Anti-Jewish, Anti-Zionist Discrimination Reported at San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University “fostered a pervasively hostile, anti-Jewish environment, knowingly and intentionally discriminated against Jewish and Israeli students and community members, and failed to protect their civil rights and physical safety,” the Lawfare Project alleges. 

 By: JNS.org

The General Union of Palestine Students president, Mohammad Hammad, wrote “graphic and lurid Tumblr posts describing his desire to set children on fire, radicalize his classmates, join Palestinian terrorist organizations, and behead Israeli soldiers,” the Lawfare Project reports.

When an Israeli student, Hammad’s classmate, reported that she feared for her safety, they removed her from the classroom rather than disciplining or removing Hammad.

According to the Lawfare Project, attorneys representing five student and two non-student plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint against San Francisco State University (SFSU) on Thursday alleging that the school has “fostered a pervasively hostile, anti-Jewish environment, knowingly and intentionally discriminated against Jewish and Israeli students and community members, and failed to protect their civil rights and physical safety.”

Under California’s Public Records Act, the amended complaint supplements a first report that SFSU failed to release, detailing findings of national origin discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Lawfare Project reports that over the past nine months, since legal action has been taken, students have endured even more physical threats by peers and ignored by campus administrators. Professors have demonized Jewish and Zionist Students through public statements, a posted a message on the Facebook page of an official SFSU Academic Center that asserted that Jewish and Zionist students’ existence on campus was a “declaration of war” against Arab and Muslim students, and through flyers and posters that announce “Zionists are NOT welcome” and “Zionists support genocide.”

Brooke Goldstein, executive director of the Lawfare Project stated, “Jewish students at San Francisco State University are afraid to publicly display their identities, and live in fear of systematic discrimination, harassment, and even death threats. If any other minority community faced similar treatment on campus, the University would be rightly outraged.” She stated.

“The Lawfare Project exists to protect and defend the civil rights of the Jewish community. We will not rest until American college students are safe, welcome, and treated equally on the campuses they call home,” she concluded.