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Columbia professor rips activist Mahmoud Khalil for ‘lying to American public’
Columbia professor Ran Kivetz joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil comparing the school’s leadership to Nazi collaborators.
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Mahmoud Khalil, the accused ringleader of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, denied all allegations brought against him during a court hearing on Tuesday as the Trump administration moves to deport the outspoken anti-Israel agitator.
On Tuesday, Khalil met at the LaSalle Immigration Court in Jena, Louisiana, with his team of attorneys as the government pursues his deportation due to his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year. He is currently detained at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, located four hours from New Orleans.
About 35 people attended the hearing, including his wife, Noor Abdalla. Six wore pro-Palestinian scarves. As it ended, Khalil nodded toward them.
The Department of Homeland Security has until 6 p.m. Wednesday to submit evidence supporting his removability ahead of his next hearing, which is scheduled for Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m.
PALESTINIAN PROTESTER MAHMOUD KHALIL EXCORIATES COLUMBIA IN OP-ED
Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil talks to the press during a briefing organized by pro-Palestinian protesters who set up an encampment at Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus on Friday evening, in New York City, United States on June 1, 2024. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder who is married to a U.S. citizen, was detained by ICE last month for his involvement in the pro-Palestinian protests that erupted at Columbia.
A judge recently ruled that his hearing will take place in New Jersey, rather than where he is being held in Louisiana. Khalil’s attorney alleged that federal prosecutors transferred the graduate’s case to a Louisiana court, aiming to increase their chances of a favorable ruling from judges there.
Baher Amzy, attorney for Mahmoud Khalil, speaks to members of the media outside of the Thurgood Marshall US Courthouse in New York, US, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The hearing came on the heels of Khalil’s blistering op-ed published in the school’s newspaper on Friday. The op-ed, titled simply “A letter to Columbia,” accused the institution of “laying the groundwork for my abduction.”
He went on to compare President Donald Trump’s crackdown on anti-Israel protesters to Columbia’s own apathy toward Palestinians, listing other students who have been “snatched by the state.”
VIDEO SHOWS ARREST OF COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL
“The situation is oddly reminiscent of when I fled the brutality of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and sought refuge in Lebanon,” Khalil wrote. “The logic used by the federal government to target myself and my peers is a direct extension of Columbia’s repression playbook concerning Palestine.”
WATCH: Mahmoud Khalil makes ‘preposterous’ accusation in op-ed
He went on to accuse Columbia administrators of manufacturing “public hysteria about antisemitism without once mentioning the tens of thousands of Palestinians murdered under bombs made of your dollars.”
IVY LEAGUE ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL WITHHELD DETAILS OF FOREIGN TIES FROM VISA APPLICATION: FEDS
The message came weeks after ICE agents detained Khalil in New York City in early March.
He is the first in the Trump administration’s crusade to revoke student visas for participating in protests. DHS alleged that he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”
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Anti-Israel agitators construct an encampment on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Peter Gerber)
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Pro-Palestinian supporters rally outside Columbia University on April 23, 2024 in New York City. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
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Student protesters march around their encampment on the Columbia University campus, Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
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NYPD officers line up outside Columbia University, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
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A pro-Palestine rally is held at the steps of Lowe Library on the grounds of Columbia University on April 22, 2024 in New York City. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
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A Columbia student looks at damage to windows of a door at Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The anti-Israel protests wreaked havoc on college campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, leading to Trump’s campaign promise to revoke foreigners’ student visas.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump is quoted in a fact sheet issued by the White House. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Khalil’s attorney, Baher Amzy, for comment.
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital.
Sarah joined FOX in 2021, where she has assisted on coverage of breaking and major news events across the US and around the world, including the fallout following the “Defund the police” movement, the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump’s life and illegal immigration.
She has experience reporting on topics including crime, politics, business, lifestyle, world news and more. You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.