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The Lawfare Project announced on the third anniversary of the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that it filed a lawsuit against The New School on behalf of a Jewish Israeli-American student it alleged faced “relentless antisemitic harassment, intimidation, and physical assault” as a student at the New York university.
According to the legal group, New School student Sophie Shabot faced numerous instances of name-calling, intimidation and obstruction based on her religion and support for Israel at the Parsons School of Design. She was reportedly called names like “Zio b—-” and “baby killer” and prevented from entering the University Center.
In another instance, protesters allegedly vandalized and disrupted a Hillel event featuring an Israeli speaker in 2024. Shabot was among several Jewish students who were trapped in a dean’s office as a group of protesters attempted to have them turn over the speaker.
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The Lawfare Project alleged that Sophie Shabot faced ongoing harassment and threats about her religion and background. (David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters)
According to The Lawfare Project, university officials failed to stop the harassment against Shabot and other Jewish students and even “at times rewarded those responsible.”
“There is no question in my mind that the New School violated its Title VI obligations and other obligations under the law in not intervening and taking meaningful action to stop the antisemitic, anti-Israeli harassment that my plaintiff endured while she was at the New School,” Lawfare Project director of litigation Ziporah Reich told Fox News Digital.
Reich, who also filed the lawsuit, added that more often than not, Jewish students like Shabot were the ones who faced consequences at universities following antisemitic actions by other students.
“If the pro-Hamas protesters are essentially threatening your physical safety when you’re trying to have a Jewish event, let’s just shut down the event to make sure you’re safe. When a group of pro-Hamas protesters occupy a space in which you’re supposed to have an event, let’s just move you somewhere else to a smaller, less accommodating place. In other words, she was bearing the brunt of the consequences for the negative harassment of the offenders,” Reich said.
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The New School’s Parsons School of Design has faced legal battles over its lack of action to combat antisemitism on campus. (David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters)
Reich also acknowledged the significance of filing the lawsuit Wednesday on the anniversary of the attacks that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and led to more than 250 people being abducted.
“It’s extremely important for the Jewish community to recognize that what happened immediately after Oct. 7 didn’t end immediately after Oct. 7 because the harassment of Jewish students and Jews everywhere has continued and even if it has lessened to some extent in certain universities, it has not gone away. It’s essentially in a quiet period where we know that at any minute it can rear its ugly head again. These students are activists without a cause,” Reich said.
The lawsuit brings claims under Title VI, New York state and city civil and human rights laws and claims for breach of contract and negligent infliction of emotional distress. It is seeking damages, statutory penalties, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other relief and demands a jury trial.
Fox News Digital reached out to The New School for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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Lawfare Project Director of Litigation Ziporah Reich spoke to Fox News Digital about the significance of filing the lawsuit on Oct. 7. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The New School’s Parsons School of Design was previously sued by the Dhillon Law Group in 2025 over similar allegations made by graduate Brandon White. White claimed that the school had opened a disciplinary investigation against him after he reported incidents of harassment while his assailants received no retaliation.
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The New School was also one of multiple universities overtaken by anti-Israel protesters after the Hamas terror attacks on Israel. In 2024, protesters occupied the Welcome Center in Manhattan to get the school’s board of trustees to vote on divesting from companies supporting Israel. This came amid two encampments on campus, with one led by students and one led by faculty.