Squad Members Sued Over Allegations Of “Inciting” Columbia Anti-Israel Protests

According to recent reports, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other members of the far-left, progressive “Squad” have been hit with a class action lawsuit accusing the group of inciting anti-Israel protests and encampments at Columbia University earlier this year.  The demonstrations at the Ivy League institution went on for weeks and were characterized as hostile and anti-Semitic.

 

Five Columbia students have taken legal action against the “Squad,” which includes elected congressional leaders such as AOC, Rep. Jamal Bowman (D-NY), and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). Furthermore, the lawsuit also names nearly a dozen anti-Israel organizations that participated in organizing the protests at Columbia.

 

 

“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 reads.  Reportedly, two of the five students in the lawsuit are Jewish, where one, identified as “Tim Doe,” recounted his experience during the tumultuous protests. 

 

“During the protests, I witnessed numerous offensive and antisemitic signs and messages, including antisemitic skunk posters with the Star of David,” he claimed.  “In one instance, I was walking with my non-Jewish friends when I was singled out because I was wearing my yarmulke. A leader of the pro-Palestinian protest approached our group and confronted me. He singled me out, yelling that I needed to move, and when I refused, he began to shove me out of the way,” he added.

 

The lawsuit further illustrated the impact of the disruptive protests on Columbia’s campus.  “Those were real damages sustained by the 36,000 students at Columbia who chose to obey university rules, go to class, and pursue their education, only to be frustrated at the finish line by the … acts of their classmates and professors, with the assistance and encouragement of outside activists,” it added.

 

Earlier this year, The American Tribune reported on the controversy surrounding AOC and the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.  At the time, a professor roasted AOC as an “agent of chaos.”  Columbia professor Shai Davidai, who was barred from campus after hosting a pro-Israel event, sounded off on Ocasio Cortez after she supported the event at the institution.

 

The professor said, “AOC is agent of chaos, and I am just looking forward to my kids and grandkids reading about this chapter in history, and the list of all the rabid antisemites, and to see her name.”  Davidai added, “This is not a peaceful protest… she is lying to the people just like [Rep.] Rashida Tlaib, just like Cynthia Nixon from ‘Sex and the City,’ just like The New York Times.”

 

AOC previously commented on the protests, where she criticized the presence of law enforcement.  “Calling in police enforcement on nonviolent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalatory, reckless, and dangerous act. It represents a heinous failure of leadership that puts people’s lives at risk. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” she said.

 

AOC continued her condemnation of the police, “Not only did Columbia make the horrific decision to mobilize NYPD on their own students, but the units called in have some of the most violent reputations on the force. NYPD had promised the city they wouldn’t deploy SRG to protests. So why are these counterterror units here?”