Mahmoud Khalil vows to continue to ‘speak up for Palestine’ after release

Former Columbia University student was released from a detention centre on Friday after being held for more than three months.

Former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil has pledged to continue protesting Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as the United States’s support for Israel’s military operations.

Khalil, who was released on Friday night after being detained for more than three months at a detention centre, told reporters at New Jersey’s Newark International Airport on Saturday that the government was funding “this [Gaza] genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide”.

“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,” he said.

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

Born in Syria to Palestinian parents, Khalil, 30, was arrested by immigration agents at his university residence in March and swiftly became the image for President Donald Trump’s harsh crackdown on pro-Palestine student protesters and their possible deportation in the name of alleged anti-Semitism.

The government has claimed that the grounds to detain and deport Khalil, a legal US citizen, were that there were inaccuracies in his application for permanent residency.

But District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it was “highly, highly unusual” for the government to continue detaining a legal US resident who was unlikely to flee and had not been accused of any violence.

Under the terms of his release, Khalil is not allowed to leave the country except for “self-deportation” and faces restrictions on where he can go in the US.

The government condemned the decision to release Khalil and filed a notice that it was appealing the decision.