Jailed Columbia activist denied release to attend son’s birth, says wife

Noor Abdalla, the wife of jailed Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, has announced the birth of their son.

On Monday evening, Noor released an statement saying, “I welcomed our son into the world earlier today without Mahmoud by my side. Despite our request for ICE to allow Mahmoud to attend the birth, they denied his temporary release to meet our son. This was a purposeful decision by ICE to make me, Mahmoud, and our son suffer.”

Mahmoud is currently being held in a detention centre in Louisiana, over 1,000 miles away from the New York hospital where Noor gave birth. The Department of Homeland Security denied his request to temporarily release him for the birth. Mahmoud was only able to witness this experience via phone.

Abdalla, a 28-year-old New York dentist, and her newborn baby boy, both are in good health.

NOOR VOWS TO FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

Noor has been vocal about her husband’s case since his arrest. She stated that the government is targeting Mahmoud due to his activism in favour of Palestinian rights.

Abdalla, who is an American-born citizen and raised in Michigan. Her parents immigrated to the US from Syria approximately 40 years ago.

“The Trump administration is trying to silence those who speak up for Palestinian rights,” she said earlier this month. “We will not be silenced. We will persist, with even greater resolve, and we will pass that strength on to our children and our children’s children – until Palestine is free.”

Despite welcoming her child without Mahmoud, Noor says she won’t stop fighting for her husband’s freedom. “I will continue to fight every day for Mahmoud to come home to us,” she said. “I know when Mahmoud is freed, he will show our son how to be brave, thoughtful, and compassionate, just like his dad.”

Khalil was detained on 8 March on the basis that he is deemed to be a threat to US foreign policy. Earlier this month, an immigration judge ruled that Khalil can be deported from the United States.