Mahmoud Khalil, who was recently released from immigration nursery, described the conditions for his detention and the “hypocrisy” of Columbia University, where he was a student of high studies.
“Who is Mahmoud Khalil?” He asked while talking to the media and supporters of the steps of St. John’s Divine Cathedral in New York City, a few buildings from Colombia.
“Mahmoud Khalil, a human rights defender. Mahmoud Khalil is a fighter of freedom. Mahmoud Khalil, a refugee. Mahmoud Khalil is the father and husband. Above all, Mahmoud Khalil is a Palestinian,” he said.
Khalil returned to the New York region on Saturday After spent 104 days in a migration and customs enforcement facility in Louisiana. He said that Colombia University refused its request to host the press conference there.
Khalil, surrounded by his wife, legal team and supporters, said that no one had privacy in the detention center and that it was common to hear emotional stories from other men.
He said: “It is often difficult to find patience in detention of ice.
In the steps of the cathedral, hundreds of supporters who joined the chants with Khalil, and repeated the sentence that he said kept excited about detention: “I think we will win.”
He said: “I found myself scratching this literally in my bed with two bats and look at it while I was asleep and while I woke up.
The Khalil case, the legal resident of the United States, caught the national attention as the Trump administration began targeting the demonstrators who support the Palestinians after the deadly terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023.
The attack was killed 1,200 people in Israel, according to Israeli roaming, and hundreds of others took hostage. It also sparked a war in Gaza that killed more than 55,000 people, and many of them are women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in the pocket, which is run by Hamas. The World Health Organization is credible.
Khalil was one of the leaders of Colombia as an integral part of the campus protests against the war.
“I must call the hypocrisy of Columbia University, a university that he said just two weeks ago that they want to protect their international students. Why? [days] Later, I did not receive one call from this university. ”
Columbia University has not immediately responded to a call seeking a comment on Khalil’s comments on Sunday night.
Khalil’s detention I miss the birth of his son.
His wife, Nour Abdel, said on Sunday: “It may have taken some time from us, but you did not take our soul.”
She added: “One day, our son will know that his father did not bow to fear.”
Friday, a Federal judge Khalil asked him to release him and said that he did not pose a threat to foreign policy or flight risk, as the Trump administration argued.
After less than 10 minutes, the White House appealed the decision.
Khalil said on Sunday: “While I am grateful for being here with all of you, I must say that this is only the beginning of a longer battle towards justice. I want everyone to understand that my presence here today is sweet, but it is not a victory.”
He said: “The wave of repression that the Trump administration started with my detention aimed at silencing the Palestine Liberation Movement. It was supposed to scare people in silence.”
The government appeals, which gives the release of Khalil, in addition to a previous ruling that led to the prevention of his detention and his deportation. Khalil said on Sunday that his legal team is ready to continue fighting.
Khalil replied: “His message that may be afraid of protest based on what happened to him, Khalil replied:” The students around the country have always led the right. They are an ethical compass. “
“This happened during the Vietnam War, during the apartheid in South Africa … and for this reason the administration does everything in its power to suppress us – because we are literally winning,” he added.
After the press conference, he joined hundreds of supporters in a short march accompanied by the New York Police.
