California colleges settle antisemitism complaints with Jewish groups and individuals

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two California colleges have reached settlements with Jewish organizations and individuals who filed complaints alleging antisemitism arising from pro-Palestinian campus protests, including a $60,000 payment to an Israeli sociologist and dance researcher who says she was not rehired by the University of California, Berkeley despite the popularity of her class.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons on Wednesday issued an apology to Yael Nativ, a visiting 2022 professor who was found in a campus investigation to have been the victim of discrimination, the Los Angeles Times reported. She is also invited to teach her class in a semester of her choosing.

Nativ sued in state court this year after asking the university to follow up on the campus report by rehiring her and taking actions to prevent similar future incidents. She said she received what she described as an inadequate response.

At Pomona College, officials said they will hire a federal Title VI civil rights coordinator and create a “task force, committee or advisory council” on Jewish life and antisemitism after a federal complaint filed last year with the Education Department alleged civil rights law violations during the school’s response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Some Jewish students said the protests created a “hostile environment” for them and said college leaders did little to enforce free speech and nondiscrimination rules.

The cases are part of broader allegations of bias against Jews and Muslims at colleges nationwide in the two years since the deadly October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel sparked fighting that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Gaza and the Middle East region. Israel’s government says it is ready to move into the next phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire agreement.

On Tuesday, UC Berkeley announced a six-month suspension without pay of a computer science lecturer, Peyrin Kao, for alleged pro-Palestinian political advocacy in the classroom, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.