Adelphi professor found to have created hostile environment for Jewish students after anti-Semitic posts
Adelphi University disciplined Professor Sarah Eltabib for creating a hostile environment toward Jewish students through social media posts blaming Israel and promoting conspiracy theories.
The university also placed the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on probation for posts celebrating attacks on Israel.
Adelphi University on Long Island, New York took action against a faculty member for creating a hostile environment for Jewish students, following an investigation by the school.
The probe concluded that Professor Sarah Eltabib, Associate Teaching Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences and faculty adviser to the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter, violated the university’s discrimination and harassment policy, according to an email acquired by the Brandeis Center.
The investigation found that her social media posts, including blaming Israel for U.S. crises, promoting conspiracy theories, and denying assaults in Israel, constituted harassment and created an intimidating and offensive campus climate.
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This ruling comes shortly after Adelphi placed the SJP chapter on a one-year disciplinary probation for posts celebrating Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel as a “historic day” and declaring, “Adelphi is no place for Zionists.”
“The impact of these posts on Adelphi’s campus has been profound and deeply troubling,” said professor Tuval Foguel, who initially filed the complaint against Eltabib. “Several students have shared that they no longer feel safe wearing their yarmulkes on campus, and faculty members have expressed feeling unwelcome and afraid.”
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law praised Adelphi’s findings but called for further action, including removing Eltabib from advisory and committee roles and monitoring her teaching.
“Our satisfaction with Adelphi’s findings is exceeded only by our expectation that Adelphi will take concrete steps to remedy the harm caused by Prof. Eltabib’s campaign of ethnic hatred and act to prevent her, and anyone else, from creating a discriminatory hostile environment for Adelphi’s Jewish community in the future,” added Rory Lancman, Senior Counsel at the Brandeis Center.
Eltabib is far from the first professor to have made statements against Israel amid its ongoing conflict with Hamas.
For instance, Columbia professor James Schamus criticized the university’s anti-Semitism settlement fund, questioning whether it rewards Jewish employees or others and accusing the administration of “weaponizing” anti-Jewish discrimination for political gain.
In July, the University of Kentucky removed law professor Ramsi Woodcock after he created a website calling for military action against Israel.
Woodcock described Israel as a “Western colony” and advocated for its “decolonization,” while University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto condemned the petition as potentially antisemitic and removed Woodcock from teaching pending investigation.
Overall, in a report earlier this year, the American Jewish Committee and Hillel International found that 33 percent of Jewish college students felt faculty had promoted anti-Semitism or created a hostile learning environment.
Campus Reform has contacted Sarah Eltabib for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
