University of California sued by Jewish groups over 'unchecked antisemitism' on campuses

A lawsuit by major Jewish advocacy groups alleges leadership of the University of California system has allowed its campuses to contribute to a “longstanding, unchecked spread of antisemitism.”

The suit, filed by the Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education, accuses UC Berkeley of dragging its feet on punishments for students involved in cases of discrimination against Jewish students. Such incidents have allegedly occurred since Hamas terrorists launched their invasion of Israel in early October.

It also notes that campus student groups which allegedly exclude students on the basis of their support for Israel could be a violation of the Constitution.

Conditioning a Jew’s ability to participate in a student group on his or her renunciation of a core component of Jewish identity is no less pernicious than demanding the renunciation of some other core element of a student’s identity — whether based on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual identity,” the lawsuit reads. “No such imposition is required — or would be remotely tolerated — of other students.”

Campus groups that celebrated the October attacks also led to violence against Jewish students, the lawsuit says. Jewish students have been attacked, received threatening emails and heckled, the groups claim.

“By abdicating responsibility and failing to act as required by UC rules and U.S. law, the university has enabled the normalization of anti-Jewish hatred on campus,” the lawsuit said. “Jewish students feel compelled to hide their identities.”

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Antisemitism has spread widely throughout U.S. campuses since Israel was invaded. The Department of Education is now seven campuses including Columbia University, UPenn and Cornell University over allegations of shared ancestry discrimination among students.

At New York University, Jewish students sued the school after it left them feeling "under siege" by a sharp rise in antiemetic on campus. This failure amounts to "egregious civil rights violations," they claim.