US Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman, Omar Slapped With Lawsuit for ‘Inciting’ Columbia University Anti-Israel Encampment
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Photo: Mike Jourdan/Flickr.
Three progressive US lawmakers are facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly “inciting” anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.
The lawsuit, filed by five anonymous students, names Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), and Jamaal Bowman (NY) — all members of the so-called “Squad” of far-left members of the House of Representatives — as key instigators of the “extreme and outrageous” anti-Israel protests on the Ivy League campus. The lawsuit also implicates nearly a dozen pro-Palestinian groups.
“The Gaza Encampment was extreme and outrageous conduct. It was illegal. It violated university rules. Its occupants harassed, followed, physically blocked, intimidated, and bullied Jewish students,” the lawsuit says.
Starting in mid-April, dozens of student organizers at Columbia University commandeered the South Lawn and erected an encampment in protest of Israel’s military campaign against the Hamas terror group in Gaza. The students vowed not to dismantle the encampment until the university agreed to boycott and divest from all Israel-related entities, including divesting from companies that do business with the Jewish state and cutting ties with Israeli universities.
The demonstration, which included chants in support of Hamas and calls for Israel’s destruction, quickly grew in numbers amid allegations that Columbia wasn’t doing enough to punish rampant antisemitism on campus.
The lawsuit argues that the three lawmakers were among the “outside champions” who encouraged the protests. The three progressives issued statements defending the at-times violent protesters and criticizing law enforcement.
“If any kid is hurt tonight, responsibility will fall on the mayor and [university] presidents,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X/Twitter on April 30.
Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman, and Omar each visited the encampments at Columbia University in a show of support for the campus agitators. Omar suggested that Jewish students critical of the Columbia University anti-Israel protests were “pro-genocide,” sparking a firestorm of outrage. Bowman defended the anti-Israel protests as “peaceful” and said he was “outraged” at Columbia administrators for calling in police officers to protect the campus.
Two of the five claimants in the lawsuit are Jewish, according to the New York Post.
An anonymous Columbia Jewish sophomore told the Post that he “did not feel safe” on campus.
“During the protests, I witnessed numerous offensive and antisemitic signs and messages, including antisemitic skunk posters with the Star of David,” the Columbia student recalled.
The Columbia protests drew widespread criticism for rhetoric that many observers considered antisemitic. Student activists openly waved flags representing the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups. A group of Columbia student protesters made headlines for chanting “burn Tel Aviv to the ground.” Several campus groups issued statements categorically banning “Zionist” students from membership. In May, police revealed that anti-Israel protesters who occupied an academic building at Columbia had signs that read “death to America,” death to Israel,” and “long live the intifada” — the last of which refers to a violent Palestinian uprising.
In response, several prominent Columbia Jewish alumni have vowed to no longer donate funds to the Ivy League university. The US Congress summoned Columbia President Minouche Shafik to testify on the alleged antisemitic campus climate at the university. The Committee on Education and the Workforce initiated an investigation into antisemitism at Columbia.
“In a civilized community, one does not call for the obliteration of a major metropolitan area, praise terrorists, or threaten death and destruction upon our classmates and their families, friends, and coreligionists,” the lawsuit reads.
The claimants allege that the campus agitators and their supporters “not only consciously disregarded the rights of others, but the impact on the rights of others was the point of the protest: the more disruption [they] could cause for the university and the [students], the more leverage they thought they would have for their agenda.”
Omar, Bowman, and Ocasio-Cortez have all routinely lambasted Israel and called for the US to lessen its support to the Jewish state.
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