I am a political prisoner
Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student arrested by US immigration officials, has claimed to be a political prisoner. The Palestinian youth compared the process of detaining immigrants in this way to Israel’s extrajudicial detention system.
Mahmoud Khalil made these remarks in a statement sent from a detention center in Louisiana, USA, on Tuesday local time. This is his first public statement since his arrest. Khalil was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from his university residence last Saturday.
In the statement, Khalil said, “I am a political prisoner. I spend my days waking up on a cold Louisiana morning and seeing people detained here, who are deprived of the protection of the law.”
Mahmoud Khalil is currently being held at an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana. There he is awaiting trial. He compared his detention to the torture of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons without trial for years. He said, “Destiny has crossed that line, even though they are far from the land of Palestine. They have to continue fighting for their rights.”
He said in the statement that they (Palestinians) are being held without trial and without a trial, and he (Khalil) is no exception. However, he said that no one can get their rights in this US immigration center.
US President Donald Trump, upon returning to the White House for the second time on January 20, had promised to expel some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia University last year. He called this movement “anti-Semitic.”
The 30-year-old Palestinian youth was the first victim of Trump’s campaign to stop the so-called anti-Semitic protests at Columbia University. Mahmoud Khalil is a student at the university’s School of International and Public Affairs. He has a green card to permanently reside in the United States. But the US administration has said that the process of revoking his green card is underway. For now, a federal judge has stayed the process of deporting him.
In the statement sent through his friends and family, Mahmoud Khalil protested the US administration’s inhumane treatment of immigrants in detention centers. He expressed anger over the resumption of Israeli attacks in Gaza. He also criticized Columbia University for bowing to the administration and punishing its own students.
According to the Trump administration, Khalil’s arrest marks the beginning of a campaign to expel foreign students accused of creating a frightening environment for Jewish students on campus.
However, many human rights activists and Khalil’s lawyers have called Washington’s move an attack on freedom of expression and an attempt to suppress pro-Palestinian opinions.
In the statement, Khalil also said that his arrest was a direct violation of freedom of speech. He was not involved in any criminal activity. “I just wanted the genocide in Palestine to stop. That’s why I was arrested,” he said. Khalil said that he was taken in front of his eight-month pregnant wife, Noor Abdallah. He was not even shown a warrant, he was taken in an unmarked car. He was very worried about his pregnant wife.
This young Palestinian said that the movement they held last spring to stop the Israeli aggression in Gaza was thwarted by the US administration. Now Israel has started a new barbarity.
Khalil expressed his regret that the Palestinians will once again have to endure endless suffering and the pain of losing their relatives. Meanwhile, his lawyers have called his arrest a complete violation of the constitution. They filed an amended petition to this effect last week. They said Khalil was not charged with any crime and did not break any law.
The lawyers also alleged that the Trump administration is unfairly retaliating against Khalil. A member of the Center for Constitutional Rights and Khalil’s lawyer said, “This so-called anti-Semitic campaign by the Trump administration with Khalil is just the beginning. Many more will face this problem in the future. But at the beginning, they have arrested a fearless and principled organizer who is deeply loved and trusted by his community.”
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