UPenn faculty sues university in attempt to stop anti-Semitism documents being sent to Congress: 'McCarthyism'
The University of Pennsylvania Faculty for Justice in Palestine group has filed a federal lawsuit against the Ivy League institution in an attempt to stop documents from being sent to a House of Representatives committee.
The University of Pennsylvania Faculty for Justice in Palestine group has filed a federal lawsuit against the Ivy League institution in an attempt to stop documents from being sent to a House of Representatives committee investigating campus anti-Semitism.
According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, the lawsuit was filed by two professors with the Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine group and alleged that the House Committee on Education and the Workforce investigation into anti-Semitism at the institution threatens academic freedom.
“This nation is seeing a new form of McCarthyism, in which accusations of anti-Semitism are substituted for the insinuations of Communist leanings which were the tool of oppression in the 1950’s,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also states that the committee’s “bad faith questioning” during a Congressional hearing on Dec. 5, 2023 was “so effective that two of the three presidents have since been forced to resign.”
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According to the outlet, the lawsuit also states that the university is “privileging, protecting, and endorsing” pro-Israel speech over that of those who are pro-Palestinem stating that anti-Semitism has previously been used “in egregious ontological error, to chill, punish, and end virtually all moral, political, legal, and other criticism of the nation-state Israel.”
In a press release, the group wrote that their protests have come under intense scrutiny, and said they have been doxxed.
“After October 7th, our protesting the beginning of Israel’s retaliation against Gaza were met with the doxing of many of us – students, postdocs, staff and faculty – and little if any statements on the part of the administration to support our right to free speech,” Africana studies professor Eve Troutt Powell wrote in the press release.
“The Committee is engaged in a partisan witch hunt by seeking syllabi, academic papers, and other material from Penn faculty of all ranks, with the search highlighting keywords like Jew, Israel, antisemitism, Palestine, Gaza, resistance, settler colonialism and diversity, equity and inclusion, to name most of their criteria,” the Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine wrote in its press release.
The House Committee on Education asked several documents to be produced, including the following:
- ”All reports of antisemitic acts or incidents and related documents and communications since January 1, 2021, including but not limited to all reports of antisemitic acts, incidents, or discrimination” made to several offices.
- ”Documents sufficient to show the findings and results of any disciplinary processes or changes in status by Penn toward Penn student organizations related to conduct involving Jews, Israelis, Israel, Zionists, or Zionism since January 1, 2021, including, but not limited to, Penn Students Against the Occupation and the Freedom School for Palestine.”
- ”All documents and communications referring and relating to Penn’s Action Plan to Combat Antisemitism.”
- “A Penn spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached by The Daily Pennsylvanian.”
