Khalil sues Columbia over alleged indifference to harassment

Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student and prominent pro-Palestinian activist, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Ivy League institution, alleging it showed deliberate indifference to severe harassment that he claims enabled his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March 2025. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York on September 14, 2026, names Columbia University, its board of trustees, and the dean of the School of International and Public Affairs, Keren Yarhi-Milo, as defendants. It is brought by Khalil, former student Mohammed Ibrahim Zubairi, and the SIPA Palestine Working Group. The complaint alleges Columbia failed to respond to persistent and coordinated harassment, including doxxing campaigns, against pro-Palestinian students due to their advocacy and perceived shared ancestry. The plaintiffs claim this inaction created conditions that led to Khalil's detention by ICE agents at his university apartment in March 2025. Khalil, a Syrian-born Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent who held a U.S. green card, was detained for 104 days, causing him to miss the birth of his first child.