Because of their advocacy, mahmoud Khalil and other pro-Palestinian student activists sued Columbia University on Monday, accusing the Ivy League school of being deliberately indifferent to years of pervasive harassment.
At a press conference at Columbia announcing the lawsuit, Mahmoud Khalil said the university exhibited a “rotten, institutionalized anti-Palestinian bigotry” entrenched in every department and backed by its board of trustees.
The war in Gaza still sparks fierce debate at schools including Columbia, where the central pedestrian walkway across campus has been closed for nearly three years as the university tries to balance safety concerns against the desire for greater normalcy and openness. SIPA is short for Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, where Khalil had been a graduate student. Khalil became a face of the Trump administration crackdown on students’ pro-Palestinian protests after US immigration agents arrested him in March 2025 in the lobby of his university residence, though he was a lawful permanent resident — or green card holder — and not accused of a crime. Khalil also sued Columbia in March 2025, less than one week after his arrest, challenging the university’s disclosure of student disciplinary records to a House of Representatives committee.
At a press conference at Columbia announcing the lawsuit, Khalil said the university exhibited a “rotten, institutionalized anti-Palestinian bigotry” entrenched in every department and backed by its board of trustees.
