Following the October 7 terrorist attack that Hamas perpetrated against Israel, there's been a shocking display of antisemitic and pro-Hamas incidents going on in the United States and around the world. This is particularly the case on college campuses. Late last October, just weeks after the attack, Jewish students at Cooper Union were sheltering in the library as a pro-Hamas protest was allowed to march through campus. They're now suing, Fox News reported, which also mentioned how other anti-Israel protests have gone on as well.
As the report mentioned:
"Cooper Union has failed to adequately protect not just our clients but other Jewish students on campus in the face of pro-Hamas hate," Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of The Lawfare Project, said of the suit. "No student should be subjected to intimidation, fear or hatred when pursuing an education."
The Lawfare Project, a nonprofit legal group that works to protect the civil rights of Jewish people, joined by legal firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Cooper Union on behalf of 10 Jewish students at the school.
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The lawsuit argues that Cooper Union has failed to adequately address the increase in antisemitism on campus.
"Despite the alarming rise in antisemitism, colleges across the United States are turning their backs on Jewish students," Ziporah Reich, director of litigation at The Lawfare Project, said. "We will do everything we can to fight for our clients as they courageously assert their rights under the law."
The Lawfare Project and NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov also held a press conference "to raise awareness" about the students' harrowing plight about the "terrifying ordeal," with Vernikov also posting that "the details were so harrowing."
Remember those @cooperunion students who were violently harassed by antisemites on campus and locked in the library?
— Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (@InnaVernikov) April 10, 2024
My team and I spoke to the students right after the incident (🧵 below) and together with the @LawfareProject we hosted a press conference to raise awareness… https://t.co/AOMTS5J7iY
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The 70-page lawsuit provides damning details pertaining not just to the October 25 incident in question, with pro-Hamas posters being placed around campus on October 23, but before, with regards to a lack of a timely reaction to the October 7 attack, as well as a lack of holding anti-Israel students accountable since then.
As the lawsuit mentions, "immediately following the Hamas attack, the administration of Cooper Union (the “Administration”) exhibited callous and deliberate indifference to the suffering of the Jewish community by failing to swiftly and unequivocally condemn the massacre. The Administration ultimately issued a woefully inadequate statement, and only under significant pressure from Jewish students and alumni, who highlighted the Administration’s prior statements unequivocally condemning violence in the U.S. and abroad that impacted other segments of the Cooper Union community."
The Administration had previously spoken up about the death of George Floyd in multiple statements, as well as about the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor; a proposed and ultimately rescinded regulation to have foreign students take online courses only due to COVID-19 pandemic; hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans; and about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The anti-Israel students thus felt "[e]mboldened" to violate school policy "by placing large posters accusing Israel of 'genocide' and 'ethnic cleansing' on several prominent School building windows that are reserved for publicizing Cooper Union events and messaging. It took several hours and complaints from students and parents before the Administration removed the signs, and there were no known consequences for the students who posted them." The library incident took place two days after that, with the lawsuit revealing how some professors encouraged students to participate, even canceling classes.
With regards to what's happened since then, the lawsuit notes that, "upon information and belief, Cooper Union has taken no disciplinary action in connection with the events of October 25." A subsequent November 3 statement was also found to be lacking, referring to part of the messages that "have been nothing but empty promises, geared toward trying to shore up the School’s tattered public image in the wake of the social media firestorm that followed the events of October 25."
"Upon information and belief, Cooper Union has taken no steps to ensure the safety of Plaintiffs and other pro-Israel Jewish students on campus. Given the School’s failures, it is not surprising that antisemitic, anti-Israel acts of harassment and intimidation have continued on campus, exacerbating the already hostile educational environment for Jewish students, including Plaintiffs. Since October 25, there has been an increase in threatening and harassing anti-Israel messaging on campus targeting Jewish students, facilitated by the School’s actions and inactions," the lawsuit also notes.
Other mentioned incidents included a November 9 rally organized by the Cooper Union Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) to "Honor Palestinian Martyrs." SJP has ties to antisemitic organizations with connections to terrorists.
Antisemitic statements were posted in The Pioneer, the Cooper Union student newspaper, with the special November 20 edition, by both the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and the Black Student Union, with the MSA even claiming what happened to the students in the library was a "false narrative."
On December 5, an antisemitic letter from Cooper Union alumni circulated expressing "solidarity" not with the traumatized Jewish students, but with the pro-Hamas students antagonizing them.
"Included among the more than three hundred and fifty signatories to the letter were a number of Cooper Union professors, adjunct professors, and administrators, which further inflamed the discriminatory and hostile educational environment for Plaintiffs, other Jewish students, and pro-Israel students at Cooper Union," the lawsuit notes. "A number of these professors and administrators continue to maintain public social media feeds, some of which are 'followed' by Cooper Union accounts, where they post inflammatory anti-Israel, antisemitic content."
A school-sanctioned art display on February 27 allowed for an anti-Israel poster declaring "RESIST COLONIALISM FROM THE BRONX TO PALESTINE ‘BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY," with many Jewish students forced to avoid the school building it was at. Cooper Union Student Affairs even advertised the display across social media. Although, after complaints from Jewish alumni, Cooper Union’s Chief Talent Officer Natalie Brooks said the display would be taken down on March 2, it was still up for several more days after that.
Students taking a core Humanities and Social Sciences class were also required to attend a speech on April 1 from an anti-Israel activist, Omer Bartov, titled "The Never Again Syndrome: Uses and Misuses of Holocaust Memory and the Weaponization of Language." According to the lawsuit, "the Administration took no action in response to complaints by Jewish students and alumni in advance of the speech."
"Cooper Union could have easily addressed the hostile environment for Jews on campus by simply enforcing its own School policies.... Cooper Union has several policies that, inter alia, promise to protect students, including Plaintiffs, from harassment, discrimination, and the fear of violence," the lawsuit reads, going on to reference the school's Policy Upholding Human Rights and Title IX Protections; Student Code of Conduct; Non-Discrimination Policy; Posting Policy; Policy on Campus Safety and Security; and Building Access Policy.
As part of their relief, the students are asking for "Injunctive relief requiring Cooper Union to proactively and permanently end the antisemitic, anti-Israel environment on campus," which would in part involve holding the antisemitic students accountable. Plaintiffs are also asking for damages "in amounts to be determined at trial," statutory penalties for their violation of state civil rights laws, as well as attorneys' fees.
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