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A Jewish student at Columbia University filed a class action lawsuit against the school, alleging it failed to provide a safe environment amid rising antisemitism on campus connected to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Protests turned hostile after Hamas attacks on Israel in October, with some calling for violence against Jews and Israel.
“These debates often make people profoundly uncomfortable, and opinions are deeply divided,” the lawsuit stated. “However, this kind of discourse is a cornerstone of American society, where differing viewpoints can be discussed openly, even when protesters use inflammatory language like ‘[Expletive] Israel’ or make derogatory remarks.”
“This extreme element is not just expressing dissent; they have and are continuing to commit acts of violence, they are intimidating and harassing Jewish students and faculty members, they are inciting demonstrators to engage in hate speech and also commit acts of violence, which has been taking place, and they have even called for terrorist attacks against the United States and the State of Israel,” the lawsuit reads.
“All of these acts have been calculated to disrupt the normal functioning of Columbia and to overshadow the voices of those engaging in constitutionally protected speech and protest.”
An encampment formed in April where Jewish students faced harassment, intimidation, and threats.
Banners displayed antisemitic messages. While the university asked protesters to leave, it began negotiating with them and failed to curb the behavior.
A hybrid learning model segregated Jewish students, who couldn’t access campus safely.
The plaintiff claims their education suffered as a result. The suit seeks to hold Columbia accountable for not protecting students from discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.
“Since its formation, the encampment has been the center of round-the-clock harassment of Jewish students, who have been punched, shoved, spat upon, blocked from attending classes and moving freely about campus, and targeted by pro-terrorist hate speech,” a student stated in the lawsuit.
“This absurd shift makes no attempt to solve the safety problem on campus, and at the same time, creates two very different educational experiences for Jewish and non-Jewish students,” the lawsuit reads. “The vast majority of the student population, including these extreme demonstrators, get to attend class in person, take tests in person, communicate with professors in person, and otherwise take advantage of the campus.
“The Jewish students, on the other hand, get a second-class education where they are relegated to their homes to attend classes virtually, stripped of the opportunity to interact meaningfully with other students and faculty and sit for examinations with their peers,” the lawsuit added.
