Feds open probe into death threats against Jewish students at California university

California university accused of ignoring antisemitic harassment, including death threats targeting Jewish students.

By World Israel News Staff

The federal government has launched a probe of a California university, amid accusations school administrators ignored rampant antisemitism on campus, including death threats against Jewish students.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened an investigation into a federal complaint filed by the The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law alleging Chapman University failed to take action after antisemitic harassment and exclusion of Jewish students in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The case involves antisemitic incidents allegedly perpetrated by Chapman Students for Justice in Palestine (CSJP) and its members.

CSJP is a local chapter of a national anti-Jewish hate group, with the stated goal of “dismantling Zionism on college campuses.”

After the October 7th Hamas massacre, actions by CSJP and its members included removing a Jewish student from the group because of his shared Jewish ancestry and making heinous death threats against a different Jewish student.

The complaint specifically details several instances when the University failed to address antisemitic conduct by CJSP targeting Jewish students.

First, was the exclusion of a Jewish Chapman student with a Jewish sounding surname when he attempted to join the group in September 2022 to learn about CSJP’s perspective.

In October of 2022, he was removed from the listserv and effectively denied admission to the group.

He was similarly rebuffed by CSJP when he renewed his attempts to join the group in October 2023 after Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel. CSJP failed to confirm his RSVP to a teach-in event and later denied him entry to the in-person event held on campus.

This also happened with several other students who are Jewish or have Jewish-sounding names, who sought to attend the teach-in event, but did not receive the confirmation needed for admission by CSJP and therefore were barred from attending.

The second incident detailed in the complaint started on November 12, 2023 when a CSJP member sent a death threat to one of the Jewish students who was excluded from CSJP, after she responded to a social media post in which he called for “death to all Israelis who follow Zionism.”

The student then asked the CSJP member if he wanted her dead. He responded “f*** yeah I want you and all Zionist trash bags dead the f*** kinda question is that?” The CSJP member then sent her a barrage of harassing messages accusing her of not being a real Jew and alleging that “Zionism is terrorism.”

AntisemitismCaliforniaThe Brandeis Center