The complaint, filed by The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Law, says the hostility changed into persistent threats when Hamas attacked Israel in October.
"This is part of the same pattern of behavior we've seen across the country at different colleges since October 7," notes Zachary Marschall, editor-in-chief of Campus Reform and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Kentucky.
The complaint was filed after American University's Student Accountability and Restorative Practices Office reportedly opened an investigation into the Jewish students who gathered evidence of the antisemitism they witnessed on campus.
For example, an American Israeli student who lost family and friends in the terrorist attacks was spat on and cursed at. Someone also vandalized his piano recital flier with a swastika and a message that read, "DEATH TO ZIONISTS HITLER WAS RIGHT."
The university charged some students with harassment and disorderly conduct for filming others ripping down posters of Israelis who were taken hostage on October 7, despite university policy saying posters cannot be removed.
Even so, Marschall is encouraged that Jewish students appear more comfortable with speaking out about their experiences. He calls it "a positive development for fighting antisemitism."
Meanwhile, he points out that the only way the other side can accomplish their mantra of a "free Palestine" is through genocide.
"Hitler killed six million Jews, so they probably look to him as inspiration," Marschall says.
