A Jewish law student is facing expulsion at Rutgers University for allegedly “doxxing” a pair of student “Hamas supporters” after they either shared or endorsed a video denying atrocities that happened on Oct. 7, a new lawsuit claims.
Yoel Ackerman, 36, accused the law school this week of retaliating against him instead of punishing other students that he said spread Hamas propaganda in a Student Bar Association group chat and bullied him in the wake of the shocking terror attack on Israel nearly three months ago.
The first-year Orthodox Jewish law student is facing discipline after he shared messages, including their names and photographs, with the Jewish Law School Association.
The posts included a video that claims the carnage against Israelis was exaggerated, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Law school administrators were provided with the email Ackerman sent by an unnamed person, setting off school charges of alleged defamation and disorderly conduct against him, the lawsuit states.
He also faced impeachment by the Student Bar Association.
The two students accused Ackerman of “doxing” them – which means exposing personal information about a person — and defaming them by referring to them as “Hamas supporters” because of the inflammatory video they shared that questioned the atrocities of Oct. 7, the lawsuit says.
Ackerman said he sent the video to the JLSA to “protect fellow Jewish students and community” from what he believed was “harassment, intimidation, bullying and discriminatory conduct aimed at Jewish law students,” the suit says.
Before he forwarded the anti-Israel video to the JLSA, he also objected to it in the group chat. The student who shared then asked “why you got so triggered by a post clearing up propaganda though,” even as he and his family and friends were still reeling from the attack on the Jewish state, according to the lawsuit.
“Mr. Ackerman is being prosecuted by Rutgers because he was brave enough to object to propaganda circulated in an official chat by another student which seeks to justify the Hamas atrocities committed on October 7th,” his lawyer, David Mazie said in a statement.
“In what world is a student prosecuted by his school — and possibly facing suspension or expulsion — after being bullied by a fellow student? Unfortunately, that is the reality at Rutgers for Jews, and it has been that reality for years.”
A Rutgers spokesperson said the school does not typically address pending litigation or respond to certain allegations in the complaint, but said the university does take “seriously” claims of all biases.
“Rutgers takes seriously claims of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of bias and intolerance. Any such claims are investigated and reviewed, and where appropriate, remedial or disciplinary actions are taken,” the school said.
Ackerman’s legal team also detailed other instances of antisemitism on campus, including by professors, before and following the horrific Oct. 7. One law professor, Sahar Aziz, allegedly put up a social media post that seemed to justify the attack by Hamas two days following the assault on Israel, according to the suit.
Another professor brought up in the lawsuit, Michael Chikindas, was accused of posting antisemitic content on social media, including cartoon images depicting Jewish people that were from at least 2017.
Chikindas, who works in the food science department, previously denied he was antisemitic and claimed at the time he was hacked so he couldn’t be sure what he posted on social media, according to reports from 2017.
The school ultimately disciplined him, though it appears he is still a professor at Rutgers.
The Post sought comment from Aziz and Chikindas Thursday evening.
“Despite having the second largest student Jewish population of a public college in the United States, Rutgers has allowed repeated instances of antisemitism to occur many times without any punishment,” Mazie said.
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