Columbia University students have sued members of the Democrat congressional “Squad,” alleging the lawmakers encouraged anti-Israel protests.
Five students filed the lawsuit, specifically listing Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Jamal Bowman (D-NY), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) as well as several anti-Israel groups.
“The Gaza Encampment was extreme and outrageous conduct. It was illegal. It violated university rules. Its occupants harassed, followed, physically blocked, intimidated, and bullied Jewish students,” the lawsuit reads.
It explains that those who supported the protesters “not only consciously disregarded the rights of others, but the impact on the rights of others was the point of the protest: the more disruption [they] could cause for the University and the [students], the more leverage they thought they would have for their agenda.”
Two of the students behind the lawsuit are Jewish.
One student told the New York Post: “In one instance, I was walking with my non-Jewish friends when I was singled out because I was wearing my yarmulke. A leader of the pro-Palestinian protest approached our group and confronted me. He singled me out, yelling that I needed to move, and when I refused, he began to shove me out of the way.”
“In a civilized community, one does not call for the obliteration of a major metropolitan area, praise terrorists, or threaten death and destruction upon our classmates and their families, friends, and coreligionists,” the students wrote in court papers.
The protests led to the move of classes online, limited access to campus buildings, and the cancellation of Columbia’s graduation ceremony.
“Those were real damages sustained by the 36,000 students at Columbia who chose to obey university rules, go to class, and pursue their education, only to be frustrated at the finish line by the … acts of their classmates and professors, with the assistance and encouragement of outside activists,” the students wrote in the suit.
Students attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) filed a similar lawsuit in June. The lawsuit led to UCLA being ordered to develop a plan for maintaining equal campus access for Jewish students.
