The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, filed a federal lawsuit today against Indiana University for violating Jewish doctoral student Sabina Ali’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against her pro-Palestine expression on two different occasions during the Fall 2025 semester.
BACKGROUNDER:
In September 2025, Ali was removed from a hybrid university event by the Interim Director of the University’s Borns Jewish Studies Program, Günther Jikeli, because she refused to hide her Zoom profile picture. Her picture depicted a woman, wearing a keffiyeh, in front of the words “Free Palestine” and the Palestinian flag. After the majority of attendees walked out of the event in protest of Ali’s removal, Jikeli tried to justify his actions in a program-wide email, smearing Ali’s image as a “Palestinian terrorist” and an “attack” on others at the event.
Two weeks later, Jikeli unilaterally denied Ali’s application for funding to travel to a major academic conference, after her application received unanimous approval from the Program’s faculty committee. Ali was scheduled to present academic research, funded by the Program, arguing that Zionist voices coopt the language of “Indigenous rights” to justify the ongoing occupation of Palestine. Jikeli offered no explanation for his actions, but his record speaks loudly: for years, Jikeli has smeared pro-Palestine speech at Indiana University as dangerous “Hamas propaganda” and conflated students’ criticism of Zionism with antisemitism.
The plaintiff, Sabina Ali, issued the following statement at the filing of her lawsuit:
“This lawsuit documents Indiana University’s history of suppressing pro-Palestinian speech, including IU administration’s brutalization of students, faculty, and staff during the Spring 2024 encampment for Gaza. Perpetuating this ongoing repression, Professor Günther Jikeli has sought to suppress my pro-Palestinian expression, violating my First Amendment rights. He has repeatedly falsely characterized activism for Palestinian liberation as ‘terrorism,’ conflated anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and policed the boundaries of Jewish identity to exclude anti-Zionist voices. Jikeli’s disregard for democratic faculty governance and his abuse of authority—such as denying my conference travel funding as targeted punishment for my speech—undermines academic freedom and creates a toxic environment of fear and retaliation, exemplifying how universities can too easily revert from sites of inquiry into instruments of repression.”
“Indiana University acted to silence Ali for expressing solidarity with Palestine,” said CAIR LDF attorney John M. Fossum. “But free speech is guaranteed by the Constitution—and also by Indiana University’s own students’ bill of rights.”
The lawsuit calls for Indiana University to refrain from restricting and retaliating against Ali’s viewpoint, in accordance with the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, and for damages for First Amendment violations and breach of Ali’s contract with Indiana University.
READ: KYR Free Speech in Schools
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: Gadeir Abbas, Senior Litigation Attorney, CAIR LDF, gabbas@cair.com, 720-251-0425; John M. Fossum, Staff Attorney, CAIR LDF, jfossum@cair.com, 202-850-9301; Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR National Deputy Director, e-Mitchell@cair.com, 404-285-9530; Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR National Communications Director, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; Ismail Allison, CAIR National Communications Manager, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com