Columbia students ask feds to probe alleged anti-Palestinian bias on campus

Published Apr 29, 2024 at 7:40 p.m. ET

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Published Apr 29, 2024 at 7:40 p.m. ET

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A group of Palestinian students at Columbia University has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, alleging university officials for months have discriminated against Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab students.

Palestine Legal, a national advocacy group, filed the complaint on Thursday, following the arrests of more than 100 protesters at the “Gaza solidarity encampment” on the Columbia campus on April 18.

The complaint alleges school administrators failed to address racist harassment of students and unfairly disciplined pro-Palestinian protesters, in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination by recipients of federal funding.

If federal investigators find that the university violated the law, administrators could be tasked with resolving the concerns, or risk federal funding.

The claim is the latest in a series of complaints filed by Palestinian and Jewish students over alleged mistreatment by university officials since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the country’s ensuing siege on Gaza.

Jewish students sued Columbia in February over claims that administrators allowed "rampant antisemitism" to persist on campus, also invoking Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Spokespeople for both Columbia University and the U.S. Department of Education declined to respond to requests for comment. The Office for Civil Rights has received 341 Title VI complaints of alleged discrimination against people of “shared ancestry,” including actual or perceived ethnic characteristics, since the start of the fiscal year in October, up from 63 in the year prior, according to a department spokesperson.

The four students — Palestinians Maryam Alwan, Layla Saliba, Deen Haleem, and Daria Mateescu, president of Columbia Law Students for Palestine — have been "the target of extreme” racist and Islamophobic harassment on campus, the complaint says.

The allegations include being called terrorists and “Jew killers,” being stereotyped as Hamas supporters or terrorists, harassment for wearing hijabs or Palestinian scarves called keffiyehs, doxxing, and chemical attacks that led to hospitalizations, according to the complaint. In some cases, it says, administrators took months to respond to complaints of harassment.

Radhika Sainath, senior staff attorney for Palestine Legal and one of the lawyers who filed the complaint, attributed the alleged treatment of Palestinian students to “immense pressure” from anti-Palestinian donors, lobbyists, and state officials.

“This isn’t happening in a vacuum,” Sainath said. “It is happening because of the neoliberal university — where you have powerful pro-Israel actors calling on the university to take action against Palestinian students and their supporters. “

Columbia University faces multiple lawsuits and a civil rights investigation over its alleged treatment of Palestinian and Jewish students and their allies. The Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation in November into allegations of antisemitic discrimination at Columbia, stemming from a complaint filed in 2019.

Federal officials initiated another Title VI inquiry into alleged discrimination at Columbia against people of "shared ancestry" on April 23, according to the office’s website. An agency spokesperson declined to provide more details.

Campus chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine sued the university in March, after they were suspended following protests they sponsored against the war in Gaza.

That claim, filed by Palestine Legal and the New York Civil Liberties Union, alleges that the university violated students’ rights to freedom of expression on campus. One of the students cited in that complaint, fourth-year Maryam Alwan, is among the students who brought Thursday’s complaint.

Thursday’s complaint includes a range of demands, including that Columbia issue a statement condemning Israel’s “genocide” of Palestinians and list resources for students impacted by “Israel’s actions.” It also requests that the school reverse the suspensions of student protestors at the encampment and to avoid labeling criticisms of the state of Israel as antisemitic.

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Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.

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