Colleges & universities

Mahmoud Khalil Sues Columbia Over Alleged Anti-Palestinian Bias

Did Columbia's indifference expose a Palestinian student to detention or is his lawsuit opportunism dressed as civil rights?

Published 4 hours ago

Mahmoud Khalil Sues Columbia Over Alleged Anti-Palestinian Bias

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Above: The Guardian in Conversation with Mahmoud Khalil in Austin, Texas, on March 15, 2026. Image credit: Amanda Stronza/SXSW Conference & Festivals/Getty Images

The Spin

Left narrative

Columbia sold out its Palestinian students, ignoring years of pleas about doxxing, threats and harassment because protecting the trustees' agenda mattered more than student safety. That deliberate indifference handed the Trump administration a target and led straight to 104 days in a Louisiana detention cell and a missed childbirth. Accountability in court is the only thing left.

Zohran Mamdani on X

Mahmoud Khalil on X Al Jazeera

Right narrative

The activist who helped turn Columbia into a battleground of occupations and shutdowns now wants the university to pay for not shielding him from the backlash he created. Universities owe students classrooms and campus safety, not immunity from criticism or from federal immigration law. Filing suit after suit against the very institution that took him in is opportunism dressed up as civil rights.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain on X

Mossad Commentary on X