NEW CASE ALERT: Taking on Jew Hatred at UC Merced

Dear friends,

The Lawfare Project is taking on a NEW CASE as part of our continued fight against Jew hatred on college campuses. We now represent a student at the University of California, Merced who has been affected by the recent actions of an anti-Semitic university professor. On behalf of our client, The Lawfare Project is fighting to ensure that the university appropriately addresses the incident with full transparency. We will not allow this to be swept quietly under the rug.

After an outcry from the public, the professor in question, Abbas Ghassemi, is being investigated by the university for disgusting public social media posts. In one tweet, he posted an image of "The Zionist Brain" that depicted, among many other things, a "Compulsive Lying Olfactory lobe" and a "World Domination Lobe." He also tweeted "the Zionists and IsraHell interest have embedded themselves in every component of the American system." If Ghassemi is openly tweeting this, what is he saying to those he teaches?

While these disturbing tweets appeared at first to go unpunished, UC Merced recently told activists from the End Jew Hatred movement that Ghassemi would not be teaching classes this semester and that a series of workshops are being planned to address hate speech and anti-Semitism on campus.

Even with these recent developments, there is SO much more work to be done to ensure the safety of Jewish students on college campuses. We CANNOT allow professors or staff on campus to spread bigoted Jew hatred.

Preventing Professor Ghassemi from infecting impressionable young minds with his hateful propaganda this semester is an important first step, but Jew hatred should never be allowed on college campuses and, even today, it remains far too present. The Lawfare Project and its End Jew Hatred partner organizations are fighting for schools to implement programs making it clear that anti-Jewish discrimination is unacceptable and illegal.

We will continue to pursue justice for Jewish students until Jew hatred has been eradicated on campus. Thank you for your continued support. We couldn't do this without you.

Sincerely,

Brooke Goldstein
Executive Director, The Lawfare Project