{"id":42449,"date":"2026-08-13T05:19:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T00:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42449"},"modified":"2026-08-13T05:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T00:19:54","slug":"palestinian-students-staff-allege-discrimination-at-columbia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42449","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian students, staff allege discrimination at Columbia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Elsewhere-Columbia_021023_AP_Ted-Shaffrey.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n        <iframe id=\"instaread_iframe\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Audio Article\" style=\"display:block\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n    <\/p>\n<p><\/instaread-player><\/p>\n<p>Palestinian students, faculty and alumni are suing Columbia University for discrimination, alleging the school fostered a \u201chostile campus climate\u201d and unfairly targeted them with disciplinary investigations following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel.<\/p>\n<p>In the lawsuit, <a href=\"https:\/\/iapps.courts.state.ny.us\/nyscef\/ViewDocument?docIndex=qzFX_PLUS_xgdVHA3KlYHHH9Qug==\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/iapps.courts.state.ny.us\/nyscef\/ViewDocument?docIndex=qzFX_PLUS_xgdVHA3KlYHHH9Qug==\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed Monday<\/a> in New York County court, four students and one faculty member argue that Columbia deliberately engaged in \u201cdiscriminatory conduct\u201d \u2014 including hiring private investigators to identify pro-Palestine students involved in a \u201cResistance 101\u201d teach-in.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The group also claims that the university failed to support\u00a0Palestinian students and staff who reported misconduct, which they said included \u201cunrelenting doxxing\u201d and harassment from other campus community members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cColumbia has discriminated against its students, faculty, and staff who are of Palestinian origin through its failure to adequately protect its community members from harassment by others, and indeed, actively encouraged such harassment,\u201d the filing reads.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint condemns the university\u2019s treatment of pro-Palestine protesters, including those who <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/education\/4630879-columbia-says-it-has-begun-suspending-students-who-refuse-to-leave-encampment\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/education\/4630879-columbia-says-it-has-begun-suspending-students-who-refuse-to-leave-encampment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">established an on-campus encampment<\/a> on April 17, 2024. A day after demonstrators occupied the lawn, the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested more than 100 encampment participants <a href=\"https:\/\/publicsafety.columbia.edu\/content\/letter-nypd\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/publicsafety.columbia.edu\/content\/letter-nypd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">at Columbia\u2019s request<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.columbiaspectator.com\/news\/2024\/04\/30\/dozens-occupy-hamilton-hall-as-pro-palestinian-protests-spread-across-campus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">second encampment<\/a> emerged in Columbia\u2019s Hamilton Hall, a site previously occupied in protests against the Vietnam War and South African apartheid, on April 30, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The day before, Minouche Shafik, the university\u2019s president at the time, had <a href=\"https:\/\/president.columbia.edu\/news\/statement-columbia-university-president-minouche-shafik-4-29\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/president.columbia.edu\/news\/statement-columbia-university-president-minouche-shafik-4-29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said in a statement<\/a> that the demonstrations had \u201ccreated an unwelcoming environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>NYPD quickly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/search?q=nypd+clearing+hamilton+hall&amp;cvid=f5fb1a84d4134e16ae2721f3d03bd5b7&amp;gs_lcrp=EgRlZGdlKgYIABBFGDkyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQABhAMggIAhDpBxj8VdIBCDc2MzBqMGo0qAIIsAIB&amp;FORM=ANAB01&amp;PC=HCTS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cleared the Hamilton Hall<\/a> encampment and arrested around 100 more encampment participants. Student protesters were also <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/education\/5194054-columbia-university-campus-protests-students-mahmoud-khalil-israel-palestine-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">subject to disciplinary action<\/a> from the school, which included \u201cmulti-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The lawsuit details how Palestinian students were \u201cabsolutely terrified to come to campus\u201d because of the university\u2019s treatment of protesters, specifically citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s March 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/education\/5825433-mahmoud-khalil-bia-removal-order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">arrest of encampment leader<\/a> and negotiator Mahmoud Khalil \u2014 a <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-15014bcbb921f21a9f704d5acdcae7a8\">green card-holding graduate student<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At the time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/education\/5185620-rubio-ice-arrest-pro-palestinian-columbia-mahmoud-khalil-green-card-dhs-trump-immigration-crackdown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">confirmed the arrest<\/a>, adding that \u201cwe will be revoking the visas and\/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs in Monday\u2019s lawsuit criticized the university for establishing a presence of outside law enforcement on campus, which one plaintiff said caused her \u201csevere and escalating anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The complaint highlights Columbia\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/ap\/ap-u-s-news\/ap-columbia-trump-deal-federal-funding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">compliance with directives<\/a> from the Trump administration \u2014 which called on the university to quash the protests. In 2025, the government canceled <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/education\/5182892-columbia-university-antisemitism-probe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$400 million in federal funding<\/a> toward the school, stating that Columbia had exhibited \u201ccontinued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Columbia later <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/ap\/ap-u-s-news\/ap-columbia-trump-deal-federal-funding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">settled with the administration<\/a>, agreeing to pay the federal government $220 million to restore the lost funding.<\/p>\n<p>The university declined to comment on Monday\u2019s filing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Palestinian students, faculty and alumni are suing Columbia University for discrimination, alleging the school fostered a \u201chostile campus climate\u201d and unfairly targeted them with disciplinary investigations following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel. In the lawsuit, filed Monday in New York County court, four students and one faculty member argue that Columbia deliberately&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/Elsewhere-Columbia_021023_AP_Ted-Shaffrey.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}