The Council on American-Islamic Relations is suing Northwestern University for imposing mandatory antisemitism training that the group claims “silences Palestinian identity, punishes solidarity, and chills protected political expression on campus.” 

The federal class action lawsuit, which CAIR filed last week on behalf of Northwestern’s Graduate Workers for Palestine, argues that the school’s required course violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The statute prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating on the basis of “race, color, or national origin.” The law was expanded in 2004 to include protections for religious groups.

“Under the pretense of combating antisemitism, Defendant Northwestern University has enacted policies and practices that prohibit expressions of Palestinian identity, culture, and advocacy for self-determination and silence those, including Jewish students, who express solidarity with Palestinians or even engage in critical academic engagement with Zionism,” the complaint states. 

The lawsuit targets a video on antisemitism awareness developed by the Jewish United Fund that all Northwestern students are required to view before registering for classes. The video is one of several training modules students must complete. Training includes reviewing the school’s code of conduct and sexual harassment policies as well as recognizing bias against Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities. 

The video on antisemitism discusses the origins of the Jewish people, their connection to the land of Israel, and their history of persecution and discrimination, including Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. 

The video also addresses what does and does not constitute antisemitism. It explicitly states that “It is not antisemitic to criticize the policies, practices, or members of the Israeli government”—as long as that criticism is not based on negative stereotypes about Jewish people such as global control or greed.

The complaint takes particular issue with a section of the video that compares statements made by Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke to comments from anti-Israel activists that were “brushed off as reasonable political commentary.” The narrator asks viewers: “Can you tell the difference?”

Some of the quotes from anti-Israel activists include: “We need to put Zionists in concentration camps. Now that would be a life experience for them”; “Every time I read about Hitler, I fall in love all over again”; and “This selective and hollow support of the liberation of people of color is indicative of the larger Liberal Zionist movement.”

The Muslim rights group, however, argues that the video “equates critical engagement with Zionism with anti-Jewish statements by the Ku Klux Klan” and thus “imposes ethnic homogeneity and political orthodoxy on students.” 

The lawsuit drew sharp criticism from Jewish and pro-Israel organizations, with several pointing out what they described as telling aspects of the complaint. Anti-Israel watchdog group, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, argued that the lawsuit “conflates being Palestinian with being antisemitic.” 

Antisemitism advocacy group Combat Antisemitism summarized the lawsuit’s arguments on social media before adding: “We wish we were kidding.” 

The training module was created by Northwestern in response to criticism over its handling of campus antisemitism following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack and the ensuing war in Gaza. Northwestern’s leadership faced particular scrutiny for its decision to negotiate with anti-Israel protesters who violated school rules by constructing encampments on campus.

The federal government froze $790 million in grants and contracts to Northwestern in April over “ongoing, credible and concerning Title VI investigations,” a White House official stated at the time.

Several students have protested the training modules, which were first released in February. The university responded by creating disincentives for failing to complete the course work by the deadline, including seeing student statuses discontinued and removal of eligibility for campus housing or financial aid. One of those deadlines was Monday night.

The lawsuit comes as CAIR faces mounting scrutiny over its alleged ties to terrorism. Earlier this month, Representatives Elise Stefanik and Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to the Treasury Secretary urging him to investigate the group’s funding sources for potential connections to Hamas, the Palestinian terror group.