportation.

If she feels so strongly about her much-maligned brethren in Gaza, she is welcome to join them, and good luck with getting accepted to a doctoral program as a woman there.  Secretary of State Rubio is perfectly within his rights to deport Öztürk and her ilk who seek to undermine the very democracy they are granted freedom to study in.

Anti-American and Anti-Israel signage at Tufts University, April 2024. Photo (c) T. Book, 2025