On Monday, The Deborah Project Attorneys Jerome Marcus and Lori Marcus filed a legal complaint against Haverford College on behalf of Ally Landau and several other unnamed Jewish students at Haverford.
The lawsuit alleges Haverford College is violating the Civil Rights Act in “[making] clear that it will not do anything to remedy the antisemitism that now runs rampant on campus” and is breaching contract with regards to it’s poster and social media policy as it applies to pro-Israel Jewish student groups.
In addition to the accusation that Haverford College both “repeatedly and categorically refused to condemn Hamas’s atrocities or any terrorist acts directed against Jews or Israelis” and “maintained a series of policies … relating to social media and on the posting of posters [that] are not applied to Jews in the same way that they are applied to, and about, any other group,” the lawsuit lays out a timeline of events on Haverford campus that they maintain contributed to an antisemitic atmosphere, including Haverford’s recent pro-Palestine encampment and student and faculty response to the shooting of Haverford student Kinnan Abdalhamid, whom the lawsuit claim was shot by a “Hamas supporter”.
The Deborah Project identifies several Haverford students and professors by name in their lawsuit, accusing them of antisemitic statements and behavior and claiming that Haverford College did nothing to discipline them following discrimination complaints from Jewish students.
In response to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are seeking that Haverford College: “condemn, investigate, and punish any conduct that harasses members of the Jewish community, or others, on the basis of their religion, and ethnic or ancestral background”; provide education about the “hostile treatment of Jews who believe in the centrality of Israel to Judaism”; institute policies to ensure that Haverford College does not conduct or finance “programs that deny equal protection to Jewish members of the Haverford community including those for whom Zionism is an integral part of their identity”; and pursue disciplinary measures, including termination, against staff and faculty “responsible for antisemitic discrimination and abuse—whether because they engage in it or permit it.” The plaintiffs are also seeking compensatory damages from the College.
Both The Deborah Project and Haverford College declined to comment on the suit.
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It’s worth noting that the Deborah Project is led by Jerome Marcus, an attorney for Donald Trump involved in an effort to overturn the PA electoral count in the 2020 election. The group also mounts legal challenges to the teaching of critical race theory.
So noted. But the merits of the Complaint will now be determined within a Federal Court, where shouting, masks, and banners will not be permitted.
It would be more ethical to initiate a rebuttal regarding the incidents that are cited, if such a rebuttal can be made, rather than posting a sophomoric attempt to discredit those involved in filing the Complaint by using a MAGA dog whistle.