A private university in New York City that nurtures “progressive minds” turned a blind eye to “relentless antisemitic harassment, intimidation, and physical assault” of a student, even after she gave officials hard evidence, according to an explosive federal lawsuit filed on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.American-Israeli dual citizen Sophie Shabot accused New School for Social Research officials of tolerating and rewarding the aggressors, including when then-President Donna Shalala – President Clinton’s Health secretary – gave unauthorized encampment participants “$300 to buy dinner, publicly praised them, and posed for a photograph.”
The claims recall the alleged “Jew Exclusion Zone” at UCLA and Oberlin College’s facilitation of a student-led campaign to destroy a local bakery for tackling a black shoplifter, whose litigation ended with a $6.3 million settlement and $36 million defamation judgment, respectively.
Shabot asserts claims under Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act for national-origin discrimination, under New York human rights, civil rights and “general business” laws and New York City human rights law, as well as breach of contract and negligent infliction of emotional distress. She seeks penalties including punitive damages and a jury trial.
“What made these violent encounters particularly traumatizing for Shabot, was the campus environment in which they occurred,” the lawsuit says.
“TNS was saturated with antisemitic and anti-Israel protests, graffiti, leaflets, and signs in violation of the University’s time, place, and manner restrictions,” from classrooms to cafeterias, which “denounced the existence of a Jewish homeland as a racist endeavor and demanded that all Israelis be expelled from TNS,” it says.
“They accused Jews collectively of being racist and responsible for genocide, mocked and denigrated the suffering of Jewish hostages and their families, and celebrated Hamas’s violence against Jewish civilians,” yet the school repeatedly refused to enforce its rules when Shabot reported violations, the lawsuit says.
“This lawsuit is our response to the tidal wave of Jew-hatred on college campuses” since “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust,” and to “The New School’s shameful abdication of its responsibility to protect its Jewish students,” said Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of The Lawfare Project, which is representing Shabot.
The case shows the Jewish community “standing up against a campus that allowed a pro-Hamas mob to take over an American college campus,” according to the legal action group, which said it has filed, “won or settled” many cases “forcing meaningful change” on campus and holding institutions accountable for not protecting Jewish students.
“I hope that by speaking out, The New School will be forced to confront what went wrong, change the way it responds when Jewish students are targeted, and make sure that no other student has to endure what I did,” Shabot said.
Professor arrested, charged for online-only antisemitic harassment
As in-person threats, harassment and even physical violence, Shabot’s allegations look worse than those against Haverford College religion professor Guangtian Ha, who was arrested and criminally charged Tuesday with antisemitic “online harassment and intimidation,” with the FBI involved, President Wendy Raymond told the community.
Raymond emphasized that Ha was already on sabbatical this academic year and is banned from campus indefinitely.
Known for its liberal arts like the New School, Philadelphia-area Haverford settled class-action litigation by Jewish students represented by The Deborah Project, which repeatedly referenced Ha’s social media posts, this summer.
“All students including those who identify as Jewish, and/or Israeli, and those who support Zionism […] are welcome and enjoy equal access to the College and all of its educational programs and activities,” Raymond said this summer, one of the conditions of the settlement.
Among other conditions: Haverford removed “all reference and distinctions between ‘privileged’ and ‘marginalized’ students” from its honor code, agreed to punish masked students who threaten others and refuse to identify themselves, and promised events by “Jewish Zionists and/or Israelis” will get “effective security to the same extent” as other campus events.
