Anti-Israel protesters sue Columbia, claiming they’re the real victims

Lauren Elkies Schram

27 April 2024 at 5:53 pm·3-min read

Composite of two women yelling with mouths open to the left and right, and another woman seated in front of a tree pleasantly in the middle.

A pro-Palestinian group has filed a federal lawsuit against Columbia University — saying anti-Israel protesters with the extremist group Students for Justice in Palestine are the ones being harassed on campus.

The complaint comes as Jewish community leaders and Jewish students have spoken out to say they do not feel safe at the Ivy League school with hundreds of protesters camping out in tents on the lawn, prompting university administrators to allow students to take their classes online for the rest of the year.

A new complaint calls for an investigation into the university’s handling of alleged discrimination and harassment of pro-Palestinian students. Getty Images

But, Palestine Legal — which filed the complaint Thursday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights — said that four pro-Palestinian students and the student group Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine are the real victims.

The group calls for an investigation into the university’s handling of alleged discrimination and harassment against pro-Palestinian students by Columbia students, professors and administrators under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“As a Palestinian student, I’ve been harassed, doxxed, shouted down and discriminated against by fellow students and professors — simply because of my identity and my commitment to advocating for my own rights and freedoms,” said Maryam Alwan, one of the four students represented in the suit.

“I’m horrified at the way Columbia has utterly failed to protect me from racism and abuse, but beyond that, the university has also played a role in this repression by having me arrested and suspended for peacefully protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” she added.

Pro-Palestinian students and pro-Palestinian protesters say in a lawsuit against Columbia that they have been targeted. James Keivom

The anti-Israel students claim they have been “the target of extreme anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and Islamophobic harassment on campus since Oct. 9, 2023, including receiving multiple death threats as well as being called terrorists and ‘Jew killers.'”

Plus, the students allege they have been treated differently by high-ranking administrators, including Columbia President Minouche Shafik.

“Despite students filing dozens of complaints, Columbia has failed to take meaningful steps to end the harassment, prevent it from occurring, or remedy its effects,” the complaint said.

An example Palestine Legal cites was Shafik’s decision to clear a large campus anti-Israel encampment April 18 by “inviting the New York Police Department (NYPD) onto campus for the first time in decades, leading to the arrest of more than 100 protesters,” the complaint indicates.

Palestinian student Maryam Alwan, one of the four students represented in a suit against Columbia University, says she has been doxxed. The Washington Post via Getty Images

Meanwhile, Jewish students were outraged Friday as the pro-Palestine student protesters’ encampment was still there despite Columbia’s deadline for it to evict the campus coming and going — twice.

Palestine Legal partnered with the New York City Liberties Union in a March lawsuit against Columbia for what they call the unlawful suspension of its chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace for engaging in peaceful protest.

Columbia declined to comment. Palestine Legal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did DOE.

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