Pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil, whom the US regime attempted to deport after he led a 2024 encampment protest against Israel's war on Gaza, is suing Columbia University and a dean for "institutional racism" against Palestinian students. The lawsuit is being brought in collaboration with the Palestine Working Group (PWG), a student organisation at the university advocating for Palestinian rights, whose activities were indefinitely suspended by the management.
"We are suing because no student, regardless of their background, should go through the hell that Columbia put us through over all these years," Khalil said when announcing the lawsuit against both Columbia University and Keren Yarhi-Milo, dean of the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Khalil also claims that "Columbia laid the groundwork for my targeting by the Trump administration through its deliberate indifference and discrimination aimed at intimidating Palestinian students." The university has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
The complaint against Columbia University, its trustees and SIPA dean Yarhi-Milo references "deliberate indifference" and "severe, persistent, and coordinated harassment" of Khalil and PWG members. It states this was "due to their pro-Palestine advocacy and affiliation, their perceived shared ancestry as Arab and/or Muslim students." The complaint states that harassment of the PWG began from its formation in 2018, but claims that "harassment and hostility" after October 7, "escalated to an extreme level," and allegedly included "doxxing" and threats against those affiliated with the group. Khalil and other PWG members sustained emotional, psychological, professional and reputational damages, according to the complaint.
Khalil was arrested in March 2025. The video of his arrest was widely shared online, showing him being taken from his home, handcuffed and arrested for activities that were "aligned with Hamas," the authorities said. Despite being a green card holder, he was arrested by plainclothes officers of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He was eventually released in June 2025 after 104 days in detention, but missed the birth of his child. A federal judge ruled against his deportation, finding that the Trump administration had violated the constitutional rights of international students.
In 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the revocation of visas for hundreds of students, including legal permanent residents, over their Palestine activism. The Trump administration withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding from several universities. Columbia University paid $221m to settle claims in July 2025 and to have its $400m funding restored. Legal challenges against the deportation of Khalil and other pro-Palestinian activists are ongoing. In January, an appeals court panel dismissed Khalil's petition, and his legal team announced it would go to the Supreme Court.
Source: www.aljazeera.com