This Tuesday, 8th July 2024, brought the final decision on the antisemitism lawsuit, which was filed in November 2023 by some Jewish students of the university. A Joint Settlement Statement is issued after the final decision is announced. However, the facts and figures exposed the controversial truth inside NYU.
Let’s discuss the background of this lawsuit. At the end of 2023, when the Hamas-Israel conflict started, a wave of protest inside the campus arose. Some Jewish students accused the university of anti-Semitism behavior and discrimination policies. Furthermore, they filed a lawsuit against the university for the non-responsible behavior of the university president, Linda Mills, and the administration.
Three students at NYU, Bella Ingber, Sabrina Maslavi, and Saul Tawil, alleged the university’s irresponsible and contradictory behavior against the Jews. The antisemitism chants “gas the Jews” and “the Hitler was right” provoked the emotions. Moreover, they accused the university of failing to handle the bigotry actions on the campus. Also, the students said that they were verbally harassed on the campus for their identities and their support for Israel.
However, this lawsuit was the result of protests which spread rapidly after Israel attacked Gaza. The universities and academic institutes showed some discrimination and antisemitism policies; students feel unprotected and unsafe in this environment. Such lawsuits were filed against many universities in the US, and all of them were accused of using ineffective terms to combat discrimination in educational institutions.
As the final decision was announced, a Joint Settlement Statement was in the media. This statement has not been disclosed yet, but the plaintiff’s claim of inadequate policies to combat the discrimination is resolved. Moreover, the president of NYU stated, “We are committed to continuing our vigorous efforts to confront discrimination, including antisemitism, and the settlement in this litigation is yet another step in this direction.”
Despite this, the settlement confirms that the university will resolve the antisemitism acts and combat the harassment and discrimination. NYU will protect the students and stop anti-Jew, anti-Arabs, and anti-Muslim prejudice in the universities. Moreover, NYU will change its monetary policies to handle students’ damages and complaints. NYU confirms the settlement and will soon announce a Title VI Coordinator position to handle civil rights and protection against prejudice.
Besides this, NYU will reinforce its zero-tolerance policies for assaults and will train all its staff and faculty to handle prejudices and anti-national and religious conflicts. Additionally, this settlement statement discloses NYU’s positive attitude towards this dispute. The university assures us to utilize all the resources and strategies to stop religious discrimination and enhance the friendly and antisemitism environment in the educational institutes.
However, NYU led to settling such prejudiced lawsuits among the universities. The plaintiff’s statement shows appreciation for the university for its leading behavior. According to the student’s attorney, Marc Kasowitz, these three cases, including his for Jewish students, are “extremely significant, because their goal is to establish an example for how the university will follow Title VI in protecting its Jewish students, just as they would any other protected group. Furthermore, he said, “NYU, by entering into this historic settlement, is to be commended for taking a leading position among American universities in combating antisemitism on campus. Other universities should promptly follow their lead.”