Detained Columbia activist misses birth of his 1st child after release request denied

Record ID: 1969936

  • Title: Detained Columbia activist misses birth of his 1st child after release request denied
  • Date: 22nd April 2025
  • Summary: Detained Columbia activist misses birth of his 1st child after release request denied SHOTLIST: NEW YORK, US (JUNE 2, 2024) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL) (FILE FOOTAGE) 1. PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTORS AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (TWO SHOTS) 2. SOUNDBITE (English) STUDENT AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, MAHMOUD KHALIL SAYING: "Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. This weekend, a group of Palestinians supported the students, supported by the Columbia community, established a new encampment style installation called Revolve for Rubber installation. One amid the school's alumni reunion. Within minutes of our set up, however, the students were violently attacked by public safety without any warnings. The school public safety officers invaded the camp and aggressively tore down the tents and injured students. They refused any attempts to talk and deliberately broke the poles, holding up the tents and their attempts to deter the students from expressing their rage at the genocide of the Palestinian people. Public safety injured two students. The university only deal with us has been any matter. They don't want to engage with any with any of the students. The images coming out of Rafah where beyond human imagination decapitated babies, children in cars and reduced to ashes that can be held in the palm of one hand. The massacres in Rafah, using American made weapons, have impacted Palestinian students greatly. And we have heard nothing, nothing from the university, no condemnation, no expressions of fear, silence from the university. And while every university in Gaza has ceased, has been destroyed. Your expressions of care for academic freedom this and this continues. Your silence on this, on the death of your academic colleagues is shameful. Despite the anguish and despair we have gathered peacefully in community to grieve and feel safe with one another, we have created the only safe space for Palestinians on this campus with no help from the university. Camp activities have included art installation, lotteries, movie screenings and teaches one particular art project that we would like to draw attention to is the paper mache replica of a £2,000 rocket dropped on the fence in Rafah. We want to draw attention to what the university. This university is invested in, which is that.. and we want to be clear, this is not a disruption directed at the alumni reunion, but a request for the alumni to join to join us in questioning where University funds our tuition and their donation are going. Specifically because of the lack of transparency from the university, we are led to assume that the university's $13.6 billion endowment invested in companies that profit from war or manufacturing, weapon manufacturing and genocide. We're asking alumni to condemn the university's president and board of trustees for colluding with billionaires who have been actively engaged with the Israeli war cabinet and directing them to send an militarized NYPD police force on American students they are supposed to protect. Where do your loyal loyalties lie with peaceful American students or with a foreign government? Demands have remained the same around divestment, boycott, amnesty for everyone, stopping the genocide in Gaza and supporting Palestinian students. Since the end of the last encampment, the university has not reached out to us, implying that they were disingenuous in their negotiation and they only cared about securing the South Lawn for graduation. And instead of expressing safety and care for Palestinian students who have been directly impacted by the terror of the Zionist state. Since our first encampment, the main message was Gaza. Now the main the main message is Rafah. And we want to keep this centralized Palestine. What's happening in Palestine is centralized." SCRIPT Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate of Columbia University who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers for his participation in pro-Palestinian protests, was barred from attending the birth of his first child Monday after immigration authorities denied a request for his temporary release, his wife said in a statement. In a statement shared with Anadolu, Noor Abdalla called the decision “purposeful” and accused the agency of attempting to punish her family. “Despite our request for ICE to allow Mahmoud to attend the birth, they denied his temporary release to meet our son,” she said. “This was a purposeful decision by ICE to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer.” “ICE and the Trump administration have stolen these precious moments from our family in an attempt to silence Mahmoud’s support for Palestinian freedom,” she said. Abdalla said her husband is being “unjustly detained” more than 1,000 miles away from their home and newborn child, adding: "My son and I should not be navigating his first days on earth without Mahmoud." According to CNN, Khalil was able to experience his son's birth on the phone, citing a spokesperson from his legal team. Both Abdalla and the baby are reported to be in good health. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately comment on the matter. Khalil, 30, a green card holder, who helped organize campus protests last year, was arrested by ICE agents on March 8 at his university-owned apartment in New York City, where he lived with his then-pregnant wife, a US citizen. While the Trump administration has accused Khalil of engaging in “activities aligned with Hamas,” no evidence has been presented in court to support the claim. He has not been charged with any crime. Earlier this month, an immigration judge ruled that Khalil is removable from the US, a decision his lawyers are appealing. His legal team is also pursuing a separate federal case challenging the legality of his detention and seeking his release.
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