Mahmoud Khalil justifies Oct. 7, downplays antisemitism at Columbia, in NYT interview

The pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel US protest leader detained by ICE in March calls claims of hostility to Jews at NY university ‘manufactured hysteria,’ in discussion with Ezra Klein

Six weeks after being released from US federal detention, Mahmoud Khalil, the first pro-Palestinian protest leader to be arrested by President Donald Trump’s administration last spring, has defended Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023, and said concerns about antisemitism at Columbia University reflect a “manufactured hysteria.”

snip--------------------------------------------

“I would push back regarding antisemitism at Columbia. I would really push back on that,” replied Khalil, to which Klein responded: “There was none?”

“I wouldn’t say there was none. I would say there is this manufactured hysteria about antisemitism at Columbia because of the protests,” Khalil replied. He added: “Proud Boys were at the doors of Columbia, the very right-wing group. And there are incidents here and there. But it’s not like antisemitism is happening at Columbia because of the Palestine movement.”

There does not appear to be any evidence that members of the Proud Boys were at Columbia. A Columbia antisemitism task force reported last year that Jews experienced “crushing” discrimination on campus, much of it related to the pro-Palestinian protest movement.