Mahmoud Khalil Sues Columbia, Alleging Harassment and Retaliation
Mahmoud Khalil has sued Columbia University, alleging it failed to address harassment and retaliated against pro-Palestinian activists.
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil filed a civil rights lawsuit against Columbia University in federal court in New York City on Monday, accusing the institution of failing to protect him and other members of a pro-Palestinian campus group from harassment and of retaliating against them when they reported it.
The suit alleges that Columbia's "deliberate indifference" resulted in the doxing of several group members and in Khalil's detention by immigration authorities. It also names the pro-Palestinian group and its president, Mohammad Zubairi, as plaintiffs.
Khalil, a former graduate student, became a prominent spokesperson for student activists protesting Israel's actions in Gaza. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him at his campus apartment in March 2025, and he soon emerged as a central figure in the Trump administration's crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrators. He 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.
According to the lawsuit, Columbia refused to correct disinformation about Khalil while he was detained, allowing a false narrative about his conduct and role to persist and further enabling peer-on-peer harassment of other Palestinian students and students perceived to share Arab or Muslim ancestry. Rather than investigating reports of harassment, the suit claims, the university retaliated by characterizing events held by the pro-Palestinian group as security risks and by revising disciplinary policy to target criticism of the Israeli government.
The lawsuit accuses Columbia of civil rights violations and seeks a court order restoring Khalil's campus access and ending the group's suspension, as well as damages to be determined at trial.
Columbia declined to comment on the litigation. In an email, the university said that "creating a campus environment where every member of our community feels welcome, supported, and safe is fundamental to who we are as a University," adding that it is committed to protecting its community from discrimination and harassment and to responding promptly and appropriately when concerns arise.
Khalil also sued Columbia last year in an effort to block the release of student records to a congressional committee.