In his new memoir No Land to Stand On: Notes From Detention, Mahmoud Khalil explicitly states that he doesn’t identify as an activist. Still, as his sold-out appearance at the First Congregational Church of Oakland made clear, he’s inspired many people to action.
During the book-signing portion of Saturday’s event, Gilda Posada, from Sacramento, presented Khalil with a poster she’d made. Pictured on it was his face surrounded by flowers, with the words “No ICE” and “Hands Off Students.” Posada distributed the posters at protests in the spring of 2025, while Khalil sat in ICE detention for more than three months.
“I’m Chicana, so there’s a lot of similarities between our struggles and Palestinian struggles,” Posada said. “The Bay Area is standing against ICE and everything that they’ve done to terrorize our communities.”…