American University was hit with a federal complaint on Wednesday over allegations of a "rampant and pervasive" antisemitic environment on campus, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
The complaint, filed with the Education Department by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law on behalf of the school’s Jewish population, alleges American University’s leadership is "fully aware of the pervasive and hostile environment for Jewish students, and not only ignored it, in some cases, it chose to subject Jewish whistleblowers to harassment and disciplinary proceedings," according to a copy of the complaint and supplemental information obtained by the website.
The complaint says that incidents of antisemitism on campus include Jewish students being spit upon, subjected to chants of "Zionist pig," and graffiti proclaiming, "Hitler was right."
It also says that, at American University, Jewish and Israeli students "are being subjected to discrimination, harassment, and intimidation on the basis of their Jewish shared ancestry and ethnic identity and Israeli national origin." It accuses the school of violating federal law by failing to protect Jews on campus, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
Five students represented by the Brandeis Center are currently under investigation by American University for taking videos of various students vandalizing property and tearing down posters of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas.
"The vandalizers themselves, meanwhile, are not being held accountable," the complaint says. "Only the Jewish students are being investigated."
In one instance, says the complaint, a Jewish-Israeli student, Tomer Ben Ezer, was "repeatedly spit on by fellow students," and flyers advertising his piano recital were defaced with antisemitic graffiti stating, "Death to the Zionists" and "Hitler was right."
In other cases, it adds, "Obscenities were yelled at Jewish students, including ‘Zionist killer,’ ‘Zionist pig’ and ‘You have blood on your hands,’ and Jewish students were accused of supporting ‘apartheid’ and being ‘responsible for genocide.’"
American University’s leadership has failed to adequately address the numerous instances of anti-Semitism on campus, making them responsible for violations of federal laws meant to protect minority students, according to the complaint.
American University did not respond to a Free Beacon request for comment.
The complaint against American University is the latest in a series of federal complaints filed against prominent universities as campus antisemitism has been on the increase since Hamas’ October 7 attack against Israel.
Last week, Harvard University was sued by Jewish students who accused it of allowing its campus to become a bastion of rampant antisemitism.
In November, the University of California, Berkeley was sued by Jewish groups who said it has become a hotbed of "unchecked" antisemitism, including at its elite law school.
Two weeks earlier, three Jewish students sued New York University (NYU), accusing the school of creating a hostile environment in which Jewish students are subjected to pervasive antisemitic hatred, discrimination, harassment and intimidation.
Republican lawmakers in the US House of Representatives last month announced the opening of a formal investigation against universities over their response, or lack thereof, to antisemitic incidents on their campuses.
The announcement followed a Congressional hearing in which the Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn refused to say that calls for genocide against Jews are against university policy.