STANDING UP AGAINST HATE AND BIGOTRY: Harvard Jewish students sue university over antisemitism: ‘Rampant anti-Jewish hatred and harassment.’
A group of Jewish students are suing Harvard University over “severe and pervasive” antisemitism on campus, claiming that Harvard has not done nearly enough to protect Jewish students since Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel.
The students filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, alleging that Harvard is violating the civil rights of its Jewish students.
Harvard has been at the epicenter of the student campus clashes over the Hamas-Israel war since Oct. 7. In the days after the Hamas terrorist attacks, dozens of student groups wrote a letter that blamed Israel for the attacks.
Antisemitic incidents have been reported across the Cambridge campus. One notable incident involved pro-Palestinian protesters surrounding a Jewish student, which led to reports being filed with the FBI and Harvard Police. The U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into Harvard University, and other schools, for possible civil rights violations since the war started.
“Harvard, America’s leading university, has become a bastion of rampant anti-Jewish hatred and harassment,” the students’ lawsuit states. “Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and slaughtered, tortured, raped, burned, and mutilated 1,200 people — including infants, children, and the elderly — antisemitism at Harvard has been particularly severe and pervasive.
“Mobs of pro-Hamas students and faculty have marched by the hundreds through Harvard’s campus, shouting vile antisemitic slogans and calling for death to Jews and Israel,” the lawsuit reads. “Those mobs have occupied buildings, classrooms, libraries, student lounges, plazas, and study halls, often for days or weeks at a time, promoting violence against Jews and harassing and assaulting them on campus.”
The university has failed to “lift a finger to stop and deter this outrageous antisemitic conduct and penalize the students and faculty who perpetrate it,” according to the students suing Harvard.
Harvard has chosen sides, even if that means creating a hostile educational environment.
More: Antisemitism Lawsuit Filed against Harvard University, Includes Allegations re Harvard Law School.