Published by Jerusalem Post on 08/21/2025 A lawsuit was filed on Wednesday against the University of California (UC) Berkeley, alleging that it violated state anti-discrimination laws when it rejected a teaching application submitted by an Israeli professor because of her nationality. The lawsuit was filed in California Superior Court – the state-level court where cases are first heard, witnesses testify, and evidence is presented – by The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the law firm Olivier & Schreiber PC. In 2022, Dr. Yael Nativ, an Israeli dance researcher and sociologist, served as a visiting professor at UC Berkeley. After what the suit describes as a “successful semester,” the staff at Berkeley’s Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies (HDI) invited her to return as a visiting professor in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, which Nativ was “thrilled” about. The projected plan was for the 2024-2025 academic calendar year, which, per the University’s Office of the Registrar, was slated to begin on August 21, 2024. Nativ applied, but was rejected. The lawsuit notes that Dr. SanSan Kwan, the department chair, told her, “Things are very hot here [on campus] right now, and many of our grad students are angry. I would be putting the department and you in a terrible position if you taught here.” She responded, “I’m so sad and broken all around, for everyone on all sides. Yet, the biggest disappointment and pain come from my/our academic scholars and colleagues, mostly in American universities. The level of ignorance, hate, and the inability to make an effort for a complex discourse is astounding and appalling. This is not how I was educated, embracing ideas of power structures and critical reflection. I know you are in a difficult position. Yet I hope, knowing how sharp you are and your high level of integrity, that you do make this effort with your students, colleagues, and wherever you are.” Nativ received no response to this message. Later on, an investigation by Berkeley’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment & Discrimination determined that Berkeley discriminated against Nativ based on her national origin, breaching its own Nondiscrimination Policy. Per the lawsuit, Nativ queried the school, but received no cohesive response to her predicament. Pattern of discrimination The Brandeis Center, which filed the lawsuit against Berkeley, has been tracking what it sees as a pattern of discrimination and academic distancing against Israeli scholars – since the Israel-Hamas War began in October 2023, triggered by the cross-border massacre attack by the terrorist organization that saw 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage, of which Hamas continues to hold 50 as bargaining chips in ceasefire negotiations. Per the Hamas-controlled Gaza health authorities, at least 62,000 Palestinians have been killed since the offensive against Hamas began nearly two years ago. In November 2023, just a month into the war, the Brandeis Center filed a separate lawsuit against UC Berkeley, alleging a “longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism” on campus. Per the organization, this led to harassment, discrimination, and violence against Jewish students and faculty. This past April, a district court judge allowed the suit to advance. Other lawsuits were filed against MIT and Stanford, as well as against organizations at UCLA and Columbia. Brandeis Center chairman and CEO Kenneth L. Marcus said, “Well-respected institutions like Berkeley pride themselves on welcoming individuals, academics, and professors from around the globe, with varying backgrounds and expertise on every subject imaginable. Yet since the Hamas attacks on October 7, Jewish and Israeli professors, researchers, and academics like Dr. Nativ have been unfairly targeted, their work questioned, and their livelihoods threatened because of the rampant anti-Semitism that has overtaken college campuses.” Marcus, who is a former US Assistant Secretary of Education and ran the Office of Civil Rights during the tenures of two administrations, added, “For a university to deny the invitation of a respected professor simply because of her national origin is not only distasteful, it’s illegal. And if the campus administration doesn’t hold themselves up to the same accountability standards that they hold their students, what is stopping their students from acting on their own discriminatory beliefs? The vicious and illegal targeting of Israeli faculty and researchers is unfortunately a disturbing new trend we are seeing nationwide that must stop.” The lawsuit requests that the court declare that Berkeley violated state law, issue an injunction against Berkeley engaging in any future acts of discrimination, and that it enforce its nondiscrimination policies properly when it comes to Israeli applicants and employees. The lawsuit further requests compensation damages.