UMich hit with federal civil rights complaint over anti-Semitic course content
The Lawfare Project filed a federal complaint against the University of Michigan, claiming an American culture course contains anti-Semitic content and pressures students to accept pro-Palestinian perspectives.
The complaint asks the Department of Education to investigate potential civil rights violations after at least one student dropped the class rather than face political indoctrination.
The Lawfare Project has filed a federal complaint against the University of Michigan and a faculty member, alleging that content in an American culture course is anti-Semitic.
The complaint, submitted on Aug. 29, requests the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights investigate potential Title VI violations and require corrective action.
The complaint cites two readings in AMCULT 204, “Media Activism,” that discuss pro-Palestinian discourse and Palestinian struggles, claiming they portray Israel as illegitimate and may create a hostile environment for Jewish students.
One of the two readings, titled ”Tweet like It’s Free: Civic Imagination in the 2021 Palestinian Unity Intifada” praises Palestinians’ use of Twitter during the 2021 uprising—an event driven in part by Hamas rocket attacks and violent unrest—as a form of “resistance” to Israel.
The reading portrays Israeli policies as apartheid, delegitimizes Jewish self-determination, and encourages students to view anti-Israel activism as liberation, framing Hamas-linked violence and opposition to Israel as justified political expression.
“Students are required to consume and discuss materials accusing Israel of genocide and delegitimizing Jewish self-determination,” the complaint reads, according to MLive.
“This conflates Jewish identity with oppression and violence, pressuring students to accept these framings or risk academic disadvantage,” the lawsuit continues. “At least one student dropped the course rather than remain subjected to such political indoctrination.”
In a message on Sept. 17, Michigan’s Kay Jarvis stated that the university “has not been made aware of this matter by the OCR.”
Aron Boxer, Founder and CEO of Diversified Education Services, weighed in on the controversy, writing that, while a Title VI violation may be difficult to prove, education should avoid indoctrinating students in particular political beliefs.
“Consuming narratives opposed to one’s beliefs is not discriminatory,” he said in a statement provided to Campus Reform, adding that “if the coursework pressures Jewish students to either internalize antisemitic framings or risk their grades, it stops being education and starts being indoctrination.”
“[P]resenting delegitimizing perspectives on Israel could be viewed as coercive, and students should be taught how to think, not what to think,” Boxer added.
“Academic freedom does not mean presenting only one side of a deeply contested issue,” added Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at The Lawfare Project. “Intellectual honesty requires that students be told explicitly that these are contested viewpoints, and that many—including the majority of Jewish people—understand Zionism as integral to Jewish identity and not merely a political position.”
“The Trump Administration’s Executive Order on Combating Antisemitism made this point unmistakably: anti-Zionism that denies Jewish self-determination or applies double standards to Israel can constitute antisemitism under federal law,” Filitti continued.
In April, Michigan had to suspend multiple pro-Palestine student protesters from campus jobs after an anti-Israel demonstration, citing interference with law enforcement at a museum event.
”During a private event, protesters interfered with law enforcement’s ability to provide invitees safe and secure entry and exit from the premises,” a letter sent by Amy Grier, associate director of human resources at Michigan, said to student Zainab Hakim.
In March, pro-Palestine activists vandalized Provost Laurie McCauley’s home with anti-Israel graffiti and smashed a window, prompting an Ann Arbor police investigation and condemnation from university leaders.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Michigan for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
