Palestinian activist details 104 days spent in US custody
NEW YORK: Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent leaders of pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses, recounted his experience surviving 104 days in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention after being targeted for deportation by the Trump administration. 'I shared a dorm with over 70 men, absolutely no privacy, lights on all the time,' the 30-year-old said Sunday on the steps of Columbia University, where he was a graduate student.
Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to an American citizen and has a US-born son, had been in custody since March facing potential removal proceedings. He was freed from a federal immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana on Friday, hours after a judge ordered his release on bail. The activist was a figurehead of student protests at Columbia University against US ally the Zionist entity's war in Gaza, and the administration of Donald Trump labeled him a national security threat. 'It's so normal in detention to see men cry,' Khalil recalled, deeming the situation
'horrendous' and 'a stain on the US Constitution'. 'I spent my days listening to one tragic story after another: Listening to a father of four whose wife is battling cancer, and he's in detention,' Khalil detailed in his first protest appearance since regaining his freedom. 'I listened to a story of an individual who has been in the United States for over 20 years, all his children are American, yet he's deported.'
The circumstances of the detention were tough, Khalil described, and he took solace where he could find it to gain the strength to carry on. 'It is often hard to find patience in ICE detention,' Khalil said. 'The center is crowded with hundreds of people who are told that their existence is illegal, and not one of us knows when we can go free. 'At those moments, it was remembering a specific chant that gave me strength: 'I believe that we will win,'' he continued, to cheers from the audience.
Khalil said he even scratched the phrase into his detention center bunk bed as a reminder, being the last thing he saw when he went to sleep and the first thing he read waking up in the morning. He repeats it even now, 'knowing that I have won in a small way by being free today'. Khalil took specific aim at the site of his speech, Columbia University, chastising the institution for saying 'that they want to protect their international students, while over 100 (days) later, I haven't received a single call from this university'.
Khalil's wife Noor Abdalla, who gave birth to their son while her husband was held by ICE, said his 'voice is stronger now than it has ever been'. 'One day our son will know that his father did not bow to fear. He will know that his father stood up when it was hardest, and that the world stood with him,' Abdalla said. – AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
2 hours ago
- Arab Times
Ukraine says Russia launched biggest aerial attack since start of war
KYIV, Ukraine, June 29, (AP): Russia launched its biggest aerial attack against Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said Sunday, part of an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the 3-year-old war. Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, Ukraine's air force said. Of these, 249 were shot down and 226 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed. Yuriy Ihnat, head of communications for Ukraine's air force, told the Associated Press that the overnight onslaught was "the most massive air strike' on the country, taking into account both drones and various types of missiles. The attack targeted regions across Ukraine, including western Ukraine, far from the frontline. Poland and allied countries scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace, the Polish air force said Sunday. Kherson regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said one person died in a drone strike. Six people were wounded in Cherkasy, including a child, according to regional Gov. Ihor Taburets. In the Lviv region in the far west of Ukraine, a large-scale fire broke out at an industrial facility in the city of Drohobych following a drone attack that also forced parts of the city to lose power. The fresh attacks follow Russian President Vladimir Putin's saying Friday that Moscow is ready for a fresh round of direct peace talks in Istanbul. However, the war shows no signs of abating as US-led international peace efforts have so far produced no breakthrough. Two recent rounds of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul were brief and yielded no progress on reaching a settlement. Long-range drone strikes have been a hallmark of the war, now in its fourth year. The race by both sides to develop increasingly sophisticated and deadlier drones has turned the conflict into a testing ground for new weaponry.
Kuwait Times
7 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Kneecap perform at Glastonbury despite ban calls
GLASTONBURY: Irish rap trio Kneecap staged a defiant performance at Britain's Glastonbury Festival Saturday, days after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said they should not be performing there. The group has made headlines in recent months with their pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist stance, and one of their members has been charged with a 'terror' offence for allegedly supporting Hezbollah. 'Glastonbury, I'm a free man', said Liam O'Hanna, who appeared in court earlier this month accused of having displayed a Hezbollah flag while saying 'Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah' at a London concert last year. The Lebanese force Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas are banned in the UK, and it is an offence to express support for them. O'Hanna, known by his stage name Mo Chara, has denied the charge. 'This situation can be quite stressful but it's minimal compared to what the Palestinian people are (facing),' O'Hanna, wearing his trademark keffiyeh and black sunglasses told thousands of cheering supporters, many waving Palestinian flags. O'Hanna also gave 'a shout out' to Palestine Action Group, which interior minister Yvette Cooper announced last week would become a banned group under the Terrorism Act of 2000. Fellow band member DJ Provai wore a t-shirt dedicated to the campaign group, whose prohibition comes after its activists broke into a British Royal Air Force base and vandalized two planes. Before Kneecap took to the stage, rap punk duo Bob Vylan led the crowd in chants of 'Death, death to the IDF', a reference to the Zionist army. Later, Kneecap led the crowd chanting abuse directed at Starmer. Formed in 2017, Kneecap is no stranger to controversy. To their fans they are daring provocateurs who stand up to the establishment; to their detractors they are dangerous extremists. Their Irish and English lyrics are filled with references to drugs, they repeatedly clashed with the UK's previous Conservative government and have vocally opposed British rule in Northern Ireland. The group apologized this year after a 2023 video emerged appearing to show one singer calling for the death of British Conservative MPs. Two MPs have been murdered in Britain in the past nine years and many of them worry about their safety. But Kneecap deny the terrorism charge and say the video featuring the Hezbollah flag has been taken out of context. Asked whether he regretted waving it, and other comments caught on camera, Chara told the Guardian in an interview published Friday: 'Why should I regret it? It was a joke — we're playing characters.' Since O'Hanna was charged, the group has been pulled from a slew of summer gigs, including a Scottish festival appearance and various performances in Germany. But Glastonbury organizers defied Starmer who had said it was not 'appropriate' for Kneecap to perform at Glastonbury, one of the country's biggest and most famous music festivals. 'People that don't like the politics of the event can go somewhere else,' Michael Eavis, co-founder of the festival said in an article published in a free newspaper for festivalgoers. Public broadcaster the BBC faced pressure not to air the concert. In statement Saturday, a spokesperson for the broadcaster said the performance would not be shown live but would likely be available on demand afterwards. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch had said the BBC should not show Kneecap, and 30 music industry bosses asked organizers to pull the band from the line-up, according to a letter leaked by DJ Toddla T, cited by the Guardian newspaper. In response, more than 100 musicians have signed a public letter in support of the group. – Agencies
Kuwait Times
14 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Kuwait hosts UN event urging protection for aid workers in Gaza
Experts warn of escalating attacks on workers in Gaza, call for global efforts to deliver critical assistance GENEVA: Kuwait's permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva held a high-level event Thursday spotlighting the urgent need to protect humanitarian workers and ensure aid delivery in conflict zones, especially Gaza. The event, titled 'Humanitarian Access and Protection of Humanitarian Workers: A Pillar for Advancing Human Rights in Conflicts', was part of the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council. It drew broad participation from diplomats, UN officials, humanitarian experts, and NGO representatives. Kuwait's Ambassador to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Nasser Al-Hain, said the event reflects Kuwait's 'deep-rooted humanitarian approach and commitment to supporting multilateral humanitarian work.' 'Protecting humanitarian workers and ensuring aid reaches those in need are ethical and legal priorities the international community must uphold,' Al-Hain said in a statement to KUNA. He emphasized Kuwait's role as a hub for humanitarian work and its belief in diplomacy as a tool for peace and justice. Gaza at the center Speakers repeatedly highlighted the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the escalating dangers facing aid workers. UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Michael Fakhri warned of the growing use of starvation as a weapon of war. 'Starvation is now a tool to humiliate civilians and forcibly displace them by destroying food systems, farms, warehouses, and water infrastructure,' he said. He called for multinational peacekeeping forces to escort aid convoys under the UN General Assembly's Uniting for Peace mechanism. Patrick Duplat, Humanitarian Access Advisor at OCHA, expressed alarm over what he described as the 'militarization of humanitarian aid,' particularly in Gaza. 'Current mechanisms for delivering aid are military-led, obstructing humanitarian work and violating core humanitarian principles,' he said, urging member states to reassess how they fund humanitarian efforts. Grave toll Francesco Motta, Head of the Asia, Middle East and North Africa Branch at the UN Human Rights Office, described a 'moral and legal collapse in conflict zones,' citing systematic targeting of humanitarian workers. Since October 7, 2023, at least 467 aid workers have been killed by Zionist entity forces, including 317 staff from UNRWA, 47 from the Palestinian Red Crescent, and 97 from NGOs, he said. He added that 1,581 health workers, including women and civil defense members, have also been killed. 'No hospital in Gaza is operating fully anymore,' Motta warned, noting that a million people could soon face Phase 4 food insecurity, with nearly half a million on the brink of famine. He added that attacks on health workers were rising in the West Bank as well, with ambulances blocked and specialized medical care denied. Call for accountability Dr Altaf Musani, WHO's Director of Health Emergency Interventions, said over 8,630 attacks on health facilities and personnel have been recorded globally since 2018, resulting in 4,000 deaths and 6,000 injuries. He said 2025 has seen the highest number yet, with 1,528 attacks in Gaza and the West Bank alone. International law expert Marco Sassòli stressed that arbitrary denial of humanitarian aid is a violation of international humanitarian law. 'Starvation and discrimination are two sides of the same unlawful coin,' he told KUNA. He also reminded that humanitarian workers are civilians and must not be targeted, pointing to UN Security Council Resolution 2730 (2023), which calls for national and international accountability mechanisms. — KUNA
