Mahmoud Khalil sues Columbia University over years of alleged anti-Palestinian discrimination
Lawsuit accuses university of ‘deliberate indifference’ and failure to respond to ‘persistent and coordinated harassment’ Mahmoud Khalil announced on Monday that he’s sued Columbia University , accusing the New York City school he attended of a years-long history of anti-Palestinian discrimination, indifference to harassment, and retaliation. Khalil, a US green card holder of Palestinian descent,…
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian Muslim student at Columbia University, has filed a federal lawsuit against the institution alleging that the university failed to protect him from harassment and eventually led to his arrest by US immigration agents. The lawsuit, filed on September 14, 2026, claims that Columbia University showed deliberate indifference towards and failure to respond to severe, persistent, and coordinated harassment directed towards Khalil and other pro-Palestine students.
Khalil is joined in the lawsuit by the Palestine Working Group (PWG), a student-led organization formed within the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia.
The harassment allegedly involved discrimination, harassment, and threats against Khalil and other Palestinian and pro-Palestine students due to their pro-Palestine advocacy, perceived shared ancestry, national origin, and immigration status. Khalil, who holds an Algerian passport, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in March 2025 under the Trump administration's pledge to root out anti-Israel rhetoric among non-citizens.
The lawsuit specifically names the Columbia Board of Trustees and SIPA Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo as defendants.
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- Mahmoud Khalil sues Columbia University for allowing harassment that led to his ICE arrest middleeasteye.net
- Mahmoud Khalil sues Columbia, accusing it of 'indifference' to harassment of pro-Palestinian protesters thehill.com
- Mahmoud Khalil sues Columbia for alleged failure to protect pro-Palestinian students timesofisrael.com
- Mahmoud Khalil sues Columbia for showing 'deliberate indifference' to harassment abcnews.com
- ‘Columbia did not care’: Mahmoud Khalil files discrimination lawsuit aljazeera.com
- Mahmoud Khalil lawsuit says Columbia failed to protect pro-Palestinian activists winnipegfreepress.com
