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Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent student‑protest leader who has campaigned against the war in Gaza, returned to Columbia University on Tuesday for the first time since his arrest in March 2025. Khalil, 31, was born in Syria to Palestinian parents and holds permanent resident status in the United States. Khalil was detained in March 2025 by U.S. immigration authorities on the grounds that he posed a threat to U.S. foreign‑policy interests. He spent three months in custody without formal charges and was released in June 2025. During his detention, he was not charged with any crime. At a recent event where Khalil spoke about his experiences, he said to AFP that his presence before a crowd of about a hundred attendees was a “victory.” He accused Columbia of attempting to silence Palestinian voices on campus, saying the university had “banned me, erased any Palestinian voice on campus.” Khalil also criticized Columbia’s handling of student protests in 2024, when the university allowed New York City police to forcibly clear demonstrators from its Manhattan campus. Columbia had described the protests as a security threat. Khalil further alleged that the university failed to protect him from harassment before his arrest. “Columbia could have been an example of how to have difficult conversations on campus, how to respond to a protest of this type, how to align with human rights and international law,” he told AFP. “They chose the opposite. They chose brutality. They chose repression.” Some Jewish advocacy groups on social media expressed opposition to Khalil’s return. In response, a Columbia spokesperson said the university remains “committed to rigorous debate, research, and respectful dialogue among divergent perspectives.” Article source: Clarin Digital | Image credit: Clarin Digital
Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent student‑protest leader who has campaigned against the war in Gaza, returned to Columbia University on Tuesday for the first time since his arrest in March 2025. Khalil, 31, was born in Syria to Palestinian parents and holds permanent resident status in the United States. Khalil was detained in March 2025 by U.S. immigration authorities on the grounds that he posed a threat to U.S. foreign‑policy interests. He spent three months in custody without formal charges and was released in June 2025. During his detention, he was not charged with any crime. At a recent event where Khalil spoke about his experiences, he said to AFP that his presence before a crowd of about a hundred attendees was a “victory.” He accused Columbia of attempting to silence Palestinian voices on campus, saying the university had “banned me, erased any Palestinian voice on campus.” Khalil also criticized Columbia’s handling of student protests in 2024, when the university allowed New York City police to forcibly clear demonstrators from its Manhattan campus. Columbia had described the protests as a security threat. Khalil further alleged that the university failed to protect him from harassment before his arrest. “Columbia could have been an example of how to have difficult conversations on campus, how to respond to a protest of this type, how to align with human rights and international law,” he told AFP. “They chose the opposite. They chose brutality. They chose repression.” Some Jewish advocacy groups on social media expressed opposition to Khalil’s return. In response, a Columbia spokesperson said the university remains “committed to rigorous debate, research, and respectful dialogue among divergent perspectives.”
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