Palestinian students sue Columbia University over alleged discrimination in wake of Oct 7 attack

A group of Palestinian students, faculty and staff sued Columbia University this week for alleged discrimination over its handling of an encampment and tension on campus in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel.

The group, consisting of two former Columbia students, one current student, one faculty member and one former faculty member, accused the school of deliberately engaging in “discriminatory conduct," which included allegedly hiring private investigators to identify pro-Palestinian students involved in a “Resistance 101” event on campus, according to The Hill.

“Columbia 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,” the filing reads.

The group claims that the school failed to protect its Palestinian students and faculty from “unrelenting doxxing” and harassment from other campus community members, despite reporting the alleged misconduct, according to the New York Times.

The complaint also condemned the school's handling of an on-campus encampment on April 17, 2024, where the New York Police Department arrested more than 100 encampment participants at Columbia’s request.

The students were punished with various disciplinary actions that included “multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations, and expulsions.”

“In stark contrast to the [Office of Institutional Equity's] aggressive investigation of complaints alleging antisemitism based on protected Palestinian advocacy, Columbia systematically failed to investigate complaints submitted by its Palestinian community members,” the complaint said. “The OIE rarely acknowledged receipt of such complaints, and when it did, it failed to take any follow-up action.”

“Rather than fulfill its legal obligations to remediate the hostile environment,” it continued, “Columbia actively participated in and amplified the racially, ethnically and politically motivated targeting of Palestinian students, staff and faculty.”

Columbia University has not commented on the lawsuit, but it comes after the school settled federal allegations last year that claimed it had not done enough to protect Jewish students from antisemitism. The school settled for $200 million.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.