The Lawfare Project, with co-counsel Grant & Eisenhofer P.A, has filed a lawsuit against DePaul University in Chicago on behalf of two students who allege antisemitic discrimination, the organization announced on Wednesday.
The two Jewish students, Max Long and Michael Kaminsky, were tabling for Israel on campus—something Kaminsky told JNS they did every week—when they were approached by masked assailants and attacked. Long, an IDF reservist, was beaten to the point of concussion, and Michael sustained an injury to his wrist that required surgery.
Long no longer attends in-person classes for fear of his safety, Kaminsky told JNS at the StandWithUs International Conference in Los Angeles last month.
The lawsuit alleges that during this altercation, “DePaul public safety officers stood idly by and watched the assault unfold.” The complaint also states that after the incident, pro-Hamas groups continued to broadcast Long’s photo on social media and fliers around campus, branding him as “wanted,” referring to him as an “IDF butcher” and stating Long “got what he deserved,” in reference to the assault.
Before the assault, the complaint alleges “there had been repeated acts of violence and other criminal behavior on DePaul’s campus against Jewish and/or Israeli students, including acts against Max and Michael specifically,” and that DePaul’s administration “failed to take any decisive action.”
“DePaul University failed Max and Michael and continues to fail its Jewish students,” said Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of the Lawfare Project. “DePaul failed to fulfill its legal obligations to protect not just the civil rights of its Jewish students, but their basic safety.”
“This lawsuit is a wake-up call to DePaul—to all universities—that ignoring the rights of their Jewish students has consequences and will no longer be tolerated,” she said.
