Dueling lawsuits allege discrimination against Jews, Palestinians at Columbia

Palestine Legal, an organization that describes its mission as "challenging efforts to threaten, harass and legally bully activists into silence and inaction," filed a 37-page civil lawsuit against Columbia University on Thursday asserting that the school had discriminated against Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students, and in doing so violated its obligation under the 1964 Civil Rights Act— the same provision invoked by parallel lawsuits from Jewish students and communal organizations. 

The Palestine Legal lawsuit alleges "targeted and pervasive harassment of Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and groups associated with Palestinians on campus on the basis of ethnicity[,] national origin[,] or perceived national origin."

It lists as examples "discrimination, stereotyping, different treatment, harassment, and threats," which it calls "the product of both a deep-rooted, dehumanizing bigotry against Palestinians, as well as organized campaigns by anti-Palestinian groups and government officials to suppress speech." The lawsuit cites news reports and public displays naming students involved in pro-Palestinian organizing and the threats that pro-Palestinian student organizations and activists received in the aftermath. 

The lawsuit invokes what it calls the "January 19 Attack," when, it says, "students were attacked with a harmful chemical substance on Columbia's campus." The incident, when students reported a substance with a putrid smell that came with burning eyes and nausea, drew allegations that Israeli students had used 'skunk,' a foul-smelling chemical used by IDF forces as a crowd-control measure.

A separate lawsuit, filed by a student accused of deploying the chemical, asserts that the source of the smell was "a novelty, non-toxic 'fart' spray named 'Liquid Ass' and 'Wet Farts' which he purchased on Amazon for $26.11."

The Palestine Legal filing also devotes a four-page section to the statements and actions of Professor Shai Davidai, the Israeli-American professor at Columbia Business School who has played a high-profile role opposing what he views as inadequate action by the university to respond to antisemitism.

The filing identifies Davidai as the "son of an allegedly wealthy Israeli executive with ties to weapons manufacturing" and lists instances in which Davidai publicized the names and actions of Palestinian students. Davidai's Columbia ID was disabled this week, leaving him unable to enter the campus. 

The action goes on to make eleven demands, including that Columbia reverse suspensions imposed on students for actions related to the encampments, drop any related civil charges, expunge those students' records, and offer to pay for their psychotherapy.

It also demands that Columbia grant a full scholarship to "students who have suffered from Columbia's anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic environment," and that the school "not adopt, enforce, or rely on" the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which includes examples related to the demonization or delegitimization of the State of Israel. 

Lawsuit invokes Title VI and the IHRA definition, just as antisemitism cases do

At the same time, Columbia faces several lawsuits and an investigation by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on claims that it has discriminated against Jewish students by allowing the encampments, and other anti-Israel activity, to foster an antisemitic environment on its campus. 

In a letter delivered to Columbia President Minouche Shafik on Sunday, April 22, Representative Virginia Foxx charging the university with breaching Title VI, writing, "if you do not rectify this danger, then the Committee will not hesitate in holding you accountable"— presumably by withholding federal funding, on which even private universities largely rely.

That letter, which ran seven pages, cited 24 separate incidents, including physical assaults, and cites twelve different slogans chanted at demonstrations, including "From the river to the sea, Palestine is Arab," "Settlers, settlers go back home, Palestine is ours alone," and "Brick by brick, wall by wall Israel will fall." 

On Thursday, the Jewish Federations of North America, an umbrella organization representing more than 350 independent Jewish communities, also accused American colleges of violating Jewish students' civil rights. It also called on lawmakers to pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would codify for legal purposes the same IHRA definition of antisemitism to which the Palestine Legal brief objects.