Cornell law professor demands civil rights probe into colleague’s alleged exclusion of Israeli student from course on Gaza

A prominent Cornell law professor is demanding a civil rights investigation into allegations that one of his colleagues attempted to exclude an Israeli student from a course on the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this week, Cornell University confirmed that it suspended Eric Cheyfitz, a professor of American studies and humane letters, “who admitted to actions that violated federal civil rights laws and fell short of the university’s expectations for student interactions,” per a spokesperson for the Ivy League School.

Specifically, Cheyfitz, who is Jewish and a well-known anti-Israel activist on campus, allegedly told an Israeli student that they were not welcome in his course on Gaza, prompting a complaint, according to a report from Jewish Insider.

“If it is true that he removed a student from a course because the student was Israeli, that is an extremely serious civil rights violation,” William Jacobson, a law professor who runs the Equal Protection Project, a legal watchdog that targets colleges and universities for discrimination, told The Post.

“No faculty member has the right to negatively treat a student based on national origin,” he added. “That’s a very clear, bright line. Everybody understands that it’s something you don’t do. So if he did it, it’s extremely serious.”

So far, Jacobson is keeping his powder dry on filing a complaint until more information emerges. His watchdog group has gone after over 120 schools, including for national origin discrimination.

After a complaint was filed against Cheyfitz, who is a faculty adviser to the Cornell chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, the school opened up a probe into the matter, according to the Ivy League School.

“Cornell University is committed to protecting our community members from discrimination,” a spokesperson for the Ivy League School told The Post.

“Based on the findings of this investigation, the faculty member is not teaching this semester and significant disciplinary action is being recommended.”

Jacobson argued that Cheyfitz’s alleged discrimination warrants a more aggressive civil rights probe from the federal government.

“I think in addition to whatever investigation and steps Cornell takes, the US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division and the US Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, need to do an independent investigation,” he contended.

“Given how much has gone on at Cornell after October 7, given the heavy criticisms of the administration, both the prior president and the current president, I think it will be beneficial to everybody to have an independent investigation.”

Jacobson pointed to the lengthy history of the Justice Department conducting similar civil rights probes in the past.

“This should not be swept under the rug,” he stressed. “This is something that I think is extremely serious and requires both a thorough investigation, but also an independent investigation, so that the community has confidence.”

The Post attempted to reach Cheyfitz for comment.

Cheyfitz had been teaching a course named “Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance” during the spring semester earlier this year.

“We will examine the proposition that Indigenous people are involved historically in a global resistance against an ongoing colonialism,” a course description reads. “The second half will present a specific case of this war: settler colonialism in Palestine/Israel.”

That course had drawn criticism from other professors for impressing “pre-formed views of a complex conflict” onto students as well as factual inaccuracies, Jewish Insider reported.

Cheyfitz has been very outspoken about his views on Israel. A day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that massacred 1,200 Israelis, he declared on social media that “Israel started this war.”

Let’s be clear: Israel started this war, beginning in 1948 with the ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians, intensified it in 1967 with the annexation of the West Bank etc and continues to build illegal settlements on Palestinian land under apartheid, a crime against humanity.

— Eric Cheyfitz (@echeyfitz) October 8, 2023