Mahmoud Khalil credits Palestinian activism for reshaping US politics

Khalil returned to Columbia University to discuss memoir detailing his arrest and detention by ICE agents.

Mahmoud Khalil speaks during a news conference in New York on July 14, 2026 [File: Seth Wenig/AP Photo]

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil says campus advocacy has shifted public perception and encouraged a generation of leaders to question their views on Israel, speaking as he returned to Columbia University for the first time since his arrest.

The 31-year-old Columbia graduate, who became a figurehead of the campus movement that swept the United States in 2024, returned to campus on Tuesday to discuss his new memoir, No Land to Stand On: Notes from Detention , marking his first visit since his arrest on March 8, 2025.

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“The American public is finally changing, is finally looking at the Palestinian as an equal human,” he told the AFP news agency in an interview.

While Khalil described the event, attended by about 100 people, as a “victory”, he accused university leadership of seeking “to erase me, to erase any Palestinian voices on campus”.

Some Jewish groups on social media opposed his return to campus. In response, a Columbia spokesperson said the university is “committed to rigorous debate, inquiry, and respectful dialogue across differing perspectives”.

“Columbia supports the right of faculty members to organize academic events,” the statement carried by US media read. “An invitation to speak does not signify university endorsement of a speaker’s views.”

Khalil helped lead student demonstrations at Columbia in 2024, which became the epicentre of nationwide campus protests against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. He was later arrested by immigration authorities at the height of a federal crackdown on foreign student activists and held for three months without criminal charge, despite holding permanent US residency.

He has repeatedly slammed the university for its handling of the demonstrations , which included authorising the New York Police Department to clear protesters from the Manhattan campus.

“They chose brutality. They chose repression,” Khalil told AFP.

Columbia maintained at the time that the demonstrations presented a safety threat. Khalil also accused the university of failing to protect him from harassment prior to his detention.

Despite the personal toll, Khalil credited Palestinian student advocacy with driving broader political shifts in the United States, pointing to gains by progressive candidates.

“Also, we can see on the ground that we have more progressive candidates being elected into US Congress and positions of power,” he said, citing candidates like Dr Abdul El-Sayed, running for the US Senate in Michigan, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Mahmoud Khalil arrives for the public swearing-in ceremony for Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York on January 1, 2026 [File: Heather Khalifa/AP Photo]

Khalil was released from immigration custody on June 20, 2025, though the Trump administration continues to seek his deportation .

“A big part of my fight is like fighting for normalcy,” he said. “To go back to being the young father who would go to the park with his son and wife, and no one would bother them.”

Despite the ongoing legal battle, he expressed resolve over his public role.

“My fight is not only about whether I get to stay in this country,” Khalil said. “It is about whether, you know, people in this country can speak their minds.”

哈利勒回到哥伦比亚大学，讨论他的回忆录，书中详细描述了他被美国移民及海关执法局特工逮捕和拘留的经历。

2026年7月14日，马哈茂德·哈利勒在纽约举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。[图片：Seth Wenig/AP Photo]

亲巴勒斯坦活动家马哈茂德·哈利勒表示，校园倡导活动改变了公众的看法，并鼓励一代领导人质疑他们对以色列的看法。这是他自被捕以来首次回到哥伦比亚大学发表讲话。

这位 31 岁的哥伦比亚大学毕业生，在 2024 年成为席卷全美的校园运动的领军人物，于周二重返校园，讨论他的新回忆录《无处立足：拘留笔记》，这是他自 2025 年 3 月 8 日被捕以来的首次访问。

美国法官驳回特朗普驱逐亲巴勒斯坦学生的动议（共3条，此为第1条）

列表 2/3 “哥伦比亚大学漠不关心”：马哈茂德·哈利勒提起歧视诉讼

问题 3（共 3 题）：亲巴勒斯坦活动家马哈茂德·哈利勒为何起诉哥伦比亚大学？

“美国公众终于开始改变，终于开始把巴勒斯坦人视为平等的人，”他在接受法新社采访时表示。

哈利勒将这场约有 100 人参加的活动描述为一次“胜利”，但他指责大学领导层试图“抹杀我，抹杀校园里所有巴勒斯坦人的声音”。

一些犹太团体在社交媒体上反对他重返校园。对此，哥伦比亚大学发言人回应称，该校“致力于开展严谨的辩论、探究和尊重不同观点的对话”。

美国媒体报道的声明称：“哥伦比亚大学支持教职员工组织学术活动的权利。邀请演讲并不代表大学认可演讲者的观点。”

2024年，哈利勒协助领导了哥伦比亚大学的学生示威活动，这些活动后来成为全美校园抗议以色列在加沙发动种族灭绝战争的中心。之后，在联邦政府严厉打击外国学生维权人士的高峰期，他被移民当局逮捕，尽管持有美国永久居留权，却被拘留了三个月，且未被提出任何刑事指控。

他多次抨击大学对示威活动的处理方式，其中包括授权纽约警察局将抗议者从曼哈顿校园清除出去。

“他们选择了残暴，他们选择了镇压，”哈利勒告诉法新社。

哥伦比亚大学当时坚称，这些示威活动构成安​​全威胁。哈利勒还指责该大学在他被拘留前未能保护他免受骚扰。

尽管付出了个人代价，但哈利勒认为巴勒斯坦学生的倡导推动了美国更广泛的政治变革，并指出进步派候选人取得了胜利。

“此外，我们也可以看到，越来越多的进步派候选人当选进入美国国会和担任要职，”他说道，并列举了密歇根州参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德博士和纽约市市长佐兰·马姆达尼等候选人。

2026年1月1日，马哈茂德·哈利勒抵达纽约，参加佐兰·马姆达尼市长的公开宣誓就职仪式。[图片：Heather Khalifa/AP Photo]

哈利勒于 2025 年 6 月 20 日从移民拘留所获释，但特朗普政府仍在寻求将其驱逐出境。

“我抗争的很大一部分意义在于争取正常的生活，”他说。“我想回到年轻时的状态，带着儿子和妻子去公园，没有人会打扰他们。”

尽管法律纠纷仍在进行，但他仍表达了履行其公共职责的决心。

“我的抗争不仅仅关乎我能否留在这个国家，”哈利勒说，“而是关乎这个国家的人民能否自由表达自己的想法。”