Mahmoud Khalil describes ICE detention, decries Columbia ‘hypocrisy’

Mahmoud Khalil, recently released from police custody, described the conditions for his detention on Sunday and decreed “the hypocrisy” of Columbia University, where he is a graduate student.

“Who is Mahmoud Khalil?” He asked by speaking to the media and supporters on the steps of the Cathedral of Saint-Jean the Divine in New York, a few pâtés from Columbia houses.

“Mahmoud Khalil is a human rights defender. Mahmoud Khalil is a freedom of freedom. Mahmoud Khalil is a refugee. Mahmoud Khalil is a father and a husband. And, above all, Mahmoud Khalil is Palestinian,” he said.

Khalil returned to the New York region on Saturday after spending 104 days in an immigration and customs application center in Louisiana. He said that Columbia University had denied his request for the press conference there.

Surrounded by his wife, his legal team and his supporters, Khalil said that no one had intimacy at the detention center and that he was common to hear emotional stories of other men.

“It is often difficult to find patience in the detention of ice. The center is crowded with hundreds of people who are said that their existence is illegal, and none of us know when we can free ourselves,” he said.

On the steps of the cathedral, hundreds of supporters joined songs with Khalil, mainly repeating a sentence which, according to him, kept him motivated in detention: “I believe that we will win.”

“I literally found myself scratching this in my bunk bed and looking at it while I fell asleep and I woke up. I find myself repeating, even repeating it now, knowing that I have won small by being free-being free today,” he said.

The case of Khalil, a legal resident of the United States, drew national attention while the Trump administration began to target demonstrators of Pro-Palestinian students following the fatal terrorist attacks of Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023.

The attack killed 1,200 people in Israel, according to Israeli accounts, and hundreds of others were taken hostage. He also sparked a war in Gaza who killed more than 55,000 people, including many women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in the Enclave, which is led by Hamas. The World Health Organization considers credible figures.

Khalil was one of Columbia’s student leaders who was an integral part of campus demonstrations against war.

“I have to call the hypocrisy of Columbia University, a university that said only two weeks ago that they wanted to protect their international students. For what? For more than 100 [days] Later, I did not receive a single call from this university, “he said.

Columbia University did not immediately answer a call asking for comments on Khalil’s remarks on Sunday evening.

Khalil’s detention made him miss the birth of his son.

“You may have taken time from us, but you haven’t taken our mind,” said his wife on Sunday, Noor Abdalla.

“One day, our son will know that his father did not bow to fear,” she added.

On Friday, a federal judge ordered Khalil’s release and said that he was not a threat to foreign policy or a risk of theft, as the Trump administration argued.

Less than 10 minutes later, the White House called on the decision.

“Although I am grateful to be here with all of you, I must say that this is only the beginning of a longer struggle towards justice. I want everyone to understand that my being here today is soft, but it is not a victory,” said Khalil on Sunday.

“The wave of repression that the Trump administration initiated with my detention was to silence the movement for the Palestinian liberation. It was intended to frighten people in silence,” he said.

The government appeals to the order granting the release of Khalil, as well as a previous decision which had preliminaryly prohibited its detention and its deportation. Khalil said on Sunday that his legal team was ready to continue fighting.

Questioned by NBC News What is his message to students who may be afraid to protest according to what happened to him, Khalil replied: “Students across the country have always led to what is good. They are our moral compass.”

“This happened during the Vietnam War, during apartheid in South Africa. … This is why the administration does everything in its power to delete us-because we literally win,” he added.

After the press conference, he joined hundreds of supporters during a short March escorted by New York police.