A former Columbia University graduate student who led mass anti-Israel protests on campus downplayed the October 7th Hamas massacres in a recent podcast interview, describing the rape, butchery, and slaughter of Israeli civilians as a cry for help from Gazans.

Mahmoud Khalil, who was born in Syria to parents of Palestinian descent, was arrested in March by immigration officials, at the behest of the Trump administration, for violating the terms of his student visa by expressing support for the Hamas terror group.

Khalil, who became a progressive cause célèbre during three months of detention in an immigration facility, was released on bond in June while his case remains pending.