A Jewish student has brought a federal civil rights case against the University of California at Berkeley, saying the university did not protect her from being attacked because she's Jewish.
Lawyers for Jessica Felber, 20, say the case, filed in United States District Court in Oakland, California, against UC Berkeley, the Regents of the University of California and their ranking officials, is the first of its kind.
Felber took part in a pro-Israel demonstration on March 5, 2010, on the UC Berkeley campus, organized by Tikvah, a student Zionist group, to counter anti-Israel events being held that same week as part of Israel Apartheid Week.
Her suit alleges that Husam Zakharia, a fellow student and head of Students for Justice in Palestine, rammed into her with a metal cart because of the pro-Israel sign she was holding. She was treated for her injuries, and Zakharia was arrested for battery but later released.
The complaint alleges that the Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Student Association, another pro-Palestinian group on campus, harass and attack Jewish students, and that the university knows about it and has not taken sufficient steps to protect its Jewish students.
The complaint further charges that university officials have tolerated “the growing cancer of a dangerous anti-Semitic climate on its campuses” which violates the rights of Jewish and other students “to enjoy a peaceful campus environment free from threats and intimidation.”
The suit calls for damages and a jury trial.
Pro-Israel and anti-Israel students have clashed before on the UC Berkeley campus. In November 2008 Zakharia was one of three student cited for battery in a physical altercation over displaying the Palestinian flag at a pro-Israel event.