Pro-Hamas Swamp: Judge Rules Professor’s Claims of Discrimination Against California College of the Arts Can Proceed to Litigation

Mob rule on college campuses has suffered a serious legal setback.

The Jewish professor suing the California College of the Arts in San Francisco for threatening to fire her because  she gently reproached pro-Hamas students won a significant legal battle earlier this month when a federal judge ruled that the case can proceed, rejecting a motion to dismiss from the College.

Hopefully, the ruling is going to prove a cautionary note to college administrators who coddle pro-Hamas students and resort to railroading any professors who dare challenge them.

United States District Court Judge Haywood Gilliam, Jr., ruled that the professor, Karen Fiss, had presented sufficient evidence that the College discriminated against Fiss based on her religion and had created a hostile work environment because the school, as she contended, in the lawsuit has turned into a pro-Hamas swamp.

It cited an Instagram post from one particularly woke academic department that appeared to glorify the October 7 Hamas massacre by saying decolonization is not a dinner party.

Gilliam ruled on January 15 that Fiss should be allowed to prove her case, although he expressed some skepticism over it.  “The allegations supporting Plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim are not overwhelming, and it is a close call whether the alleged conduct alone, even assuming it eventually can be proven, is sufficient to state a claim. The fact that the alleged conduct occurred on a college campus and in an academic setting will certainly influence whether Plaintiff can ultimately support her claim. Nevertheless, the Court finds that this claim is most appropriately resolved after further factual development, with the benefit of an actual record as opposed to allegations. The Court accordingly DENIES the motion to dismiss on this basis.”

Fiss had also contended she was the victim of illegal disparate treatment because she was disciplined for speaking out as a Jew whereas non-Jewish faculty are given free reign to espouse pro-Hamas sentiments. She charged that this violated Title VI of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibits discrimination by educational institutions receiving federal funds.

But Judge Gilliam ruled that Title VI does not apply in this case because it requires that federal funds be used to provide employment and Fiss had not connected the federal funding to her employment. He said Fiss “has not included any allegations that the primary objective of this financial assistance is to provide employment. Plaintiff makes no effort to address this requirement in her opposition brief, and her broad assertion that “Title VI applies so long as the institution itself receives federal funds,” is simply incorrect.”

The fracas dates to October 26, 2023 when Fiss encountered pro-Hamas students on the main campus thoroughfare. The details are worth quoting from the lawsuit because the students’ mix of unabashed ignorance and warped righteousness really veers into self parody or something out of a Saturday Night Live routine.

The lawsuit, filed last June, says that on October 26, 2023,  three members of the newly-recognized Students for Justice in Palestine, a notorious pro-Hamas group, were staffing a table in the “nave,” the main campus thoroughfare.

“As Dr. Fiss traversed the CCA nave towards her office, one of these students called over Dr. Fiss to their table.”

The student demanded that Fiss contact the federal government and demand a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Dr. Fiss saw that the people at the table had hung up a handmade poster that called for the ‘liberation of Palestine’ ‘From the River to the Sea.’ Dr. Fiss was troubled by the display, as her understanding of the ‘River to the Sea’ phrase is associated with the Palestinian nationalist movement, advocating for a free and independent Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, which encompasses the entirety of historic Palestine, including what is now Israel.”

She asked the students if she could take a picture of the display. They eagerly consented.

“The students did not object in any way to Dr. Fiss taking this photograph. Indeed, Plaintiff had a clear right to take the photograph under California law because when Plaintiff took the photograph, the SJP members were at that table precisely because it was in public, and they therefore had no expectation of privacy. At no time during their interaction—even after Dr. Fiss intimated that she was not wholly in agreement with the SJP members about the issues they were discussing—did those students inform or in  any way indicate to Plaintiff that they   revoked her consent to being photographed by Plaintiff, nor did they ask Plaintiff to delete the photograph. In fact, their demeanor suggested a level of comfort and approval with her photographing them.”

This is important because the College would later charge Fiss with taking the picture without their consent–an obvious fabrication.

Regardless, as the encounter went down it seemed the students did not understand the meaning of the from the River to the Sea slogan they were parroting.

“Dr. Fiss asked one of the women staffing the table what they meant by the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Rather than answer her, this woman turned around and ripped the poster down.”

The student then proved herself a huge ignoramus.

“Next, that student told Dr. Fiss that Hamas didn’t have real weapons to commit the crimes they were accused of committing after they broke through the barrier into Israel on October 7. The student made this claim despite the plethora of videos taken by the Hamas terrorists themselves committing those crimes. The student further informed Dr. Fiss that even within Gaza, Hamas had no weapons and that the only missiles Hamas had were unexploded Israeli ordnance.”

“Dr. Fiss asked the students where they got their news from, and what sources were they reading? At this point, another of the students, later identified by a CCA Human Resources official as Maryiam Alwael, explained she was from the Middle East and therefore knew the real story there. When Dr. Fiss asked that student where in the Middle East she was from, the student said Kuwait. Dr. Fiss then brought up the challenges Palestinians faced in Kuwait, citing the deportation of over 300,000 Palestinians from Kuwait in 1991. Alwael responded by expressing confusion, claiming she had no knowledge of the events mentioned by Dr. Fiss and attributing it to a potential language barrier or misunderstanding.”

But at the time of the encounter,  Fiss next told the students not to view ethnic groups in such monolithic terms, which is an obvious tool of critical inquiry but antithetical to the woke formulation of oppressor and oppressed.

“Dr. Fiss highlighted the nuanced perspectives among Middle Eastern students at CCA regarding Hamas and Iran’s support. She underscored her commitment to intellectual  diversity, explaining her deliberate consumption of varied news sources and academic viewpoints to guard against the echo chamber effect perpetuated by social media. Thus Dr. Fiss told those sitting at the table that she wasn’t sure that all students from the Middle East would necessarily agree with their views on Hamas, noting that she knew several Middle Eastern students at CCA, for example, who opposed Hamas and Iran’s support for the terrorist group. Dr. Fiss then told the students that she herself tries to read news and academic articles from a wide range of political viewpoints to ensure that she doesn’t end up in an echo-chamber as is so prevalent with the influence of social media.”

The student she was addressing, Maryiam Alwael, made clear she preferred to be rankly ignorant.

“Alwael responded with a confident smile and said that she ‘liked her echo chamber.’ It was clear then to Dr. Fiss that there was no reason to continue the conversation. Dr. Fiss walked away. “

Alwael then charged Fiss with bullying and harassment. The College substantiated the charges and warned Fiss that she would be fired if she ever challenged students again.

“You must immediately cease this and similar behavior with any student or employee of the college and if you continue to do so again, you will remain subject to further disciplinary action that could result in discharge for cause. “

The lawsuit said that the Orwellian disciplinary process illegally singled out Fiss because she is Jewish.

“Dr. Fiss’s entirely factual statement to a student about the lives of Palestinians in Kuwait, by contrast, was censured by CCA, as was her encouragement to students to seek   information from sources with which they might not agree. The students’ rejection of that advice—“I like my echo chamber”–reflects exactly the state of mind that college is supposed to cure, and that it is the job of a college professor to address. It is the very essence of academic freedom for a professor to encourage students to learn things they don’t already know.  Dr. Fiss was punished for doing her job simply and only because Dr. Fiss is a Jew committed to the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish State.”

The complaint also said that the California College of Arts has devolved into a pro-Hamas swamp where sentiments expressed amount to discrimination against Jewish faculty like Fiss.

“The official position taken by CCA, deeming the centrality of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and support for Israel’s existence as a Jewish State as illegitimate, constitutes a glaring manifestation of institutionalized antisemitism. This stance has fostered a toxic and discriminatory environment, systematically targeting Jewish individuals  based on their political and ethnic identity. Jewish students and faculty are subjected to pervasive marginalization and ostracization solely for their beliefs and heritage. Voices advocating for Israel are aggressively silenced, and expressions of Jewish identity are met with overt hostility and intolerance.”

Lori Lowenthal Marcus, the lawyer for Fiss, told the California Globe that the judge’s ruling was a welcome development.   “We were very pleased that the judge recognized that Dr. Karen Fiss’s claims of discrimination were worthy of proceeding to litigation” with depositions and discovery,  she emailed.

Marcus added that decision was a rebuke to the College’s double standards because  “the judge’s ruling exposed CCA’s hypocrisy of employing the First Amendment as a shield for applaud the brutal murder rape and torture of Jews  but unwillingness to use that same constitutional protection for Dr. Fiss when she merely imparted factual information to students.”

California College of the Arts spokesman Lindsay Wright told the California Globe that the school does not discriminate, declined to discuss anything specific in the lawsuit.  “CCA denies Professor Fiss’ allegations,” she emailed. “CCA rejects antisemitism and any other discrimination. The college maintains a respectful, inclusive, and intellectually vibrant environment, and we are committed to intellectual exploration and free expression. This is at the core of our work as an educational institution. Beyond that, we have no further comment as this is pending litigation.”