KYLIE ORA LOBELL
ADELA COJAB MOADEB HAD BEEN A PROUD JEW AND ZIONIST HER ENTIRE LIFE. IN 2019, WHEN SHE WAS A STUDENT AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, AND BACK HOME FROM A RECENT BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL TRIP, SHE DECIDED TO CELEBRATE ISRAEL’S INDEPENDENCE DAY IN WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK WITH HER JEWISH FRIENDS AND FELLOW JEWISH STUDENTS.
In the past, anti-Jewish protestors had tried to shut down the celebration, so Adela, who was the president of the student group Realize Israel, met with the NYU administration to express her concerns. They told her she was overreacting.
She wasn’t.
As soon as the event started, an anti-Zionist student rushed to the front of the protest line, held up the Israeli flag, lit it on fire, and threw it to the ground where it continued to burn. Adela told her friends to ignore him, sing “Hatikvah” and move on.
Suddenly, a student protestor grabbed a microphone from a Jewish student, yelled “Free Palestine!” and waved his hands in the air. More protestors took the 10-foot Israeli flag, shredded it, and hung it from lamp posts and trees. Two protestors were arrested by NYPD and charged with assault, reckless endangerment, and property theft and damage.
Soon after, Adela, who was also a senator for the NYU student government, met with the administration to tell them that a line had been crossed and it was time to act.
What did NYU do instead? They gave the anti-Israel hate group the President’s Service Award — the highest honor a student group can receive.
“There was so much frustration and sadness,” Adela said. “The school wouldn’t even make a statement about the burning of the Israeli flag. They weren’t even willing to deal with it as a conduct issue.”
SUING NYU
Adela kept trying to meet with the school to get them to do something, but they ignored her. So, she sued NYU under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that, “no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
“My lawsuit against NYU wasn’t about antisemitism or additional protection for the Jewish community,” Adela said. “It was about equal protection under the law. The school and the government have laws to protect religious groups on campus. Jewish students were left out. The school cannot decide which minorities do and do not deserve protection.”
Adela was familiar with anti-Jewish hate, having grown up in a Syrian-Lebanese-Jewish home. Her mother’s side left Lebanon in the 1970’s when the war broke out, and her father’s side left Syria in the 1920’s. As Jews, they were second-class citizens in these countries.
“Jews were not able to get passports,” Adela said. “They were not included. They didn’t feel safe, so they left.”
Adela was born in Mexico, and she went to NYU to major in Near and Middle Eastern studies. She became vice president of her sorority, AEPHi, and served as the official representative of Jewish Students at the United Nations.
The event in Washington Square Park wasn’t the only antisemitic event that occurred on campus during her time at NYU. The Governance Counsel for Marginalized and Minority Students (GCOMMS) put out a statement that compared Zionism to racism and Nazism, and just two weeks after this, a resolution was presented to NYU Student Government to boycott the NYU campus in Tel Aviv. And then, 53 student clubs signed a pledge to boycott Israel and Realize Israel, which Adela was involved in at the time. NYU has a large student population in the second-most-Jewish part of the world.
“Every liberal institution tells people they shouldn’t check their identity at the door,” she said. “Jews shouldn’t have to, either.”
After filing her lawsuit against NYU, Adela made headlines, and then-President Trump invited her to Miami to speak about it. Just three days later, he signed an executive order that expanded the definition of Judaism to be considered an ethno-religion, and it would fall under Title VI. This change in the law meant that NYU would likely lose in court.
So NYU drafted a settlement agreement. Adela did not request damages. She simply wanted NYU to act when there was discrimination against Jewish students.
“Lawsuits take a long time to affect anything,” Adela said. “It doesn’t become instantly better. They start making changes, no matter how small. It’s unfortunate, but at the end of the day, schools do respond to legal action.”
How Jewish Students Should Respond to Antisemitism on Campus.
Even in the face of rising antisemitism on campuses around the U.S., she urges students not to leave their schools or be afraid. Instead, they must be proud and fight back.
Following the settlement, there wasn’t much happening on campus since it was COVID. But since the October 7 attack, antisemitism at Adela’s alma mater has spiraled out of control.
“There has been an explosion of antisemitism at NYU,” she said. “It’s a shame. If NYU had dealt with it head on and instilled proactive programming to combat antisemitism, or they had actually dealt with the real issue, it wouldn’t be happening. I sent them a letter calling for suppression of SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) as a student organization.”
She continued, “They can’t just sit there and say, ‘We don’t know what to do’ or “This is a complicated situation.’ If you would have done your job four years ago, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Now, three NYU students are following in Adela’s footsteps and suing the school. Other students across the United States who are facing antisemitism on campus are wondering if they should do the same.
“You don’t have to run off and sue your school,” said Adela, who is now a JD Candidate at Cardozo School of Law. “That should be a last resort. But every student should be making a record of antisemitic incidents so that the school is aware.”
Adela doesn’t believe the schools are inherently antisemitic — they just don’t know how to deal with antisemitism. Plus, schools including NYU are receiving funding from anti-Israel Arab countries, and NYU has “a good chunk of faculty that are against condemning antisemitism,” Adela said.
However, even in the face of rising antisemitism on campuses around the U.S., she urges students not to leave their schools or be afraid. Instead, they must be proud and fight back.
“These students should be more open about their Judaism and make it clear they belong in that school like everyone else,” she said. “Jewish students should know: they are not alone.”
Kylie Ora Lobell is a Los Angeles-based writer as well as president of KOL Digital Marketing, where she does publicity and marketing and helps clients share their unique stories with the world.
