George Washington University (GW) was sued in federal court by Jewish students on Thursday, alleging it allowed “pervasive and severe antisemitic harassment” on campus for years without any action from the school’s leaders.
Students Sabrina Soffer, Ari Shapiro, and a group of anonymous plaintiffs accused GW of failing to address a surge in hostility towards Jewish students, particularly following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by allowing a “hostile educational environment” to flourish unchecked.
The 176-page complaint details a litany of incidents that paint GW as a campus where Jewish students face relentless intimidation. According to the filing, anti-Semitic acts include physical assaults, vandalism, and verbal harassment, with university administrators allegedly turning a blind eye. The lawsuit cites specific examples, such as anti-Israel protests that escalated into violence and Jewish students’ property being defaced with anti-Semitic slurs.
The lawsuit comes at a precarious time for elite universities as the Trump administration takes action against schools that fail to rein in campus anti-Semitism. The same day the complaint was filed, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard University’s ability to accept international students, though a judge paused that order on Friday.
The complaint alleges that Lance Lokas, president of GW’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter, spat on an unnamed Jewish student involved in the lawsuit “while raising money with other members of GW for Israel”—an incident the university didn’t investigate, according to the suit. Prior to the Oct. 7 attack, Lokas gave a speech at a rally in D.C. that called for violent “resistance” against Israelis and glorified Palestinian terrorist “martyrs” for making “the ultimate sacrifice,” the Free Beacon reported.
During last spring’s anti-Israel encampment that lasted nearly three weeks, the complaint alleged SJP’s “marshals” “intimidat[ed] Jewish and Israeli students … forcing them to leave.” One marshal who followed a Jewish student and her friends as they tried to walk away loudly called out, “Imagine being a Zionist, they’re so ugly, fat, and stupid,” according to the suit. Other protesters shouted slogans like “Fuck you, Zionist, go die,” “Globalize the Intifada,” “Hamas are freedom fighters,” and “Zionists, go to hell.”
SJP supporters also vandalized the office of an Israeli faculty member, Joseph Pelzman, according to the complaint. On Feb. 25, “academic papers were torn down” and a sign invoking an anti-Semitic blood libel trope was posted to his door. “Pelzman is only one pernicious symptom of the bloodthirsty Zionism permeating our campus,” it read (emphasis in original).
The lawsuit also accused a number of professors in GW’s Institute for Middle East Studies of pushing anti-Israel sentiment. Michael Barnett, a professor of international affairs and political science, has stated that Palestinians have “a right of resistance,” according to the lawsuit. Another, William Youmans, an associate professor of media and public affairs and founding leader of SJP, has described Hamas as a justified “uprising against Israel,” and has publicly defended Hamas leader and Oct. 7 mastermind, Yahya Sinwar.
The complainants argue that GW’s failure to respond to these incidents violates federal law. “[T]he University’s persistent failure to address longstanding antisemitic harassment and discrimination … stemmed from a willful disregard for repeated warning signs,” the suit reads.
They also accused GW’s administration of applying a double standard in enforcing its nondiscrimination policies and code of conduct, fostering an environment where anti-Semitic behavior goes unpunished. Shapiro, for example, said he reported “active discrimination and harassment” from two fraternity brothers targeting his Jewish identity, but GW didn’t take any disciplinary action against the students.
Following Oct. 7, Shapiro raised concerns about anti-Semitism during a fraternity meeting. In response, one student, who had shared pro-Hamas content on Instagram, stormed out in protest. At a subsequent meeting, another student unleashed a tirade of “conspiratorial antisemitic epithets,” railing about “Jews and money” and “Jews and loyalty.” The complaint alleges that Shapiro endured “negative treatment and social ostracization,” ultimately forcing him to withdraw from the fraternity.
Earlier this year, a federal civil rights investigation uncovered evidence that GW’s faculty retaliated against Jewish students based on “shared ancestry-related advocacy” by placing them in a remediation program after the students lodged an anti-Semitism complaint against an anti-Israel professor.
That professor, Lara Sheehi—who attacked Israel on social media as “racist” and “genocidal” and has since left GW for Hamas-friendly Qatar—is also detailed in the lawsuit. Sheehi, a psychology professor, targeted her Jewish students for their religion and Israeli nationality, according to the lawsuit. When one of the students introduced herself to the class as an Israeli, Sheehi responded, “It’s not your fault you were born in Israel.”
Sheehi also invited a guest lecturer who reportedly assailed “white Israeli racism” and praised a Palestinian terrorist who stabbed an Israeli child, according to the complaint. When Jewish students pushed back on Sheehi’s anti-Israel rhetoric in class, the professor allegedly argued that Zionism was racist and anti-Semitic.
Soffer, who graduated earlier this month with a double major in philosophy and Judaic studies, told the Free Beacon she hopes the lawsuit will restore accountability.
“I have long been proud to call George Washington University my academic home. Yet after nearly four years of bringing attention to the university’s persistent anti-Semitism problem, I remain disheartened by its failure to take sufficient action to protect against the hostile environment facing the Jewish and Israeli community,” Soffer said. “My sincere hope is that this lawsuit marks a turning point—one that restores accountability and reaffirms a genuine commitment to the values the university professes to uphold.”
“We take the concerns of the students who filed the lawsuit extremely seriously,” George Washington University told the Free Beacon. “We condemn anti-Semitism in the strongest possible terms and have taken, and continue to take, robust action to support our Jewish and Israeli students and community. The narrative presented in the lawsuit does not reflect our values or the strong measures the university has taken to uphold them.”
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