Who is NYU's new president? Jewish students sue prestigious institution over ‘egregious’ antisemitism on campus
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The New York University, which is headed by 17th president Linda G Mills, has been sued by three Jewish students, who claim that the institution has failed to protect them from “festering Jewish hatred” that rose following Hamas’ October 7 attack.
Bella Ingber, Sabrina Maslavi, and Saul Tawil—three Jewish students—have accused the institution of "egregious civil rights violations" by allowing other students to scream anti-Jewish remarks without facing any consequences.
The university has dealt with numerous instances of antisemitism over the last decade but the incidents drastically increased after Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis and the Jewish state started to take revenge in the Gaza Strip.
The lawsuit claimed that the Jewish community at NYU has allegedly been harassed and intimidated by student mobs, who often chanted vile cries such as "Hitler was right" and "gas the Jews."
A large number of academics and students have "enthusiastically endorsed" Hamas' fatal attack on the Jewish state, the complaint stated.
Why Jewish students are suing NYU?
The students have sued NYU for failing to tackle the rising antisemitism that left them “traumatized” and feel like they are treated as “second-class citizens” at NYU because of their Jewish identity and ancestry.
“The effect of NYU’s inaction and, indeed, complicity in the torrent of anti-Jewish hatred that has engulfed its campus has been the normalization of antisemitism in the NYU community,” part of the lawsuit read.
“Whereas pro-Hamas faculty and students are permitted to engage in vicious antisemitic hate speech, Jewish students are told to keep quiet, maintain a low profile, avoid making waves, and call a wellness hotline,” it continued.
The three students have been urging the judge to order NYU to take action against antisemitism, including punishing the faculty and staff members who instigate the vile behavior.
“NYU’s deliberate indifference toward the plight of its Jewish students under siege by egregious antisemitism has been outrageous,” one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Marc Kasowitz, said in a statement, according to NY Post.
“We are asking the Court to compel NYU to comply with the Civil Rights Act, its own purported policies, and elementary human decency, which to date the University has failed and refused to do on its own,” he continued.
How did NYU react to the lawsuit?
A spokesperson for NYU stated that the institution is prepared to “challenge this lawsuit’s one-sided narrative.”
“The assertions in this suit do not accurately describe conditions on our campus or the many steps NYU has been taking to fight antisemitism and keep the campus safe,” spokesperson John Beckman said in a statement to The Post.
“Antisemitism violates our rules; we take the issues of antisemitism and any other forms of hate extremely seriously, and we are committed to safeguarding our community and providing an environment in which all students can live and learn in peace.”
He pointed out that NYU, which has a sizable academic presence in Israel and a campus in Tel Aviv, was among the first US colleges to denounce the attack on October 7.