Former South Florida University professor Sami Al-Arian, who was deported from the United States to Turkey due to his terror links, discussed the arrest of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil in a March 12, 2025 interview. 

He suggested that “American cherished principles have been shredded by this administration and previous ones" in order to "save Zionism from its inevitable fate." 

Al-Arian argued that even if Khalil were pro-Hamas, it is not illegal to support Hamas, but rather to provide aid to a terrorist group. He further claimed that the Supreme Court has ruled that a person can be a member of a U.S.-designated terror group but cannot aid it.

Sami Al-Arian was charged with conspiring to provide material support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. He was convicted, served time in federal prison, and was deported to Turkey, where he currently serves as a professor of public affairs and the director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Sabahattin Zaim University in Istanbul. 

On April 26, 2024, Al-Arian posted a photo of his wife, Nahla Al-Arian, at the Columbia University encampment on X – formerly Twitter. On May 1, he addressed the student encampment at the University of Chicago and on May 6, 2024, he published an op-ed in support of the anti-Israel campus activism on the website of Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.