Even after US Jews have become almost inured to hearing about incidents of blatant antisemitism on US college campuses since the Hamas massacre in Israel, the incidents that occurred at American University in D.C. are particularly grievous. A federal civil rights complaint against the university was recently filed on behalf of Jewish students who have experienced “persistent and threatening anti-Semitic rhetoric and conduct.”

A Jewish Israeli student was spat on by fellow students and his piano recital flyer was defaced with swastikas and the phrases “Hitler was right” and “Death to the Zionists.”

Dorm rooms of Jewish students were defaced with swastikas. One Jewish student also received an anonymous text saying: “I know who you are, Jew.” Additionally, many dorm bathrooms were defaced with swastikas and Nazi phrases and images.

Jewish students were targeted with screams of “Zionist pig” and “Zionist killer.” One student screamed at a Jewish classmate: “I don’t want to sit on the same side of the room as this Zionist…You have blood on your hands. You are responsible for genocide.”

One professor spent classroom time praising anti-Israel protests and projected photos on a large screen, including a photo of a Magen Dovid in a trash can with the caption, “Keep the world clean.”

The professor then stared at a Jewish student in the class, leading many of the other students to turn around and glare as well. The Jewish student left the class in tears.

Neither professors nor the administration did anything to address the antisemitic behavior, the complaint said.

The claim against American University was filed by the Brandeis Center for Human Rights with the U.S. Education Department.

“Jewish students have been shunned and marginalized in classrooms by their peers and faculty,” the complaint states.

“Anti-Israel protests have interfered with these students’ ability to attend classes or move about the campus freely. Posters of innocent men, women, and children being held hostage by the terrorist group Hamas, are continually torn down by anti-Israel students.”

“Shamefully AU has repeatedly chosen to turn a blind eye to the anti-Semitism snowballing on its campus,” said Kenneth Marcus, the founder and chairman of Brandeis Center.

In addition to the case against American University, the US Education Department is investigating cases filed by Brandeis Center against Brooklyn College, Wellesley, SUNY New Paltz, the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of Illinois, as well as discrimination claims against Rutgers University, Stanford, University of California Los Angeles, University of California San Diego, University of Washington — Seattle and Whitman College in Washington State as well as Harvard, Cornell, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)