UC-Berkeley sued by students over ‘unchecked’ antisemitism

 Jewish students have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing the University of California of allowing the “longstanding, unchecked spread of antisemitism” at its Berkeley campus.

The lawsuit claims Jew-hatred has “boiled over” following the terrorist group Hamas’s sneak attack against Israel on  Oct. 7 — even citing statements in the complaint from Cal-Berkeley’s own law school dean, Erwin Chemerinsky.

In the suit filed Tuesday in Northern California District Court in San Francisco, the plaintiffs representing Jewish students — the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education — noted that some two dozen student groups ban Zionist speakers.

The ban is blatant discrimination since nearly all Jews identify themselves as Zionists or believers in the Jewish State of Israel, the complaint said.

Since Oct. 7 antisemitism has run rampant at the school, the complaint said, citing numerous incidents of intimidation, harassment, and physical violence against Jewish students.

For example, during one of the numerous rallies held at UC Berkeley celebrating Hamas, a Jewish undergraduate draped in an Israeli flag was set upon by two protesters who struck him in the head with a metal water bottle.

Jewish students have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing the University of California of not stopping antisemitism.AP

Since Oct. 7 antisemitism has run rampant at the school, the complaint said, citing numerous incidents of intimidation, harassment, and physical violence against Jewish students.AP

Jewish students and professors are also receiving hate mail calling for their gassing and murder. Many Jewish students report feeling afraid to go to class, the suit said.

Pro-Palestinian protesters — who frequently chant “Intifada, Intifada” and “From the River to the Sea Palestine will be Free”– disrupted a prayer gathering by Jewish students, according to the suit.

In another incident, one UC Berkeley professor went on an anti-Israel rant for 18 minutes in a discussion with 1,000 freshman students.

The suit quotes UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, who said in a column,  “I am a 70-
year-old Jewish man, but never in my life have I seen or felt the antisemitism of the last few weeks.”

The plaintiffs in the suit include former as well as current Jewish students.

The lawsuit names the University of California Regents, UC President Michael Drake, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ, and others as defendants.

The U. of California administration and Cal-Berkeley campus had no immediate comment.

New York universities have also come under fire for alleged antisemitism.

Three New York colleges — Columbia, Cornell, and Cooper Union — are among seven schools being investigated by the Department of Education over complaints of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus. A Cornell student was recently arrested for making anti-Jewish death threats.

https://nypost.com/2023/11/28/news/u-california-berkeley-sued-over-unchecked-antisemitism/