WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is facing a lawsuit filed by a student and a faculty member, accusing the prestigious university of fostering a hostile antisemitic environment on campus. The court document claims that “although anti-Semitism had been alive on the MIT campus for years after October 7, the campus became a hotbed of anti-Semitic hate and lawlessness,” citing incidents of students cheering for Hamas, chanting for an intifada, and creating an encampment that excluded Jewish people.
In response, an MIT spokesperson stated, “MIT will defend itself in court regarding the allegations raised in the lawsuit. To be clear, MIT rejects antisemitism.”
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, hundreds of Jewish community leaders from across the country met with lawmakers, seeking federal assistance to offset the costs of increased security.
Robert Milgrim, the father of Sarah Milgrim, one of the two young Israeli staffers shot and killed last month at a Jewish event in Washington, said, “had there been more security at the event where Sarah and Yaron were tragically murdered, had there been more security outside of the event, watching the crowd.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. have surged nearly 900% over the past decade.
In New York, Zohran Mamdani, the Democrats’ pick for mayor, faces accusations of antisemitism for defending anti-Israel demonstrators’ chants for a “global intifada,” a slogan historically associated with the Israel-Palestine conflict as a call for violence against Jewish people.
Mamdani has also said if elected, he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “This is a city where our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also.”
Some members of Mamdani’s own party, including New York House Democrats, have expressed deep concerns. Rep. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., wrote that Mamdani has “a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable anti-Semitic comments which stoke hate at a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing.”
Mamdani responded to critics by asserting that as mayor, he will protect all New Yorkers.