DEMOCRACY NOW!: In his first live broadcast interview since being released from ICE detention, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil tells Democracy Now! about his experience behind bars, the ongoing threat of deportation that hangs over him and why he continues to speak out against the U.S.-backed Israeli war on Gaza. The Columbia University graduate was the first pro-Palestinian campus protester to be jailed by the Trump administration. Khalil is now reunited with his wife Noor and newborn son Deen, after he was released on bail last month by a federal judge. Khalil says the Trump administration’s attempts to silence him are “a distraction from the genocide in Palestine.”

AMY GOODMAN: Mahmoud Khalil is lawful permanent resident green card holder who has not been charged with any crimes, yet he was held in a Jena, Louisiana, ICE jail for 104 days. This all comes amidst growing calls for Israel to be held accountable for alleged war crimes in Gaza, including attacks on hospitals. Mahmoud Khalil joins us now for his first live global broadcast since his release. Mahmoud, welcome to Democracy Now! MAHMOUD KHALIL: Thanks, Amy. Thanks for having me. AMY GOODMAN: So, I want to start with the same question I asked you at the airport: How does it feel to be free? MAHMOUD KHALIL: I mean, absolutely, it goes without saying, it feels – it feels good just to be reunited with the family and with my baby son. But at the same time, it feels difficult watching the Palestinian people, like, massacred, being massacred right now in Gaza. And this really adds more responsibility on me to continue advocating for the rights of the Palestinians. And this is what we should focus on right now, because my freedom is nothing compared to the suffering that the Palestinian people are going through right now in Palestine. And this is what the message should be, that whether it’s my arrest, whether the focus right now on immigration, it’s just like a distraction of what’s really happening in Palestine, that this administration is investing and funding war crimes in Gaza, that this administration is unconditionally supporting Israel, whether politically or militarily. This is what we should focus on rather than individual cases, I believe. AMY GOODMAN: Mahmoud, I’m wondering if you can take us back to March 8th, that day when you were taken by Homeland Security or federal agents. I don’t even know – at this point, do you know who it is that you were taken by? And what happened on that day, where you were? MAHMOUD KHALIL: Yeah, so, the Trump administration basically illegally ripped me away from my family, because they are simply trying to silence anyone speaking out against Israel atrocities against the Palestinians. The officers or the agents who kidnapped me did not introduce themselves. They said at first it’s police, then DHS, without giving any details, without even presenting an arrest warrant, which is the most basic thing that any law enforcement – any law enforcement should do in a country that proclaims justice and due process, which unfortunately did not happen. So, they basically kidnapped me and, for more than 30 hours, kept moving me from one place to another, literally moving me more than 1,400 miles across the country.

RealClearPolitics Videos