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Judge Orders Anti-Israel Columbia Agitator Be Allowed Private Calls With Lawyers
Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, US, June 1, 2024. Photo: Jeenah Moon via Reuters Connect
A US judge on Wednesday ordered that a detained leading anti-Israel agitator at Columbia University in New York be allowed to have private phone calls with lawyers challenging his arrest by immigration authorities.
Mahmoud Khalil’s case has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s pledge to deport pro-Hamas college activists. Khalil’s lawyers argue the arrest violated his right to free speech under the US Constitution’s First Amendment and have urged his release.
At a hearing in Manhattan federal court, Khalil’s lawyer Ramzi Kassem said his client had been allowed just one call with his legal team from immigration detention in Louisiana. Kassem said the call was cut off prematurely and was on a line recorded and monitored by the government.
US District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that Khalil, 29, and his lawyers should have one phone call today and another one tomorrow covered by attorney-client privilege, meaning the government would not have access to their conversation.
Furman on Monday temporarily blocked Khalil’s deportation.
Furman said the calls would help Khalil’s lawyers prepare a revised petition challenging the constitutionality of his arrest on Saturday evening by Department of Homeland Security agents outside his university residence in Manhattan.
“Mr. Khalil was identified, targeted, detained and is being processed for deportation on account of his advocacy for Palestinian rights,” Kassem said in court.
Brandon Waterman, a lawyer for the government, said he had not been aware of any issues with Khalil’s access to his lawyers but would look into it.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan, holding signs reading “Release Mahmoud Khalil” and chanting “Down, down with deportation, up, up with liberation.”
Khalil, who is of Palestinian origin, came to the US on a student visa in 2022 and became a permanent resident last year.
He became a prominent member of Columbia’s protest movement against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza that followed the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
US President Donald Trump has alleged on social media that Khalil supported Hamas, but his administration has not charged him with a crime and has not provided any evidence to show Khalil’s alleged support for the Palestinian terrorist group.
The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, has the authority to order Khalil released from detention if he finds his rights were violated, according to legal experts.
Even if Khalil is released, deportation proceedings could nonetheless continue in a separate immigration court. Khalil would have the right to appeal an unfavorable ruling, a potentially lengthy process.
PROTECTED FREE SPEECH TEST
The case could ultimately test where immigration courts draw the line between protected free speech and alleged support for US-designated terrorist groups.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday told reporters that Secretary of State Marco Rubio could revoke Khalil’s green card if he determined his presence in the United States was contrary to the country’s national security and foreign policy interests.
Outside the courthouse on Wednesday, Khalil’s lawyer Kassem told reporters that Leavitt’s comment appeared to be a reference to a rarely-used legal provision that was not meant to silence dissent.
“It is not intended to be used to silence pro-Palestinian speech or any other speech that the government doesn’t like,” Kassem said.
The Trump administration says anti-Israel protests on college campuses, including Columbia, have included support for Hamas and antisemitic harassment of Jewish students. Student protest organizers say criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism.
Khalil’s lawyers have also asked Furman to order that he be returned to New York, after they say authorities transported him to immigration detention in Louisiana.
At the hearing, government lawyer Waterman said they planned to challenge Furman’s authority to decide the case. Waterman said Khalil’s petition should have been filed in Louisiana or in New Jersey, where he was initially brought after his arrest.
After the hearing, one of Khalil’s lawyers, Shezza Abboushi Dallal, read a statement from Khalil’s wife, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant and did not wish to be named.
“So many who know and love Mahmoud have come together, refusing to stay silent,” the statement read. “Their support is a testament to his character and to the deep injustice of what is being done to him.”
The post Judge Orders Anti-Israel Columbia Agitator Be Allowed Private Calls With Lawyers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.