Less than 48 hours after his release from a federal immigration facility in Louisiana, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil told supporters in Manhattan a phrase that sustained him through his three-month incarceration was “I believe that we will win.”
“I found myself literally scratching this into my bunk bed and looking at it as I fell asleep and as I woke up. I find myself repeating it, even now, knowing that I have won, in a small way, by being free today,” Khalil said Sunday from the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights.
“While I’m grateful to be here with you all,” he added. “I must say that this is only the beginning of a longer fight towards justice. I want everyone to understand that my being here today is sweet, but it is not a victory, not when Palestinians are still being killed under U.S. bombs.”
KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian protest leader Mahmoud Khalil, accompanied by his wife Noor Abdalla, arrives for a press conference outside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan on Sunday, two days after his release from US custody. (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
The refrain Khalil referred to was often chanted by activists at pro-Palestine demonstrations at Columbia University that Khalil helped lead and organize as a graduate student. The federal government has sought to deport Khalil, 30, a legal resident of the U.S. who has not been accused of any crimes, for his pro-Palestine student activism under an obscure and rarely-used immigration law that empowers the Secretary of State to deport anyone whose presence is considered adverse to U.S. foreign policy interests.
On Friday, New Jersey federal Judge Michael Farbiarz ruled the statute was so vague as to be unconstitutional, and ordered Khalil released.
“The wave of repression that the Trump administration initiated with my detention was intended to silent the movement for Palestinian liberation,” Khalil said. “It was intended to scare people into silence. It was intended to distract us from the fact that the U.S. government is a killing machine in Palestine and across the world.”
“But they completely failed,” he said. “Millions of people spoke up even louder. That it is our responsibility to end this genocide no matter the personal cost. And that is exactly what I will continue trying to do, so long as I’m able. So long as I’m breathing.”
Khalil’s wife Noor stood next to him as he addressed the crowd. His detainment by ICE forced him to miss the birth of his first child.
Khalil described the moments when he was first spirited away by ICE agents on March 8.
“It felt like I was literally being kidnapped, where you have plain clothes agents literally snatching you off your apartment building without introducing themselves,” he said. “Without introducing an arrest warrant,” Khalil said. “I was mostly concerned about my then-pregnant wife Noor that they basically cut me off any means of communication for over 30 hours. These 30 hours were the most difficult time in during the whole experience.
“That’s why this administration is so worried that they’re literally doing everything in their power to suppress us because we are winning. We are literally winning.”
AP Photo/Olga Fedorova
Supporters of Mahmoud Khalil rush towards him during a Manhattan rally on Sunday celebrating his return from immigration detention. (AP Photo/Olga Fedorova)
Khalil has vowed he will continue his activism on behalf of the Palestinian people.
“I don’t remember a time when I considered giving up because from the moment I was arrested,” he said. “I got arrested, I knew that my case is righteous, I’m righteous and my speech should be celebrated, not punished.”
At the same time, he has indicated he will also advocate for others swept up in the massive ICE raids.
“I shared a dorm with over 70 men. Absolutely no privacy. Lights on all the time,” he said of his time in the detention center. “I spent my days like listening to one tragic story after another. Listening to a father of four whose wife is battling cancer and he’s in detention. I listened to a story of an individual who had been in the United States for over 20 years — all his children are American — yet he’s deported. It’s so normal in detention to see men cry because they can’t understand why they are there.
“But as I will continue to fight for Palestine, I will continue to fight for their rights as well,” he said.
Originally Published: June 22, 2025 at 10:28 PM EDT
