Six students sued Harvard on Wednesday, claiming that the renowned university had become a “bastion of rampant anti-Jewish hatred and harassment” that was exacerbated by the Hamas attack on Israel last October.

The complaint, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, says that Harvard professors have promulgated antisemitism in their courses and intimidated students who object.

“What is most striking about all of this is Harvard’s abject failure and refusal to lift a finger to stop and deter this outrageous antisemitic conduct and penalize the students and faculty who perpetrate it,” the lawsuit says.

Like other schools, Harvard has been roiled by demonstrations and confrontations between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students since the conflict broke out. In December, the presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology testified at a congressional hearing investigating campus antisemitism. Harvard’s president at the time, Claudine Gay, the first Black person in that role, faced fierce backlash over her remarks, which were among the factors leading to her resignation this month.

Harvard is also among a growing list of universities facing federal civil rights investigations into allegations of antisemitism.

The school did not immediately respond to a request for comment and declined to provide a comment to The Harvard Crimson, the campus newspaper, citing pending litigation. Previously, the university has said it does not tolerate any form of antisemitism.

New York Times News Service