Mahmoud Khalil sues Columbia University for alleged failure to protect pro-Palestinian students

Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist, along with the SIPA Palestine Working Group and its president Mohammad Zubairi, filed a federal lawsuit against Columbia University on Monday, accusing the school of deliberate indifference to harassment based on their advocacy for Palestinian rights. The complaint alleges Columbia violated civil rights law by failing to protect students from threats and doxxing, and instead treated protests as security risks.

Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist, along with the SIPA Palestine Working Group and its president Mohammad Zubairi, filed a federal lawsuit against Columbia University on Monday, September 14, 2026. The complaint, lodged in Manhattan federal court, accuses the Ivy League school of deliberate indifference to years of pervasive harassment of pro-Palestinian students, in violation of federal civil rights law. The lawsuit alleges that Columbia failed to protect students from threats, doxxing, and other harassment based on their perceived Arab or Muslim ancestry or their advocacy for Palestinian rights. Instead of investigating reported harassment, the complaint says, Columbia treated pro-Palestinian protests as security risks and revised policies to treat on-campus criticism of Israel's military or government conduct as subject to discipline. Khalil became a prominent figure in the Trump administration's crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests after US immigration agents arrested him in March 2025 in his university residence lobby, despite his status as a lawful permanent resident not accused of any crime. He spent 104 days in a Louisiana jail, missing the birth of his first child, before being released on bail. Khalil still faces possible deportation after a federal appeals court ruled a district court judge lacked jurisdiction to order his release. At a press conference announcing the lawsuit, Khalil said the university exhibited "rotten, institutionalized anti-Palestinian bigotry" entrenched in every department. Columbia declined to comment on the lawsuit but issued a statement about creating a welcoming campus environment. The war in Gaza continues to spark fierce debate at Columbia, where the central pedestrian walkway has been closed for nearly three years as the university balances safety concerns with openness.