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Anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil on Sunday bashed his alma mater Columbia University over its “hypocrisy” in claiming to support international students while leaving him to rot in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center for three months until his release last week.
“I must call the hypocrisy of Columbia University. A university that just two weeks ago said that they want to protect their international students,” lamented the 30-year-old, who was wearing a blue polo shirt emblazoned with “Lift the siege on Gaza,” as he spoke on the steps of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights, just blocks from the Ivy League’s campus where he helped spearhead anti-Israel encampments last year.
“While over 100 days later, I haven’t received a single call from this university.”
Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities on March 8 and spent 104 days at a rural Louisiana detention center as the Trump administration fought to deport the Syrian-born permanent US resident. He was released from federal custody Friday after a New Jersey judge ordered his release.
“I also must call out their double standards. How did we become targets of Israel-aligned groups?” he continued. “Because Columbia University failed to protect students. Columbia University, in fact, emboldened these individuals to continue to harass and harm students.”
The cathedral steps were packed with members of Khalil’s legal team, his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, 28, and his infant son, Deen, who was born while he was in ICE custody. Many supporters brought their own keffiyehs, Palestine flags and a sea of “Welcome home” signs mixed in with anti-ICE posters.
Khalil said he originally sought to hold the homecoming at Columbia, but school officials refused.
The Post reached out to Columbia for a comment.
“Columbia administrators never disappoint to disappoint. So, I’m not surprised. This is very shameful, because they are the ones who know me very well. They are the ones who, in private, in fact, tell me that there is anti-Palestinian racism in Columbia, that there is manufactured hysteria about antisemitism at Columbia University because of our protests, but they don’t dare to talk about that in public,” he insisted.
While spirits were high at the homecoming, Khalil was quick to note that his release was not the end of their fight.
“My being here today is sweet but it is not a victory,” he said.
While Khalil has been released from detention, there is still an order for his deportation from an immigration judge that his team continues to fight. The Trump administration is also trying to appeal the release order.
Khalil was held at an ICE detention center in Louisiana after the Trump administration deemed that he posed a significant threat to US foreign policy relations with Israel and the Middle East. After requesting his release, a judge found that his detention was likely unconstitutional and unjust.
He was freed on Friday after 104 days locked up. Khalil is a permanent resident with a green card, who is married to a US citizen and, now, a father to a son born in the US.
English (US)