Mahmoud Khalil vows to continue protesting Israel, Gaza war after release

Newark: Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, recently released after more than three months in US immigration detention, was greeted with cheers at Newark International Airport on Saturday. Pushing his infant son's stroller and flanked by supporters—including US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—Khalil briefly addressed the crowd, vowing to continue his protest against Israel and the war in Gaza.

A former Columbia University graduate student, Khalil has become a prominent figure in the backlash against President Donald Trump’s crackdown on campus demonstrations. His return marked a powerful moment of defiance and renewed commitment to advocacy.

“The US government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide,” he said. “This is why I will continue to protest with every one of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention. Even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine.” Joining Khalil at the airport, Ocasio-Cortez said his detention violated the First Amendment and was “an affront to every American”. “He has been accused, baselessly, of horrific allegations simply because the Trump administration and our overall establishment disagrees with his political speech,” she said.

“The Trump administration knows that they are waging a losing legal battle,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “They are violating the law, and they know that they are violating the law.” Khalil, a 30-year-old legal resident whose wife gave birth during his 104 days of detention, said he also will speak up for the immigrants he left behind in the detention centre.

“Whether you are a citizen, an immigrant, anyone in this land, you're not illegal. That doesn't make you less of a human,” he said.

Khalil was not accused of breaking any laws during the protests at Columbia. However, the administration has said noncitizens who participate in such demonstrations should be expelled from the country for expressing views it considers to be antisemitic and “pro-Hamas”, referring to the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

Khalil was released after US District Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled that continuing to detain a legal resident with no history of violence and no flight risk would be “highly, highly unusual”. However, the government filed an appeal against the decision later that evening.

(inputs from PTI)