The three students suing Penn for an allegedly insufficient response to antisemitism on campus filed a response to the University's motion to dismiss, alleging that the ongoing Gaza Solidarity Encampment represents evidence of continued antisemitism on campus.
In April, Penn motioned to dismiss the lawsuit, which was originally filed by College senior Eyal Yakoby and College first year Jordan Davis and was amended to include Wharton and Engineering junior Noah Rubin and Students Against Antisemitism, Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Penn violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The plaintiffs' latest filing — which includes declarations from Yakoby and Davis featuring new allegations about antisemitism on Penn’s campus and related to the Gaza Solidarity Encampment — reaffirms many of the arguments made in their initial complaint. It contends that "Penn’s arguments in its motion could hardly be more disingenuous."
A University spokesperson declined a request for comment.
The new declarations, which were obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, include additional arguments about the ongoing encampment on College Green and alleged antisemitic actions that have taken place since it began.
“I have seen and heard first-hand reports of individuals in the encampment, including students, committing acts of violence, intimidating and harassing Jewish students and faculty members, and inciting others to do the same,” Yakoby wrote in his declaration.
Yakoby detailed instances of vandalism of the Ben Franklin statue and the area in front of College Hall — including “Zios get fuckt” being spray painted on the statue and “Zionism is antisemitism” being chalked on the ground nearby. He also alleged that encampment members have engaged in ongoing aggression towards Jewish students, including calling them slurs as they pass by the encampment.
The DP could not confirm that the mentioned instances of vandalism were committed by members of the encampment or that encampment members have used slurs.
“Those at the encampment have denied a campus rabbi and numerous others entry to the quad. I have also seen a video of a Jewish student, surrounded by campus protesters, who threatened him with ‘I hope you have good health insurance’ and ‘how’s your dental'?" Yakoby alleged. "I personally witnessed a police officer, after being assaulted by a protester, asking his sergeant whether he could arrest the individual, only to be told that the police do not have the authority to make arrests at the encampment.”
Yakoby wrote that he and other students have reported “these and other incidents” to Penn administrators — and accused the administration of not taking action.
“Since the filing of the original complaint, students and professors at Penn have only become emboldened by Penn’s response (or lack thereof) to combat antisemitism,” Yakoby contended. “Penn has proven that it is incapable of effectively addressing antisemitism or is unwilling to do so.”
A section of Yakoby's declaration also references a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, by political science professor Anne Norton. In the post, Norton criticizes Yakoby and contends that he "has led campaigns against myself and my colleagues that have called for our deaths, rapes, and firing, along with more mundane abuse."
Yakoby said that he has never called for the ‘firing, rape, or death’ of Norton or any Penn community member. The DP could not corroborate Norton’s allegations.
“As far as I know, Eyal Yakoby has never taken a class with me and has never spoken to me,” Norton wrote in a statement to the DP. “We did communicate over email. He asked if I would be willing to discuss Israel/Palestine with him. I said of course. He then said he wanted to have this filmed as part of a documentary by right-wing journalists. I politely declined.”
Norton wrote that it was only after she declined the opportunity to be part of the documentary that Yakoby’s “campaign” against her began.
“As he states on Twitter, his aim is to do me harm,” she wrote. “His followers have taken this up with enthusiasm, recommending that I be killed in the tunnels of Gaza, raped there or elsewhere, and of course, fired.”
Norton added that the threats she receives are “nothing compared to those received by [her] Arab and Muslim colleagues.”
“I worry about their safety and that of the students in the encampment,” she wrote. “We all should.”
In her declaration, Davis said that she has experienced “severe antisemitism” on Penn’s campus.
“I have also been forced to avoid parts of campus, which have been taken over by anti-Jewish and anti-Israel protesters … and blocked from entering Penn buildings by protesters,” she alleged. “I have been forced to relocate from the library to try to avoid being attacked and harassed, and to avoid the disruptive noise emanating from the ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ which has been erected next door.”
Davis accused Penn of not caring for or supporting her wellbeing, which she says has been affected by the "antisemitic hostile educational environment on campus.” She cited the temporary lockdown of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library on May 2 as an example of the encampment harming her learning environment.
“The hostility on Penn’s campus continues to intensify as the administration fails to take appropriate measures to stop it,” she wrote. “I do not feel safe on Penn’s campus, and I am not being treated equally as a Jewish student at Penn.”
The plaintiffs also provided responses to the claims detailed by Penn in its motion to dismiss, including to the University's claim that the lawsuit should be dismissed on the grounds that their challenge is "premature," given that the University's response to antisemitism is ongoing. The filing argues that Penn's argument would allow it to "avoid liability indefinitely by asserting that its response is 'ongoing.'"
The motion also requested injunctive relief requiring Penn to end discriminatory policies and practices against Jewish students.
In a statement to the DP, Yakoby wrote that “Penn’s campus has only regressed into an unnerving and dangerous level of anti-Semitism.”
“If [Jameson’s May 6 statement] told the world anything, it is that the administration recognizes students are unsafe, but they are going to continue talking to the encampment," Yakoby wrote. "We are not safe. If the university will not protect its students, then a federal court will.”
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