Khalil calls the attacks ‘desperate attempts to be heard’ during first broadcast interview since release from ICE custody
In his first broadcast interview since his release from detention, Mahmoud Khalil blamed the United States’ “unconditional support” of Israel for the recent string of anti-Semitic attacks.
“What is happening is a direct result of the U.S. unconditional [sic] support to Israel. People want to be heard. And unfortunately, they are [resorting] to violence to do that,” Khalil told ABC News anchor Linsey Davis on Monday. Khalil initially condemned violence, but immediately pivoted and excused it.
Davis asked Khalil if he agreed that “it is never okay to use violence to express yourself.” He said “definitely,” but added that anti-Semitic attacks are “desperate attempts to be heard.”
“There is no place for any form of racism, including anti-blackness, anti-Semitism in the Palestine movement,” Khalil said.
Anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. have risen exponentially since Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault, including a recent string of high-profile terror attacks motivated by the pro-Palestinian movement. In the past month, a shooter killed two Israeli embassy employees, and a firebomber injured 15 peaceful Israeli hostage supporters. In April, an arsonist set Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s residence ablaze
Khalil himself was a leader in anti-Semitic protests at Columbia University, serving as a negotiator during spring 2024 encampments. Video footage placed him at an illegal protest at Barnard College—during which agitators disseminated Hamas propaganda—just days before his March arrest.
Khalil, a Syrian native and Algerian national who worked for the Hamas-tied United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees during the Oct. 7 attack, was released on bail Friday after spending more than three months in ICE custody, though deportation proceedings are ongoing. The Trump administration had revoked his visa and green card as part of its crackdown on student visa holders who support terror groups.
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