Anti-Israel Activist Sues Columbia University for Discrimination
Mahmoud Khalil alleges the university fostered a hostile environment for pro-Palestinian students, contributing to his detainment and attempted deportation.
Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil has filed a lawsuit against Columbia University, alleging that the institution fostered an environment of hostility towards students holding pro-Palestinian views and subsequently retaliated against him. Khalil, a former student at Columbia, claims the university exhibited "deliberate indifference" to harassment directed at him and other members of the SIPA Palestine Working Group due to their advocacy.
The lawsuit states that the university's alleged inaction created an environment perceived as hostile towards students who were identified as Muslims, Arabs, non-citizens, immigrants, or associated with those groups. Khalil asserts that this alleged indifference directly led to his detainment by the Trump administration in 2025 and his subsequent attempted deportation.
According to the lawsuit, during his detainment, Columbia University allegedly refused to correct misinformation regarding Khalil's role as a negotiator during student protests. This, he claims, allowed a false narrative about his conduct to persist, contributing to peer-on-peer harassment of other pro-Palestinian students and those with perceived shared Arab or Muslim ancestry.
Khalil was initially arrested at his university-owned apartment over his activism. Homeland Security Investigations informed him at the time that his green card was being revoked. He was held in a detention center in Louisiana for 104 days before a federal judge ordered his release. However, a U.S. appeals panel later ruled that the judge had overstepped his authority, stating the case must proceed through the immigration court system.
In July, Khalil filed another lawsuit accusing members of the Trump administration and private pro-Israel organizations of conspiring to arrest and deport activists like him, in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act. That suit alleges the conspirators acted with animus to intimidate and silence the movement for Palestinian rights.
A spokesperson for Columbia University stated that the school cannot comment on pending litigation but reaffirmed its commitment to protecting students from discrimination and harassment, and to responding promptly to concerns.