Mahmoud Khalil, recently released from immigration custody, on Sunday described the conditions of his detention and decried the “hypocrisy” of Columbia University, where he is a graduate student.
“Who is Mahmoud Khalil?” he asked as he spoke to the media and supporters on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, just a few blocks from Columbia.
“Mahmoud Khalil is a human rights defender. Mahmoud Khalil is a freedom fighter. Mahmoud Khalil is a refugee. Mahmoud Khalil is a father and husband. And, above all, Mahmoud Khalil is Palestinian,” he said.
Khalil flew back to the New York area Saturday after having spent 104 days in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana. He said Columbia University denied his request to host the news conference there.
Surrounded by his wife, his legal team and supporters, Khalil said that no one had privacy at the detention center and that it was common to hear emotional stories from other men.
“It’s often hard to find patience in ICE detention. The center is crowded with hundreds of people who are told that their existence is illegal, and not one of us knows when we can go free,” he said.
On the steps of the cathedral were hundreds of supporters joining in chants with Khalil, mainly repeating a sentence that he said kept him motivated in detention: “I believe that we will win.”
“I found myself literally scratching this into my bunk bed and looking at it as I fell asleep and as I woke up. I find myself repeating, repeating it even now, knowing that I have won in a small way by being free — by being free today,” he said.
The case of Khalil, a legal resident of the United States, drew national attention as the Trump administration began targeting pro-Palestinian student protesters following Hamas’ deadly terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The attack killed 1,200 people in Israel, according to Israeli tallies, and hundreds more were taken hostage. It also triggered a war in Gaza that has killed more than 55,000 people, many of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the enclave, which is run by Hamas. The World Health Organization considers the numbers credible.
Khalil was one of the student leaders at Columbia who was integral in the campus protests against the war.
“I must call the hypocrisy of Columbia University, a university that just two weeks ago said that they want to protect their international students. Why? While over 100 [days] later, I haven’t received a single call from this university,” he said.
Columbia University did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment about Khalil’s remarks Sunday night.
Khalil’s detainment caused him to miss the birth of his son.
“You may have taken time from us, but you did not take our spirit,” his wife, Noor Abdalla, said Sunday.
“One day, our son will know his father did not bow to fear,” she added.
On Friday, a federal judge ordered Khalil released and said he was not a threat to foreign policy or a flight risk, as the Trump administration argued.
Less than 10 minutes later, the White House appealed the decision.
“While I’m grateful to be here with you all, I must say that this is only the beginning of a longer fight towards justice. I want everyone to understand that my being here today is sweet, but it’s not a victory,” Khalil said Sunday.
“The wave of repression that the Trump administration initiated with my detention was intended to silence the movement for Palestinian liberation. It was intended to scare people into silence,” he said.
The government is appealing the order granting Khalil’s release, as well as a previous ruling that had preliminarily barred his detention and deportation. Khalil said Sunday that his legal team is prepared to continue to fight.
Asked by NBC News what his message is to students who might be fearful of protesting based on what happened to him, Khalil replied: “Students across the country have always led toward what’s right. They are our moral compass.”
“This happened during the Vietnam war, during apartheid South Africa. … That’s why the administration is doing everything in its power to suppress us — because we are literally winning,” he added.
After the news conference, he joined hundreds of supporters on a short march escorted by New York police.