‘Palestine is the Litmus Test for Humanity’: Momodou Taal Speaks to The FloodGate
Momodou Taal joins The FloodGate Podcast to unpack student uprisings, Western hypocrisies, and why Palestine remains the “last frontier of Western civilization.”
In the latest, powerful episode of The Floodgate Podcast, Palestinian journalist Ramzy Baroud and Pan-African activist Bouna Mbaye featured renowned scholar and organizer Momodou Taal.
A former PhD student at Cornell University, Taal became one of the most visible student organizers against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. His principled stance and public activism—amid a wave of pro-Palestine mobilizations—came at a heavy price.
Facing suspension, surveillance, and threats of deportation, Taal ultimately chose to self-deport from the United States.
In this deeply personal and politically urgent conversation, the Gambian-British scholar reflects on student resistance, institutional repression, the politics of Zionism, and the global implications of the Palestinian cause.
Here are the main takeaways from the interview:
Student Activism Reignited
Taal’s political engagement with Palestine dates back to his teenage years. But it was the Israeli assault on Gaza following October 7 that catalyzed a more committed, organized, and defiant form of activism, not just for him, but for students across the United States.
“Campuses exploded across the country in the United States,” he said. “I was at Cornell University. We had a sustained campaign on campus that was a series of escalations”.
Taal played a central role in Cornell’s student-led movement. He participated in rallies, encampments, and coalition-building efforts.
The organizing began immediately after Israel launched its genocidal war on October 7.
“We had already begun campus-wide protests because we knew the response was going to be wholly disproportionate… We began to talk about divestment. We began to do our research.”
Tall said that a coalition was “established on campus. I was involved in the encampments. I was suspended for my involvement in the encampment. I was suspended for my involvement in a protest, which I attended for five minutes.”
Institutional Repression
Though he anticipated some form of punishment for his activism, Taal said he did not expect the intensity or scale of repression that followed.
“I anticipated a suspension. I anticipated schools coming down. But to mete out this level of repression on their own students and faculty… people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, people’s diplomas and degrees are being withheld, people are losing tenure, people are losing jobs,” he said. “I was banned from teaching.”
The surveillance extended far beyond campus administration.
“I had the FBI looking for me. They subpoenaed my social media looking for material support of terrorism. I could have been in jail for 20 years.”
He accused Cornell of singling him out: “I would say two things that Cornell I felt disproportionately targeted me because I think they saw me as someone who was quite front-facing, and also I would say that Cornell effectively placed a target on my back as well”.
Perhaps even most disturbing was how the US government justified its actions.
“The government said that I created—not an unsafe—an uncomfortable environment for Jewish students,” Taal said. “In which world can I marshal DHS, ICE, the FBI, the president, and the secretary of state—not for my safety, but for my comfort?”
Antisemitism is Weaponized as a Tool of Suppression
Taal offered a sharp critique of how accusations of antisemitism are being used to delegitimize Palestine solidarity movements, especially when led by Black or Palestinian voices.
“There’s a hierarchy of racism here… Anti-semitism becomes the racism of all racisms. It becomes the beyond-the-pale racism,” he argued. “And you know, you can’t even—anything that remotely resembles anti-semitism or even the mere claim of an anti-semitic claim means that you can now be shut down and cancelled.”
He stressed that this does not reflect the material realities of discrimination in the West.
“In the Western world, anti-semitism is not a material problem. Do you get stopped and searched more because you’re Jewish? Are you denied a job because you’re Jewish in the West? No. If anything, it’s a benefit in many of these places.”
“No one is losing their job for being pro-Israel. No one’s losing their livelihoods. No one’s being denied tenure… But pro-Palestinians—people are being shot, kids are being killed, people are being spat on,” Taal added.
Palestine as a Litmus Test for Global Justice
For Taal, the repression of Palestine solidarity has exposed the limits and hypocrisies of Western liberalism.
“Palestine holds up a mirror to the world and asks: what kind of world do you want to live in?” he said.
Taal noted the contradiction between how Western institutions responded to Ukraine compared to Palestine.
‘Why I Self-Deported’: Cornell Scholar Momodou Taal Speaks on FloodGate Podcast
“We saw all these institutions that call themselves apolitical having Ukrainian flags… all these places that say they have no funding were finding the money to offer scholarships for Ukrainians. And you have to ask yourself—what is different here?”
Taal said the answer becomes even clearer when we look at global legal institutions.
“We’ve heard in the halls of power that the ICC and ICJ were not established to prosecute these kinds of people. They were established to prosecute Africans.”
“What we say about Palestine when I say it’s a litmus test we’re saying literally what kind of world do you want to live in and if you want to live in a world in which this can happen,” Taal noted.
No Room for Zionism, Even the Liberal Kind
Taal rejected the idea that Zionism—of any stripe—can be reconciled with justice for Palestinians. He criticized attempts to recast Palestinian liberation as a humanitarian issue, stripped of its political and historical roots.
“There can be no space for liberal Zionism, leftwing Zionism, Marxist Zionism, whatever brand,” he insisted. “We have to hold our line.”
He also rejected the logic of symbolic statehood under occupation.
“I would hate to see the Palestinian struggle become another humanitarian liberal charity case… Israelis can do that. Abu Mazen (PA President Mahmoud Abbas – PC) wants a Palestinian state by any means necessary. He doesn’t care what the nature of the state is.”
For Taal, the reality is more existential:
“I’m not someone who believes in people to be ontologically evil,” he said, but “we’re dealing with people whose psychic health is reproduced by the blood of Palestinians.”
Afro-Palestinian and Global South Solidarity is Rising
Taal spoke about the organic bonds between Black liberation and Palestinian resistance—connections that are often erased or questioned.
“Do you know Afro-Palestinians exist?” he asked. “Solidarity isn’t transactional… It’s a tired rhetoric I constantly have to battle.”
He contrasted his experience in the West with what he found in Cuba after self-deporting.
“I went to Cuba… It was just so refreshing to be in a place where the question of Palestine is not even a question. Of course, we support Palestine. Of course we support the right to resist,” Taal explained.
“I was greeted by an Afro-Cuban who heard about my case… he said to me, the first thing he said was: ‘You’re safe here in Cuba.’”
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The Stakes are Global, the Time is Now
In Taal’s view, what is happening in Gaza today is a warning to the world: unchecked violence and repression against one population will spread unless stopped.
“A world in which 20,000 children can be killed with such impunity is a dress rehearsal for what’s going to happen to us one day,” he warned.
“Even if you selfishly don’t care about Palestinians… this is the world your children will inherit.”
He concluded with a sense of conviction and urgency, stating: “We already know capitalism has exceeded what it can offer us. We need a new way to exist or we’re going to descend into barbarism.”
For Taal, Palestine represents “the last frontier of Western civilization.”
“It’s almost as if: if Palestine is liberated, if Palestine is free, that signals the terminal crisis, the Western civilization’s decline,” he said.
Still, he remains optimistic about the liberation of Palestine. “I believe Palestine is going to be free. It’s a matter of when, not if. It wasn’t even a question for me.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.