Published on 10/4/24 by the Jewish Journal The Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law announced on Oct. 1 that they have filed a complaint to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) against the University of Washington (UW) for failing to properly address “rampant” antisemitism on campus. The complaint notes that over the past six months, there has been multiple instances of antisemitic graffiti scrawled across the campus. Examples cited include “Zionists (piss on ‘em)” on a urinal, “Zionists f— off” on a campus building, and “Save a life … kill your local colonizer” alongside an inverted red triangle (the symbol commonly associated with Hamas targets) on the campus George Washington statue. “On information and belief, the University allowed the graffiti on the GW statue to remain for over 24 hours and it was a faculty member who had to take matters into their own hands and clean it up,” the complaint alleges. “Numerous students and faculty members emailed the administration to report the antisemitic graffiti all over campus. And yet the administration did not take steps to promptly address it and prevent it from recurring. “ The complaint proceeds to delve into the experiences of an anonymous UW Jewish student identified as “Student A.” Student A was allegedly confronted by members of the anti-Israel encampment on campus who referred to them by saying: “Watch out, this guy is a known Zionist.”, Student A came back to the encampment the next day holding an Israeli flag, prompting the encampment members to try and “grab the Israeli flag he was holding and tried to surround him and cover the Israeli flag with umbrellas. Several people who were participating in the encampment encircled Student A, obstructed his movement and prevented him from walking through the quad. Student A, who understands Arabic, heard someone say in Arabic, ‘Let’s go get the knife,’ which prompted Student A to run away.” Later, when he was walking on campus with a friend after a party, the encampment members recognized Student A and followed him. “The individuals who followed Student A and his friend swore at them in Arabic,” the complaint states. “Then, members of the encampment ran up to them at full speed with hammers, threatening ‘Yo, bro, shut the f— up, I’ll f—ing end you.’ The students held the hammer close to Student A’s face. When Student A said, ‘you’re not going to touch me,’ the other student said, “I’ll kill you.’ Student A and his friend backed away and left. Student A recognized one of students as the same student who had harassed him earlier that day.” The complaint then alleges that Student A reported the incidents to the university, and was told “sorry” by an administrator but no follow up ever occurred. He decided against filing a police report because he wouldn’t be able to stay anonymous, and when he told university police he was concerned for his safety, an “officer expressed his understanding but neither campus police nor the University offered further assistance or protective measures for Student A,” the complaint claims. Another anonymous Jewish student in the complaint, identified as Student B, was allegedly subjected to shouts of “you’re not welcome” and “we know who you are … go away” when he passed by the encampment; Student B was wearing a yarmulke. “Many of the individuals who participated in the encampment were dressed in black and carrying sticks and shields,” the complaint states. Student B discussed the incidents with campus and local police and with a university dean, but the complaint notes that “the University did not provide support or protection in response to these complaints, and police told Jewish students to “go around” the encampment for their own safety.” “As a result of the antisemitic harassment and intimidation he faced on campus based on his Jewish identity, Student B hid his yarmulke to avoid being recognized as a Jew and targeted,” the complaint states. “Student B missed classes and other opportunities on campus because he was afraid to walk through the encampment and had to avoid the area for fear that he would be further harassed and targeted on the basis of his Jewish identity. Following his freshman year at UW, Student B transferred to another university due to the hostile climate and antisemitism he faced on UW’s campus.” The final incident mentioned in the complaint is the UW Board of Regents meeting on Sept. 12, where “Jewish students and other members of the local Jewish community were subjected to verbal harassment and intimidation that contributed to the hostile environment at UW. At the meeting, members of the Jewish community and University who spoke about antisemitism and anti-Jewish hostility on campus, were interrupted, shouted down and verbally harassed by anti-Israel protestors in the audience, some of whom identified themselves as UW students.” The meeting ended early as a result, and the university condemned those who disrupted the meeting as being “antithetical to free dialogue.” But, according to the complaint, “the University has not since addressed the heightened hostile environment for Jewish students at the University. The message from UW, based on the events that transpired at the Board meeting, is that UW will not have the backs of Jewish students who speak up about antisemitism on campus or ensure their access to opportunities at the University is not denied on the basis of their shared ancestral identity connected to Israel.” The complaint concludes by contending that the university has not satisfied its legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to ameliorate the hostile environment against Jewish students on campus; the complaint calls on OCR to, among other things, require the university to better enforce its policies against vandalism, provide better safety and fully investigate every reported instance of “discriminatory, harassing and threatening conduct against Jewish students.” “It didn’t require any special reading of the tea leaves to see that Jew-hatred was rapidly escalating at the University of Washington and action was required,” Brandeis Center Founder and Chairman Kenneth Marcus said in a statement. “This could have been prevented but left unaddressed, graffiti and threatening messages directed at Jews quickly moved to dangerous bullying, intimidation, physical threats and discrimination. The Administration cannot continue to sit idly by. Jew-hatred will likely continue to spread like wildfire until the university takes concrete steps to address it, as they are required by law.” This could have been prevented but left unaddressed, graffiti and threatening messages directed at Jews quickly moved to dangerous bullying, intimidation, physical threats and discrimination. The Administration cannot continue to sit idly by. Jew-hatred will likely continue to spread like wildfire until the university takes concrete steps to address it, as they are required by law. – Kenneth Marcus Victor Balta, university spokesperson and assistant vice president for communications, told The Journal, “The University of Washington is committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all students, faculty and staff, and we are cooperating with the Office of Civil Rights as it investigates these complaints. We are in active discussions with OCR to resolve the matter and address the concerns these complaints have raised. While we are anticipating the Oct. 15 release of the final report and recommendations from the UW’s task forces on antisemitism and Islamophobia, we have taken steps to reiterate our community expectations and guidelines around freedom of expression.” Balta pointed to University President Ana Mari Cauce stating in a recent blog post that “when protest activities become disruptive, inciting or are accompanied by the destruction of public resources, we will first and foremost take action to protect people’s physical safety. We will also take whatever action is necessary and appropriate to allow the University to continue operations and serve our teaching, research and service mission. This includes enabling all community members to use public spaces and facilities appropriately and without being harassed or threatened.” Balta added that “some allegations of alleged antisemitic behavior have been reported to us and referred to the appropriate investigative office at the UW. We encourage any Jewish student facing bias or harassment on campus to report it through our university bias or student conduct reporting tool. These reporting mechanisms are actively reviewed, and follow-up is coordinated by the Office of Student Life. We take reports seriously and are committed to doing all we can to address them.”