Four U.S. Jewish groups filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday alleging that a trio of California schools violated the civil rights of Jews and Israelis on campus.
The Anti-Defamation League, Jewish on Campus, StandWithUs and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law accuse the private school Scripps College and the public institutions Etiwanda Intermediate School and California State Polytechnic, Humboldt of willfully ignoring “severe antisemitic harassment and intimidation” against students.
“Anti-Israel campus protestors have thrown fake blood on Jewish students and vandalized a campus building while screaming ‘blood of our martyrs’” and “shouted antisemitic slurs at Jewish students and displayed hateful messages showing a Nazi swastika ‘equals’ a Jewish star of David,” per the complaint against Cal Poly Humboldt.
The complaint adds that there have been “vandalized campus property with antisemitic slogans” and Jewish students harassed in a Sukkah by “shouting antisemitic invectives at them through a megaphone and glorifying the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas” at Cal Poly Humboldt.
The filings allege that the schools created a hostile environment towards Jews and violated the rights of Jewish students under Title VI of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in any program that receives federal funding.
One issue that the complaints identify is that antisemitic bigotry on campus is commonly disguised or falsely framed as mere criticism of Israel.
“With increasing frequency, Jewish college and university students are being targeted
due to the Jewish people’s connection to Israel,” the Cal Poly Humboldt complaint states. “On college campuses, including Humboldt, the word ‘Zionist’ is frequently used as a codeword, proxy term or dog-whistle for ‘Jew’ among those seeking to disguise their antisemitism. Students report being shunned, harassed, marginalized and excluded as ‘Zionists.’”
Schools that fail to recognize that the Jewish connection to Israel is a key part of the identity of many Jews risk running afoul of the law, according to Kenneth Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center and a former head of the Department of Education’s civil rights office.
“The law and federal government recognize Jews share a common faith, and they are a people with a shared history and heritage rooted in the land of Israel,” Marcus stated. “Schools that continue to ignore either aspect of Jewish identity are becoming dangerous breeding grounds for escalating anti-Jewish bigotry and they must be held accountable.”
U.S. Jewish groups have expressed alarm about the rise of Jew-hatred on campuses nationwide since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The issue has also drawn the attention of national political leaders, including in congressional hearings and executive orders from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has promised to “marshal all federal resources to combat the explosion of antisemitism.”
“I will issue clear orders to my attorney general to aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews,” Trump said in January. “I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”
Thursday’s filings urge the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to enforce a range of remedies at each of the three schools to address Jew-hatred, from agreeing that “Zionism” is frequently used as a codeword for “Jew” to paying for any therapy that a 12-year-old Jewish girl at the Etiwanda school might need after she was physically assaulted by a classmate.
“Jewish students deserve consistent support from their university administrators, not calls to hide their Jewish identity,” stated Julia Jassey, co-founder and CEO of Jewish on Campus. “We urge a swift investigation and a campus climate where no student has to endure such intimidation.”