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No Land to Stand On: Notes from Detention
A revelatory and powerful testament of protest, courage, and imprisonment in America’s deportation regime.
This program is read by the author with Daoud Heidami.
“Are you Mahmoud Khalil?” The question marked the start of a politically charged odyssey that took the Palestinian graduate student and legal resident from his pregnant wife and home in New York City, transported him across the country, and locked him up in a Louisiana detention camp under threat of deportation. His “crime”: exercising his right to free speech at Columbia University, where he emerged as a leading voice against the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. No Land to Stand On is his indelible account, the story of a man confronting the reality that he had become target number one for a lawless regime shredding basic rights.
Drawing on his prison diary and writing in vivid detail, Mahmoud Khalil conjures the despair and cruelty of ICE detention, where prisoners can vanish overnight and visiting families risk their own deportation. There is humanity, too, in the men’s acts of care—their mutual help with documents, the prison cake they make after Mahmoud can only follow the birth of his son on the public payphone. In tandem, he tells the multigenerational story of a family expelled from Palestine to a Syrian refugee camp, of flight from Assad’s regime to Lebanon, of arrival in an America that promised permanence and protection, and of the enduring struggle for Palestine.
A work of courage and resistance, No Land to Stand On is a call to integrity, to staying true to one’s life’s mission, and to defending the inalienable right to safety, freedom, and a land to stand on.
A Macmillan Audio production from Metropolitan Books
This program is read by the author with Daoud Heidami.
“Are you Mahmoud Khalil?” The question marked the start of a politically charged odyssey that took the Palestinian graduate student and legal resident from his pregnant wife and home in New York City, transported him across the country, and locked him up in a Louisiana detention camp under threat of deportation. His “crime”: exercising his right to free speech at Columbia University, where he emerged as a leading voice against the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. No Land to Stand On is his indelible account, the story of a man confronting the reality that he had become target number one for a lawless regime shredding basic rights.
Drawing on his prison diary and writing in vivid detail, Mahmoud Khalil conjures the despair and cruelty of ICE detention, where prisoners can vanish overnight and visiting families risk their own deportation. There is humanity, too, in the men’s acts of care—their mutual help with documents, the prison cake they make after Mahmoud can only follow the birth of his son on the public payphone. In tandem, he tells the multigenerational story of a family expelled from Palestine to a Syrian refugee camp, of flight from Assad’s regime to Lebanon, of arrival in an America that promised permanence and protection, and of the enduring struggle for Palestine.
A work of courage and resistance, No Land to Stand On is a call to integrity, to staying true to one’s life’s mission, and to defending the inalienable right to safety, freedom, and a land to stand on.
A Macmillan Audio production from Metropolitan Books
Audible Audio
Published September 29, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Powerful examination of the American government’s efforts to detain and remove a legally present (I.e. green card) person (the author) based on denial of his right to free speech guaranteed under the Constitution.
I listened to this book read by the author detailing his 104 days (March 8 to June 20, 2025) in ICE detention in Louisiana. Khalil acted as a go-between for Columbia student groups protesting the war in Gaza and Columbia administration which is pro-Israeli. The right to free speech is guaranteed under the first amendment but the Trump administration singled Khalil out to make an example of him saying his sentiments were a security risk (so bogus).
The book details the conditions of incarceration - a cold filthy environment where one is given flimsy bed coverings, where air conditioning constantly blows, awful food (after all these private prisons are only here to make money for their billionaire owners; can’t be too kind if you want to make a profit). He also documents the friendships he made showing that people of different races and cultures can come together. These seemed to be to be the most heartening moments.
The government’s cruelty in not allowing Khalil to get a leave to be at his son’s birth and then even trying to not allow him a contact visit with him is just so disgusting - the cruelty of it incensed me more than anything. In fact this whole book left me so angry.
I gave this book five stars because its topic is relevant and important, because it provided information about the Columbia protests that were unknown to me and because this is such an important book beyond just the ICE story - our freedom of speech is being eroded and perverted and we must stand up to this. Highly recommend.
My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me access to this important ARC.
I listened to this book read by the author detailing his 104 days (March 8 to June 20, 2025) in ICE detention in Louisiana. Khalil acted as a go-between for Columbia student groups protesting the war in Gaza and Columbia administration which is pro-Israeli. The right to free speech is guaranteed under the first amendment but the Trump administration singled Khalil out to make an example of him saying his sentiments were a security risk (so bogus).
The book details the conditions of incarceration - a cold filthy environment where one is given flimsy bed coverings, where air conditioning constantly blows, awful food (after all these private prisons are only here to make money for their billionaire owners; can’t be too kind if you want to make a profit). He also documents the friendships he made showing that people of different races and cultures can come together. These seemed to be to be the most heartening moments.
The government’s cruelty in not allowing Khalil to get a leave to be at his son’s birth and then even trying to not allow him a contact visit with him is just so disgusting - the cruelty of it incensed me more than anything. In fact this whole book left me so angry.
I gave this book five stars because its topic is relevant and important, because it provided information about the Columbia protests that were unknown to me and because this is such an important book beyond just the ICE story - our freedom of speech is being eroded and perverted and we must stand up to this. Highly recommend.
My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me access to this important ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Mahmoud Khalil’s soon-to-be-released memoir is one of the heaviest and most important books I’ll finish this year. And listening to him read his story aloud is powerful. I am grateful to have received an advance copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio.
For those unfamiliar, Khalil is the Columbia graduate student (and legal US resident) who was detained by ICE for exercising his right to free speech in support of Palestine during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia. His memoir tells the story of his detention, and provides the history of his family, from Palestine to a refugee camp in Syria, from Lebanon to the promise of America.
His harrowing journey through the detention process is hard to read, but so necessary. He kept a diary during his imprisonment and calls on that regularly to take us to his headspace in the moment. He watches his fellow prisoners vanish, misses the birth of his son, and works with lawyers to fight his deportation to a country he has never known. I loved that Khalil showed everything – from the horrid conditions in the private prisons where he lives to the generosity among detainees. Both humanity and its lack are on full display.
His story is devastating and his courage in the face of this terror is unflinching. Mahmoud Khalil has offered us a gift – the gift of seeing things as they are in America right now. Everyone should read this book. Thanks to Macmillan Audio, Mahmoud Khalil, and NetGalley for providing this copy of No Land to Stand On for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
For those unfamiliar, Khalil is the Columbia graduate student (and legal US resident) who was detained by ICE for exercising his right to free speech in support of Palestine during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia. His memoir tells the story of his detention, and provides the history of his family, from Palestine to a refugee camp in Syria, from Lebanon to the promise of America.
His harrowing journey through the detention process is hard to read, but so necessary. He kept a diary during his imprisonment and calls on that regularly to take us to his headspace in the moment. He watches his fellow prisoners vanish, misses the birth of his son, and works with lawyers to fight his deportation to a country he has never known. I loved that Khalil showed everything – from the horrid conditions in the private prisons where he lives to the generosity among detainees. Both humanity and its lack are on full display.
His story is devastating and his courage in the face of this terror is unflinching. Mahmoud Khalil has offered us a gift – the gift of seeing things as they are in America right now. Everyone should read this book. Thanks to Macmillan Audio, Mahmoud Khalil, and NetGalley for providing this copy of No Land to Stand On for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
October 19, 2026
No Land to Stand On. Notes from Detention
Mahmoud Khalil
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
ARC courtesy of Macmillan Audio and NetGalley.
No Land to Stand On. Notes from Detention is an account of the author’s 104 days of detention following his arrest at the height of the Columbia University protest in March of 2025. Narrated by the author, this book is a powerful indictment of our current political state, and the struggles that face American society. If you believe that there are two sides to every story, and that each deserves to be heard, then this is a must read.
Mahmoud Khalil
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
ARC courtesy of Macmillan Audio and NetGalley.
No Land to Stand On. Notes from Detention is an account of the author’s 104 days of detention following his arrest at the height of the Columbia University protest in March of 2025. Narrated by the author, this book is a powerful indictment of our current political state, and the struggles that face American society. If you believe that there are two sides to every story, and that each deserves to be heard, then this is a must read.
October 30, 2026
Powerful and so important.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews