On Monday morning, a Jewish student, on behalf of another Jewish student, filed a class action lawsuit against Columbia University in federal court. The case was filed because the Jewish student alleged the school could not guarantee their safety.
Jay Edelson, the attorney representing the students, posted a statement on X, writing, “We support peaceful protest, but when a sliver of them invites and engages in violence, including saying all Zionists should be killed and calls for terrorist attacks on American soil, that has no place in our country.”
According to Edelson, the lawsuit alleges Columbia needs to enforce its policies and let students feel free to study, take finals, and otherwise be students without worrying they will be assaulted.
“We are proceeding on a breach of contract theory and are seeking immediate injunctive relief.”
Further, the lawsuit says many individuals at Columbia are exercising their constitutionally protected right to protest and express their views about Israel, but there’s a subset of protestors who have gone beyond engaging in free speech and have “Menacing goals,” including committing acts of violence and intimidating and harassing Jewish students and faculty members.
Moreover, the lawsuit accuses the Gaza Solidarity Encampment of being the center of “round-the-clock” harassment of Jewish students who have been punched, shoved, spat on, blocked from attending classes and moving freely about campus.
“These extreme demonstrators are not engaging in constitutionally protected free speech. Instead, they are openly inciting violence against Jewish students”, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges Columbia has done nothing to “curb this outrageous behavior or meaningfully discipline those responsible.”
The lawsuit outlines instances in which Jewish students were directly targeted around the encampments, such as a student wearing a Star of David necklace being forced out of the encampment’s vicinity.
Such instances make clear the protestors are targeting students for being Jewish, the lawsuit says.
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