Columbia defends Mahmoud Khalil event, after vowing ‘zero tolerance’ for his protest group

Columbia University defends an event on campus featuring protest leader and former student Mahmoud Khalil, after vowing “zero tolerance” for his protest group in past statements.

“Columbia supports the right of faculty members to organize academic events. An invitation to speak does not signify University endorsement of a speaker’s views,” a university spokesperson says. “We remain committed to rigorous debate, inquiry, and respectful dialogue across differing perspectives.”

Khalil was a spokesperson and negotiator for the anti-Zionist campus alliance, Columbia University Apartheid Divest. He was detained by the Trump administration last year and is battling the government’s attempt to deport him.

The university’s Center for Palestine Studies is scheduled to host Khalil on campus tomorrow for an event focused on his recent book about his detention and activism. The event is not sponsored by the university administration.

Event organizers describe Khalil as a “a prominent figure during the student protests against the war on Gaza” and call his book “a work of courage and resistance.”

Columbia does not recognize Columbia University Apartheid Divest and has said it has “zero tolerance” for the group and its representatives.

“Organizations that promote violence or disruptions of our academic mission are not welcome on our campuses,” the university said in a statement about the group last year.

Earlier this year, Columbia said the group uses “violent and unacceptable language.”

Since leaving Columbia, Khalil has sued the university, justified the October 7 invasion of Israel, and called for the “collapse” of Israel.