Major US Representatives Facing Class Action Lawsuits For Provoking Anti-Israel Protests

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other members of the left are facing a class action lawsuit claiming that they played key roles in provoking those anti-Israel protests at Columbia University earlier this year.

In a lawsuit filed by five students under pseudonyms, Ocasio-Cortez and two other Democratic Representatives Jamal Bowman (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) are named as defendants. It also features about a dozen anti-Israel organizing groups.

“The Gaza Encampment was extreme and outrageous conduct. It was illegal. It violated university rules. Its occupants harassed, followed, physically blocked, intimidated, and bullied Jewish students,” the lawsuit reads.

Two of the five students who are behind the lawsuit are Jewish. A student, going only by the name “Tim Doe,” told The New York Post about his troubles in class.

In an interview with the Post, he said: “During the protests, I witnessed numerous offensive and antisemitic signs and messages, including antisemitic skunk posters with the Star of David.”

“In one instance, I was walking with my non-Jewish friends when I was singled out because I was wearing my yarmulke. A leader of the pro-Palestinian protest approached our group and confronted me. He singled me out, yelling that I needed to move, and when I refused, he began to shove me out of the way,” he added.

The encampment at Columbia University received international press, as students and some faculty took over the campus for weeks.

The protests forced class to be moved online and sharply curtailed access to campus buildings as finals approached for students. Eventually, Columbia University canceled its graduation ceremony along with other institutions across the country.

“Those were real damages sustained by the 36,000 students at Columbia who chose to obey university rules, go to class, and pursue their education, only to be frustrated at the finish line by the … acts of their classmates and professors, with the assistance and encouragement of outside activists,” the lawsuit says.

At the time, Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman expressed support for anti-Israel protests at the time.