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Fighting Anti-Semitism in the Courtroom – Top Law Firms Take on Ivy League Universities in Blockbuster Lawsuit
By: Fern Sidman
Trial lawyer Marc Kasowitz on Monday told the ‘The Claman Countdown’ on Fox Business News that his New York based law firm, Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, will be representing Jewish students and faculty at universities who have faced anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination in the aftermath of the October 7th Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel which left 1400 dead and 5000 injured.
A recent report on the Business Insider web site confirmed this and revealed that Jewish college students in the United States are preparing to sue such Ivy League schools as Cornell and Harvard over allegations of rampant anti-Semitism on their campuses. Mark Ressler, the lead attorney from Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, has disclosed plans to file multiple lawsuits in the coming weeks and months, accusing these universities of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race discrimination by entities receiving federal funds, as was reported by the Business Insider web site. This development highlights a disturbing surge in anti-Semitism, further exacerbated by the recent Hamas attacks on Israel.
Did the rise of woke culture help foment a culture of tolerance for antisemitism on U.S. campuses?
David Kaufman says a movement of anti-intellectualism and ‘quest for most oppressed status’ has overrun universities and silenced Jewish American students. #wokeculture… pic.twitter.com/qwaWl8nJtK— The Jewish Voice (@JewishVoice) November 2, 2023
Ressler’s firm plans to take legal action against several prominent universities, including Harvard, Cornell, New York University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University, as was reported by the Business Insider website. These lawsuits aim to demonstrate that these universities were aware of acts of hatred and bigotry directed at Jewish students. Furthermore, they will argue that there was a pervasive atmosphere of anti-Jewish bigotry on these campuses, and that administrators and university bureaucrats acted with deliberate indifference, according to the report.
Anti-Semitism on college campuses has long been a concern, but the situation has deteriorated in recent times. The attorney, Mark Ressler, noted that the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel in early October poured “fuel on an already raging fire,” as was reported by the Business Insider web site. Jewish students have faced an explosion of anti-Semitism, with reports of online threats and incidents affecting their safety and well-being.
To support their claims, the attorney cited recent violent online threats targeting Jewish students at Cornell, according to the Business Insider report. Additionally, there were reports about Jewish students at New York City’s Cooper Union College who sought refuge in the school’s library during a pro-Palestinian protest amid the ongoing war that the terrorist Hamas organization launched on Israel. The Business Insider web site also said that while initial reports suggested that the library doors were locked, Cooper Union clarified that they were not. According to an NYPD official, there was no direct threat, and students were not in danger. Despite these specific instances, Ressler maintains that anti-Semitism is a growing issue on college campuses nationwide, and it needs to be immediately addressed.
One of the people who accosted a Jewish student and blocked him from walking freely on campus has been identified as Ibrahim Bharmal, the editor of the Harvard Law Review at @Harvard_Law. Many law programs have been taken over by far-left ideologues. pic.twitter.com/lRKh5Yayee
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) November 2, 2023
“Things are out of control on campus,” said Ressler, as was reported on the Business Insider web site.
The plaintiffs in the planned lawsuits will be “students who have been victimized by on-campus bigotry and hatred directed at them because they are Jewish,” he added. Ressler also said that his firm has received an influx of reports of discrimination against Jewish students in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel.
Ressler made it clear that these cases are not about free speech rights. According to the Business Insider report, he anticipates that universities may attempt to frame the issue as one related to free speech, but he argued that it is not. He stated, “It’s not free speech to walk up to Jewish students on campus and say, ‘F*** the Jews, Hitler was right,’ and that’s an incident we have at a university.” The attorney asserted that universities have set a precedent by taking a firm stance against racism, sexism, Islamophobia, and homophobia but have failed to apply the same standard to anti-Semitism.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) further substantiates these claims, reporting a staggering 400% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States. Business Insider reported that these incidents include assaults, harassment, and vandalism since the unexpected Hamas attack on Israel. Between October 7 and October 23, ADL recorded a total of 312 anti-Semitic incidents, with 190 directly linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Furthermore, 54 anti-Semitic incidents were documented on school campuses, 43 of which were directly linked to the war, the report added.
ADL has also noted the prevalence of 110 anti-Israel rallies on U.S. campuses since the onset of the Hamas war on Israel, with at least 27 of them including “expressions of support for terrorism.” These events underscore the magnitude of the challenge that Jewish students are currently facing, contributing to a climate of fear and insecurity.
Joining Ressler at the Kasowitz, Benson & Torres firm in filing suit against universities that allow egregious manifestations of virulent Jew hatred to pervade their campuses, thus endangering Jewish students are some of the nation’s most influential law firms, as was reported by the Gateway Pundit website. These firms have issued a warning to elite universities and their students, emphasizing that there will be real-world consequences for embracing anti-Semitism.
A letter, bearing the signatures of over two dozen law firms, serves as a stark warning to universities, urging them to take a decisive stand against anti-Semitism on their campuses. Spearheaded by Joe Shenker, the senior chair of Sullivan & Cromwell, this collective message was sent to law school deans at several prominent institutions, including Yale, Harvard, Columbia, the University of Virginia, Georgetown, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, the University of Michigan, New York University, and Stanford, as was noted in the Gateway Pundit report.
The list of highly prestigious law firms that signed on to this letter include: Akin Gump, Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Cooley LLP, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Dechert LLP, Dentons US LLP, DLA Piper LLP (US), Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Goodwin Procter LLP, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP, Lowenstein Sandler LLP, Mayer Brown LLP, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Milbank LLP, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C,. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Paul Hastings LLP, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, Proskauer Rose LLP, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan UK LLP, Ropes & Gray LLP, Schulte Roth + Zabel LLP, Shearman & Sterling LLP, Sidley Austin LLP, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, White & Case LLP, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, as per the Gateway Pundit report.
Moreover, The Lawfare Project’s newly created “Legal War Room” has publicly called upon those with verifiable information on incidents of harassment, intimidation and assault of Jewish students on campuses across the country to come forward for possibly another law suit to be filed against those institutions of higher learning that are failing to provide adequate protection to Jewish students.
“We have a crucial, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to seize the momentum in the fight against anti-Semitism and unite, as a community, to work collaboratively in the interests of justice and equality,” said Brooke Goldstein, Founder and Executive Director of The Lawfare Project. “We have a clear vision of how to succeed, through strategic legal action that imposes real consequences on Jew-hatred and makes it as unacceptable as every other form of racism and bigotry. Working together, we can end Jew-hatred in our lifetime.”
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Lawfare Project attorneys have fielded hundreds of calls and emails from members of the Jewish community, including students and professors at major universities and colleges, who have been targeted with anti-Semitism, including violent physical attacks. Many of these students and professors have retained The Lawfare Project, which is currently evaluating legal action on their behalf. The Lawfare Project’s Legal War Room is currently focused on multiple colleges across the country, and on implementing systemic change through comprehensive civil rights strategies, including litigation.
Moreover, Brooke Goldstein, human rights attorney and founder of The Lawfare Project has publicly called upon those with verifiable information on incidents of harassment, intimidation and assault of Jewish students on campuses across the country to come forward for possibly another law suit to be filed against those institutions of higher learning that are failing to provide adequate protection to Jewish students.
This response is not just a symbolic gesture, as some students have already faced tangible consequences for their support of actions that condone Hamas terrorism. In offering an example, Gateway Pundit reported that Ryna Workman, the far-left non-binary president of New York University’s Student Bar Association, used her position to send a message cheering the Hamas terror attack on civilians. Once this message came to light, a job offer from the law firm Winston & Strawn was promptly rescinded.
Not only are students experiencing repercussions, but colleges and universities are also facing backlash from some of their most significant donors who have begun withdrawing their support. Gateway Pundit also reported that one noteworthy case is Victoria’s Secret founder Leslie Wexner, who announced his decision to cut ties with Harvard over concerns related to anti-Semitism on campus.
Oh you like Hamas?
Siding with Hamas isn’t easy when you know what they actually stand for.
Well done: FactsForPeace on IG pic.twitter.com/ksLmr2dDeE
— Yaakov Langer (@jacklanger) November 2, 2023
Similarly, David Magerman, a key figure in the hedge fund Renaissance Technology (RenTech), has severed his connections with the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). His decision was motivated by the university’s failure to condemn Hamas terrorism and its reluctance in condemning campus anti-Semitism as well as its “fierce support for the Hamas-affiliated speakers at the Palestine Writes Festival,” as was reported by Gateway Pundit.
In an attempt to address the situation more comprehensively, calls for transparency have arisen.
Dershowitz: Harvard Deserves No Donations Until it Condemns “Hitler’s Youth” on Campus – https://t.co/yyVYRWcBLf @AlanDersh @Harvard #hitleryouth @antisemitism @gay_claudine #donations #October7massacre #HamasISIS #IsraelAtWar @Yale @CUNY #JewishDonors
— The Jewish Voice (@JewishVoice) November 1, 2023
On Thursday, the New York Post also reported that hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management and a Harvard University alumnus, called for disciplinary action against a group of pro-Palestinian students at his alma mater. This demand comes in response to a viral video that captured these students, including the editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review, Ibrahim Bharmal, surrounding a Jewish peer during a demonstration that followed the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
In the video, the pro-Palestinian students are seen holding traditional Arab headscarves while surrounding a Jewish student, according to the Post report. They shout, “Shame, shame, shame!” as they obstruct the path of the Jewish student trying to move away from the situation.
Harrowing footage from Manhattan on Nov. 2 shows anti-Israel rioters surrounding those trying to protect photos of missing civilians kidnapped by Hamas. Some of the torn down photos are stomped on by the masked militants. pic.twitter.com/bpbBG5zApL
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) November 3, 2023
Ackman took to his X social media account to express his concern and demand action. The Post report said he called for Harvard University to suspend the students seen in the video and questioned how Bharmal could remain in his position after this incident.
“How does this man remain Editor of the Harvard Law Review? How are these students not immediately suspended? How does this not violate @Harvard’s code of conduct for students?” Ackman wrote in his X post, according to the Post report. He also posed the question, “How would Harvard respond if the affected student were Black, Latino, or LGBTQIA?”
Ackman has been actively using his social media platform to express his views and concerns about the situation, and he has garnered support from other business executives who have pledged not to hire Harvard students affiliated with organizations that blamed Israel for the barbaric Hamas attack, according to the Post report.
Ken Griffin, another hedge fund billionaire and Harvard graduate, has demanded that Harvard administrators unequivocally condemn the Hamas terrorists, Griffin, the CEO of Citadel, who has made significant donations to Harvard, has committed to not hiring the leaders of student groups that endorsed an anti-Israel letter.
In addition to his comments on this incident, Ackman also weighed in on the letter sent by more than a dozen powerful law firms on Wall Street, the Post reported. These firms warned university deans that they would not hire students engaged in anti-Semitic harassment or discrimination on college campuses.
Ackman expressed his disappointment in the need for law firms and corporations to address anti-Semitism on campus, emphasizing the importance of a robust response from educational institutions, the Post report said,
Furthermore, Ackman commented on a viral video featuring an unidentified individual believed to be a Harvard student expressing “love” for the Hamas terrorist organization.
Harvard University has yet to issue a statement regarding the incident involving Bharmal and his fellow students. A report on the Algemeiner.com web site indicated that the Harvard College Jewish Alumni Association (HCJAA) has called for a meeting with the university’s leadership to address their concerns and discuss concrete plans to protect Jewish students on campus. They are also seeking an unequivocal condemnation of the Hamas terror attack in Israel from the university’s leadership, which has been noticeably absent so far, the report added.
In an October 30th report on the Breitbart.com web site, it stated that on Monday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “The Record,” Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz reacted to Harvard President Claudine Gay establishing an advisory council on fighting anti-Semitism by stating that the creation of such a board is a move to try to keep Jewish donors from cutting off their contributions to the university. He also said that people shouldn’t donate to Harvard unless President Gay is “willing to condemn Hitler’s youth among her students and among her faculty.”
According to the Breitbart.com report, Dershowitz said the council is “going to correct only one thing, it’s going to correct trying to get more Jewish donors to give money to Harvard. That’s what she seems to care about.”
He added, “These kids who signed these statements while people were still bleeding to death from the rapes and the murders, these are Hitler’s youth. … These are Hitler’s youth…and the president of Harvard refuses to condemn them. She’s now, finally, after a lot of pressure, [been] willing to condemn Hamas, but she’s not willing to condemn Hitler’s youth among her students and among her faculty. And until she does that, I urge everybody to stop contributing to Harvard, to Yale, to the City University of New York, to the University of Pennsylvania. Send your contributions to decent organizations that know the difference between right and wrong,” as was reported by Breitbart.com.
In addition to the dramatic escalation of anti-Semitism at Harvard, last week the Jewish Voice offered extensive reportage on the alarming rate of odious anti-Semitism at New York City’s Columbia University.
CUNY’s Corinna Mullin says Palestinian armed resistance is Just and Protected under International Law.
She says that Hamas’ attack on October 7th was a “dramatic scene”. She avoids saying Hamas, it was just “Palestinians”. pic.twitter.com/QQVTga6dYL
— Stu (@thestustustudio) November 3, 2023
Following on the same trajectory that Professor Dershowitz suggested, prominent hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman has announced his decision to suspend all future donations to Columbia University due to the university’s handling of recent student protests against Israel, as was reported last Thursday in the New York Post. In a fiery interview with Fox Business’s Liz Claman, Cooperman criticized the protesting students, stating that they have “s–t for brains” and voicing his support for Israel as America’s reliable ally in the Middle East, its only democracy, and a nation that promotes tolerance and diversity, the Post report added.
“We have one reliable ally in the Middle East — that’s Israel. We only have one democracy in the Middle East — that’s Israel, okay? And we have one economy tolerant of different people — gays, lesbians, etc. And that’s Israel,” Cooperman told Fox Business. Cooperman, 80, is the chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors, a New York-based investment firm with over $3.3 billion in assets, the Post reported.
At a protest in Philly this week, @CUNY professor @marclamonthill defended Hamas, saying “history didn’t start on October 7” and demanding a ceasefire (i.e., Hamas’s continued existence).
He also claimed the Palestinian people have been “catching hell for over 100 years” (even… pic.twitter.com/z71Tu4AilD— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) November 2, 2023
Cooperman, who is of Polish-Jewish descent and an alumnus of Columbia University, expressed his concern over the university’s response to the ongoing Middle East conflict. He specifically called out a tenured professor, Joseph Massad, who praised the recent Hamas terror attacks on Israel in an article published on The Electronic Intifada, the Post report said.
Cooperman vowed to withhold his future contributions to the university unless he sees changes in the administration’s approach, particularly regarding the handling of Professor Massad’s controversial statements about Hamas, the Post reported. He lamented, “Now, the real shame is I’ve given to Columbia probably about $50 million over many years, and I’m going to suspend my giving. I’ll give my giving to other organizations.”
Cooperman also said he told administrators to “fire this professor.”
“I mean, war is hell. War is not good for anybody, but to praise what Hamas did is disgraceful, disgusting,” Cooperman added, the Post report said.
Almost 60,000 people signed a petition demanding Massad’s removal from the university, accusing Columbia of “condoning and supporting terrorism.”
“Regardless of one’s stance on the conflict, supporting and praising one of the worst acts of terrorism in history is never acceptable,” the petition reads, according to the Post.
The Post also reported that a letter of solidarity with Massad was issued in turn, condemning the petition against him and calling on Columbia President Nemat Shafik to “unequivocally guarantee his physical safety and his academic freedom.”
It was signed by thousands of members of the school’s alumni, staff, and student body.
Some Columbia professors have weighed in — including Israeli-American assistant professor Shai Davidai.
He alleged that Minouche Shafik, has not spoken out against the student groups and said he would never allow his daughter to attend the Ivy League school in remarks he posted to YouTube titled “an open letter to every parent in America,” the Post report said.