Mahmoud Khalil credits Palestinian activism for reshaping US politics

Mahmoud Khalil says pro-Palestinian campus activism has shifted US public opinion and encouraged a generation of leaders to rethink their views on Israel. The 31-year-old Columbia graduate returned to campus on Tuesday for the first time since his March 8, 2025 arrest to discuss his memoir, No Land to Stand On: Notes from Detention. He called the event, attended by about 100 people, a “victory” but accused Columbia’s leadership of trying to erase Palestinian voices from campus. Immigration authorities arrested Khalil during a federal crackdown on foreign student activists and held him for three months without criminal charges, despite his US permanent residency.