In the Shadow of Genocide: A Pregnant Wife's Fight for Justice

Generational trauma and the inheritance of grief

photo: ACLU

I cannot stop thinking about Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil who was at the forefront of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and even more, his wife.

Imagine being eight months pregnant, walking back from iftar in the holy month of Ramadan by your husband's side. You're dreaming of what life will be like in just a few short months when your baby arrives. Then suddenly, government agents appear, arresting your husband and threatening to arrest you too if you interfere. For days afterward, you don't know where your husband is being detained.

This is reality of Khalil’s wife, who has pled for her husband's release in time for the birth of their baby following his arrest by federal immigration officers over the weekend.

"I urge you to see Mahmoud through my eyes as a loving husband and the future father to our baby," she told N…