Why is pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil suing Columbia University?

Pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil, whom the authorities attempted to deport from the United States after he led a 2024 encampment protest against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, is suing Columbia University and a dean for “institutional racism” against Palestinian students.

Late last month, a federal judge ruled against his deportation, finding that the Trump administration had violated the constitutional rights of international students when it sought to punish them, including Khalil, for criticising Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

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. Here’s what we know so far.

Who is Mahmoud Khalil?

Mahmoud Khalil is a Columbia University graduate and one of the faces of the student movement against the genocide in Gaza during the student encampment movement in New York. A series of student protests and encampments swept the US – and later, other countries – in 2024, after starting at Columbia.

Protesters called for an end to the genocide and for their universities to divest from investments in companies linked to the Israeli military. Thousands of students across the US were arrested.

Khalil’s activism led to his arrest. The video of his arrest was widely shared online in March 2025, showing him being taken from his home, handcuffed and arrested for activities that were “aligned with Hamas”, the Palestinian group that ran the Gaza Strip, the authorities said. The video was recorded by his wife, a US citizen, who was eight months’ pregnant at the time.

Despite being a green card holder, which made Khalil a legal resident of the US, 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.

Why has this lawsuit been filed?

Khalil and the PWG are asking for their suspension by the university to be lifted, for damages to be paid “in amounts to be determined at trial”, for the university to be prevented from taking future discriminatory actions, and to allow Khalil access to the campus again.

The complaint against Columbia University, its trustees and SIPA dean Yarhi-Milo also references the “deliberate indifference” and “severe, persistent, and coordinated harassment” of Khalil and PWG members. The complaint 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. “Doxxing” is the revealing of personal, identifying information about targets, such as their address and contact details.

Announcing the lawsuit, Khalil said: “Columbia laid the groundwork for my targeting by the Trump administration through its deliberate indifference and discrimination aimed at intimidating Palestinian students.

“Hateful individuals at Columbia who were also responsible for what we endured.”

The consequences of these accusations, according to the complaint, are that Khalil and other PWG members sustained emotional, psychological, professional and reputational damages.

What happened during the campus protests?

Encampments by protesters on the Columbia University campus began in April 2024. Following a large number of arrests and the removal of the encampment, it was rebuilt. Khalil, then a full-time student at SIPA, emerged as a lead negotiator between the students and the university about divestment, something the university declined to do.

On April 30, student protesters occupied Hamilton Hall on the university’s campus and renamed it “Hind’s Hall” – after Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead in a car in Gaza by the Israeli military. Khalil was not part of the building occupation but was involved as a mediator between the university and protesters.

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.

In the wake of the student protests, the Trump administration withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding from several universities it deemed had failed to act effectively against anti-Semitism on their campuses.

Columbia University paid $221m to settle claims in July 2025 and to have its $400m funding restored.

How has the university responded to the lawsuit?

Columbia University has not made a formal response to the lawsuit. It has, however, released a general statement, saying it takes campus safety seriously and that “Columbia is committed to protecting our community from discrimination and harassment, and responding promptly and appropriately when concerns arise”.

What is happening now?

Legal challenges against the deportation of Khalil and other pro-Palestinian activists are ongoing.

Following his release in June 2025 after 104 days in detention, Khalil’s legal team appealed the deportation order.

In September 2025, a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration had unlawfully targeted pro-Palestine activists with deportation to silence criticism of Israel, violating their right to free speech.

In January this year, the Trump administration scored a win when an appeals court panel dismissed Khalil’s petition. In a two-to-one ruling, the judges concluded that the federal court that ordered Khalil’s release last year lacked jurisdiction over the matter. Khalil said he would appeal again.

In May, his legal team announced it would go to the Supreme Court.

Khalil also filed a lawsuit in July 2026 against Trump administration officials and some pro-Israel groups, accusing them of conspiring to target him over his pro-Palestine stance.

Last month, a federal judge ruled against the deportation of pro-Palestinian activists, finding that the Trump administration had violated the constitutional rights of international students by seeking to punish them for criticising Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.