Jewish students accuse SUNY New Paltz of discrimination

Two Jewish students have accused the State University of New York at New Paltz of discrimination, saying they were excluded from a sex abuse survivors group because of their personal views of Israel.

The Brandeis Center for Human Rights filed a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Education claiming SUNY’s New Paltz campus condoned antisemitism against the two Zionist Jewish students, Cassandra Blotner and Ofek Preis.

“SUNY [New Paltz]…is permitting a hostile environment that marginalizes and excludes these Jewish… and Israeli sexual assault survivor students,” states the complaint, released Thursday.

The school “is also denying Jewish and Israeli survivors of sexual assault on campus equal access to the educational opportunities and services they need, on the basis of their shared ancestry, ethnicity and national origin in violation of Title VI,” it adds.

The controversy erupted last December, when Blotner posted a message on her personal Instagram account that read, “Jews are an ethnic group who come from Israel. This is proven by genealogical, historical and archeological evidence. Israel is not a ‘colonial’ state and Israelis aren’t ‘settlers.’ You cannot colonize the land your ancestors are from.”

Members of New Paltz Accountability (NPA), a group Blotner and another student founded to combat sexual assault, demanded Blotner defend her views, claiming her personal post “concerns the organization as a whole,” the complaint said.

“I realized the opportunity here to educate NPA that as Jews we share a history, theology and culture – we’re both a faith and an ethnicity — and it’s all deeply tied to the Land of Israel,” Blotner said. “Expressing support for the Jewish homeland is core to my Jewish identity, the two are inseparable, and I shouldn’t have to shed that piece of my Judaism in order to advocate for survivors of sexual assault.”

She added: “To then get cancelled, stalked and harassed, well I can’t even put into words what a horrific and frightening experience this all turned into for me.”

Blotner said she faced harassment on social media, with others calling her a “dumb b—h” who supports “mass genocide!!!!” who “needs to go,” according to the complaint.

Preis, another NPA member, who is a Jewish Israeli student, shared Blotner’s post on her Instagram. Soon after, NPA stopped contacting Preis about the group’s activities and blocked her access to shared organizational documents, a press release accompanying the complaint alleged.

“The NPA then made clear to Preis, and through numerous posts on its Instagram, [that] the group was only open to those who reject Zionism,” the press release said.

“Excommunicating and excluding Jewish and Israeli survivors from NPA denies us of our right to fight against sexual assault on college campuses and hold our universities accountable,” Preis said.

“I should not have been asked to choose between being Israeli or being a survivor. I should not have been asked to align with only survivorship or only Zionism. It is possible and necessary to include intersectional identities in spaces that fight for survivors.”

Both students are still enrolled on campus.

The complaint cites Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin, including discrimination against Jews on the basis of their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, in educational institutions that receive federal funding.

Jewish students are being targeted by “anti-Zionist hatred that invokes classic anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish power and control,”” said Denise Katz-Prober, Brandeis Center’s director of legal initiatives. The center previously sued ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s for supporting the boycott movement against Israel.

Complaints about anti-Semitism and Jewish hostility has been a burning issue on many college campuses, including at the public colleges of the City University of New York and State University of New York.

The City Council Higher Education Committee in June held a hearing on campus antisemitism, with CUNY students testifying that they hey were harassed because of their Jewish faith.

Disagreements concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has heightened tensions.

The faculty and student groups of the CUNY LAW school passed resolutions in support of the pro-Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.

Julia Jassey, CEO of Jewish on Campus said about the SUNY New Paltz incident: “This case is about anti-Semitism, it is about sexism, it is about harassment, and it is about xenophobia.”

“As jarring as this case is, the experience these students have faced is unfortunately not unique,” Jassey said. “All over the country, Jewish students face unjust treatment due to their identities. It is our duty, as an organization that speaks by and for Jewish students, to ensure that no student is denied the protection they deserve.”

SUNY New Paltz, in a response to the discrimination claims, defended its actions.

“We unequivocally condemn any attacks on SUNY students who are Jewish, and we will not tolerate anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation on campus,” the statement said.

“SUNY New Paltz has provided access to resources and support for those impacted by the events of this past year and we continue our active engagement to support our Jewish students and employees around the rise of antisemitism, to address antisemitism and bias concerns when they arise, and to continue dialogue and educational efforts,” SUNY New Paltz said.

SUNY New Paltz also said it doesn’t seek to limit free speech on polarizing topics.

“As a public institution, we value the First Amendment and uphold the free exchange of ideas,” the statement said.