Two MIT students and a pro-Israel group from California yesterday sued MIT on charges it has allowed protests over the Israeli war in Gaza to blossom into full-blown anti-Semitic threats against Jewish students and professors.
In their suit, filed in US District Court in Boston, StandWithUs and the two students allege that by not doing much, the administration of MIT President Sally Kornbluth – herself Jewish – has created a cauldron of fear for Jewish students that many have become afraid to walk across campus or even visit the MIT chapter of Hillel, that they have been threatened both in person and in a campuswide e-mail system, and that one Jewish computer-science lecturer even quit out of fear.
The suit alleges all this violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and seeks an injunction ordering MIT to protect Jewish students and staff from harassment and threats, including banning any groups that have become practicing anti-Semites, along with damages and attorneys’ fees.
Complete complaint (7.3M PDF).