In January, during a rally in New York opposing Israel, a protester was filmed with only her eyes visible, obscured by a mask and headscarf. However, shortly thereafter, images revealing her full face, along with her name and workplace, began to circulate online. A nascent technology firm proudly announced on social media that its facial-recognition software had successfully identified the woman. She was not an isolated case; the same technology was employed to analyze photographs captured over several months of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at universities across the United States.
A right-wing violent radical Jewish organization, known as the BETAR, claimed that individuals identified by the software were included on a list submitted to President Donald Trump’s administration, advocating for their deportation in line with his directive to expel foreign students involved in “pro-Palestinian” protests. In the weeks leading up to Khalil’s arrest, a representative from the right-wing Jewish organization Betar announced that the activist was at the forefront of a list comprising foreign students and faculty from nine universities. This list was presented to top officials, including the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who ultimately decided to revoke Khalil’s visa. Betar spokesperson Daniel Levy stated that certain individuals on their list were recognized through a facial-recognition technology known as NesherAI, developed by Hawila’s company, Stellar Tecs, which originated from his apartment in Brooklyn. The software derives its name from the Hebrew term for “eagle.”
