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NEW YORK: Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil sued Columbia University on Monday, alleging it failed to address harassment against him and other members of a pro-Palestinian campus group and retaliated against them when they reported it.<\/p>\n
The university\u2019s \u201cdeliberate indifference\u201d led to the doxing of multiple group members and Khalil\u2019s detention by immigration agents, according to the civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court in New York City.<\/p>\n
At a news conference announcing the lawsuit, Khalil accused the university of \u201cdiscrimination aimed at intimidating Palestinian students.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are suing because no student, regardless of their background, should go through the hell that Columbia put us through over all these years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The university declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said in an email that \u201ccreating a campus environment where every member of our community feels welcome, supported, and safe is fundamental to who we are as a University.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cColumbia is committed to protecting our community from discrimination and harassment, and responding promptly and appropriately when concerns arise,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Khalil also sued Columbia last year to block the release of student records to a congressional committee.<\/p>\n
A former graduate student at Columbia University, Khalil gained prominence as a spokesperson for student activists protesting Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza.<\/p>\n
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him at his apartment on campus in March 2025, and he quickly became the face of the Trump administration\u2019s crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators.<\/p>\n
Khalil spent 104 days in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child, before a federal judge in New Jersey ordered his release. His deportation case remains active.<\/p>\n
Khalil\u2019s latest lawsuit says Columbia \u201crefused to correct disinformation\u201d while he was detained, \u201callowing a false narrative about his conduct and role to persist and further enabling peer-on-peer harassment of other Palestinian students and students with perceived shared Arab and\/or Muslim ancestry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead of investigating reports of harassment, the university retaliated by characterizing events by a pro-Palestinian campus group as security risks and revising disciplinary policy to target criticism of the Israeli government, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
At the news conference Monday, Khalil also accused the university of surveilling pro-Palestinian students and hiring private investigators to monitor him.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit accuses Columbia of civil rights violations, requests a court order restoring Khalil\u2019s access to the campus and ending the Palestinian group\u2019s suspension, and seeks damages \u201cto be determined at trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also names the pro-Palestinian group and its president, Mohammad Zubairi, as plaintiffs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n