NJ Groups Accuse Rutgers Of Allowing 'Anti-Palestine Bigotry'

NEWARK, NJ — It was only a few months ago that accusations of antisemitism erupted at Rutgers University’s Newark campus, prompting a federal investigation. Now, as tensions over the Israel-Hamas war continue to cause clashes among the college community, more allegations of discrimination have emerged – this time involving Palestinian students.

On Wednesday, the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) announced that they have filed a Title VI complaint against Rutgers University over allegations of “ongoing, patterned anti-Palestinian bigotry” at the Newark law school and New Brunswick undergraduate campuses.

Some of the alleged bigotry includes doxing incidents where students were identified as Hamas supporters in group emails – giving one student a panic attack – and were reportedly threatened with exposure in the news media and at their jobs. Other incidents identified in the complaint involved the removal of a “genocide memorial” from the law school atrium, and a tense encounter between students in a campus parking deck where a Palestinian student was nearly hit by a car.

Reached for comment about the complaint, a Rutgers spokesperson provided Patch with the following statement:

“Without commenting on the specifics of any inquiry, the university always cooperates with regulators and others who recognize that the safety of our students is our top priority. We abhor all forms of intolerance based on religion, national origin, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or political views. The university takes seriously every claim of bias, intolerance, and hate. Rutgers has policies in place for reporting and investigating bias incidents. When bias incidents are reported, we investigate them fully and take appropriate action, including working with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies when situations warrant to pursue thorough investigations and ensure the safety of Rutgers community members.”

According to the complaint, which can be seen online here, the alleged discrimination has been taking place since October 2023 – the month after Hamas’ now-infamous attack on Israel. Since that day, casualties and suffering have been heavy for Palestinians and Israelis alike as war continues to rage in the Middle East.

More than 1,200 Israelis were killed after Hamas launched their coordinated attack on Oct. 7, including civilians and children. Dozens of the deceased are U.S. residents, including some from New Jersey.

Meanwhile, the death toll from Palestinian authorities stands at more than 30,000 people who have been killed in Gaza due to Israel's retaliatory air strikes and ground invasion –including thousands of children and civilians. Israel has cut off water and electricity in Gaza, raising an outcry from advocates and several humanitarian organizations. Widespread famine and medicine shortages are causing even more misery.

The fighting in the Middle East has given rise to tensions at home in Newark, where several large protests, rallies and debate have taken place over the war.

• See Related: Pro-Palestine Protesters Rally At Newark City Hall, Call For Ceasefire
• See Related: Newark Activists Plan Pro-Palestine Rally: ‘MLK Would Agree’
• See Related: There Is No 'Ban' On Pro-Palestine Books In Newark Schools, Board Says

Those tensions have been spilling over into the Rutgers-Newark community, according to the complaint filed this week.

“That college campuses across the country have become an increasingly hostile environment to Muslim and Palestinian students and their allies — especially in the wake of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza — is no secret,” CAIR-NJ executive director Selaedin Maksut said.

“University administrations have effectively enabled this climate of hostility and unsafe environment when they repeatedly refused to act and respond with appropriate urgency to Muslim and Palestinian students’ concerns,” Maksut alleged.

ADC staff attorney Chris Godshall-Bennett said that college campuses should be a place where students feel free to be themselves and express their identities. Their power and voice should be protected and uplifted, he said.

“Instead, Rutgers University has allowed a patently hostile and unsafe climate to relegate its Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students to a second-class status, denying them their right to an education free of harassment and discrimination,” Godshall-Bennett said. “We expect the Department of Education to take these claims seriously and fully investigate this pattern and practice of discrimination.”

Meanwhile, incidents of antisemitism continue to be reported at Rutgers.

On Monday, Rutgers University–New Brunswick chancellor Francine Conway wrote that she was “troubled and concerned about the unsettling rise in the number of bias reports, particularly incidents of antisemitism on our campuses.”

“We are actively investigating these reports of incidents targeting Jewish students, faculty, or staff because of their religious identity,” Conway stated, offering a “disturbing example” of the unauthorized use of a Jewish student's image on posters placed in their dorm.

“Actions like these are completely unacceptable,” Conway said.

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