Cases

In December 2023, The Lawfare Project — together with co-counsel at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP — filed a lawsuit against Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the Western District of Pennsylvania on behalf of a courageous Jewish student. The student, who was subjected to pervasive anti-Jewish discrimination during her tenure at the university, filed numerous complaints with the school’s administration, all of which went unresolved.

The Lawfare Project was retained as counsel of record for a 17-year-old Jewish student who was the victim of an alleged antisemitic attack at Las Vegas’s Clark High School. The student — who is autistic and nonverbal, and attended the school with a service dog — was pulled from classes after his mother discovered a swastika carved into his back and realized he was not safe in his school environment.

The Lawfare Project is proud to support a lawsuit filed by five Jewish students in the Australian State of Victoria against the Brighton Secondary College in Melbourne. The students assert that they were subjected to a significant number of violations of Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act 1975 between 2013 and 2020.

A Jewish student had to withdraw from the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University (SOAS) due to anti-Semitic bullying and intimidation. He was targeted relentlessly: peers verbally attacked him for expressing his Zionist views in class, he was accused of being a “white supremacist Nazi,” a classmate accosted him for supporting the Jewish right to self-determination, and more.

Dr. Channa Newman—a distinguished professor at Point Park University, Israeli citizen, and Holocaust survivor—was targeted by fellow faculty, staff, and students in response to her advocacy for non-biased education regarding Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Lawfare Project has been examining the nature and extent of Qatar’s involvement in the American education system. Qatar’s involvement through its agent, Qatar Foundation International (QFI), is substantial and significant. Students are learning about the Middle East in a biased way that emphasizes only the positive aspects of Islam while omitting a balanced discussion of other religions or belief systems, most notably Judaism.

In November 2019, Herut Zionism ("Herut")—a pro-Israel student group at York University (Canada) dedicated to educating, students on Judaism, Zionism, and the State of Israel—organized an event featuring organization Reservists on Duty to educate the York community on Zionism and the Arab-Israeli conflict from the perspective of Israeli reservists. In the lead up to the event, Students Against Israeli Apartheid at York University ("SAIA") mobilized its protestors to appear on York's campus and protest the event.

On December 18, 2019, The Lawfare Project filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights against Columbia University on behalf of Jonathan Karten, a Jewish Israeli-American undergraduate student who has been a victim of anti-Semitic discrimination over the past year. Sadly, Jonathan is not the only Jewish or Israeli student at Columbia who has been the victim of discrimination based on his national origin and religion. For several years, Jewish students have endured systematic discrimination from tenured professors and anti-Israel groups like Students for Justice for Palestine (SJP) and Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD).

San Francisco State University (SFSU) has earned a reputation as the most antisemitic college campus in the country after more than three decades of discrimination and abuse of Jewish students by their peers, their professors, and their administrators alike. 

A pro-Israel Jewish student at Boston University, Raphael Fils, was targeted by a professor for his outspoken pro-Israel views. The professor harassed Fils in class and denied him pre-approved testing accommodations on the day of the final exam, resulting in a lower grade.

A pro-Israel Jewish student at Temple University, was physically assaulted by a supporter of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) when the student approached SJP’s table at a campus club fair and inquired about some of its positions. The Lawfare Project secured a team of three attorneys to provide pro bono assistance to the student in filing criminal charges.

The Columbia University chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) became aware that anti-Israel students and student groups intended to attend and disrupt an event. The Lawfare Project advised SSI and assisted in drafting a contract, to be signed by all event attendees, by which attendees would commit to peaceful and respectful behavior during the event and acknowledge that disruptive behavior would be met with disciplinary actions. The event proceeded without disruption.

An extremist student group at Rutgers University hosted a fundraising event for the flotilla movement in Turkey, the goal of which is to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza and provide support to the designated foreign terrorist organization Hamas. Several thousand dollars were raised and held in a school account prior to their intended release to flotilla participants.

The Lawfare Project has been retained to provide legal counsel to over 50 victims of antisemitic attacks that took place after a soccer match in Amsterdam in November 2024. The attacks, fueled by social media incitement in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, targeted Israeli fans and resulted in multiple assaults. The Lawfare Project is collaborating with Amsterdam-based law firm Kötter L'Homme Plasman in this case.

The Lawfare Project is proud to be assisting Tamar Herman, a beloved New Jersey elementary school teacher for over three decades with a stellar record, in a defamation lawsuit predicated on a vicious and antisemitic campaign to falsely depict an innocent, seconds-long classroom interaction as an act of anti-Muslim bias.

When two Israeli swimmers successfully competed in Spain's Artistic Swimming Qualification Tournament this summer, sports commentator Clara Basiana spewed disparaging comments during a live TV broadcast, calling Israel’s “international presence” a “strategy for whitewash [sic] the genocide and violations of human rights that they’re committing against the Palestinian people." This tendency to blame all Israelis for the actions of the Israeli government is firmly rooted in anti-Semitism.

Shai DeLuca, a prominent Jewish designer and media personality, was attacked with defamatory accusations, which were posted on the social media platforms of Toronto eatery Foodbenders by its owner, Kimberly Hawkins. Hawkins’s false statements include accusations that Mr. DeLuca is a “terrorist” and that he pointed a rifle at Palestinian children. Hawkins has also targeted the Jewish community at large, even going so far as to post signs outside Foodbenders’s storefront and messages on its social media that “Zionists” are not welcome at the establishment.

The City of Los Angeles has seen blatant anti-Semitism fuel the destruction of countless Jewish properties. Most recently, in May 2020, rioters spray painted a local synagogue with the words "F**k Israel" during a day of rage and aggression.

The Lawfare Project is concerned that, at a time when anti-Semitic hate crimes are skyrocketing in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has added fuel to the fire by singling out the entire Jewish community for the spread of the coronavirus, even threatening its members with arrest.

The Lawfare Project and Spodek Law Group are representing Lihi Aharon, an Israeli college student who was subjected to a “disturbing,” foul-mouthed anti-Semitic tirade and physically attacked on a New York City subway in December 2019 by a fellow passenger. The suspect was indicted on a hate crime charge.

With support from The Lawfare Project, two Israeli nationals have requested that the international chess governing body—the Fédération lnternationale des Échecs (FIDE)—guarantee non-discrimination after they were prevented from taking part in a chess tournament in Saudi Arabia in 2017 because of their nationality.

Several Belgian regions have adopted legislation that would make shehita (kosher slaughter) illegal in Belgium. Such a ban would prevent minority faith communities in the country from practicing a central tenet of their religions; create insecurity around the protections afforded to male circumcision practices; and violate the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Belgian Constitution itself, all of which guarantee freedom of religion.

Publications containing antisemitic content and pro-Nazi propaganda are being disseminated throughout Poland, including being sold in more than 30 different online bookstores, in violation of Polish law.

Various events advocating for commercial discrimination against Israelis have taken place in Italy.  The Lawfare Project has worked to shut down a number of anti-Israel and pro-BDS events around the country, including an event at an Italian university that had agreed to host a screening of the propaganda film, Israel: The Cancer.

Three charitable organizations in the UK have been identified for misusing their assets and status to disseminate political propaganda denigrating Israel and promoting antisemitism.

Major internet content providers in Spain—including Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter—have permitted unlawful expressions of antisemitism and Holocaust denial to proliferate across their platforms.

The Lawfare Project has filed a federal lawsuit against D2 Counseling, a mental health clinic in Dallas, Texas, and its co-owners Dr. Dina Hijazi and Rev. Daniel Gowan, alleging unlawful antisemitic discrimination and retaliation in violation of Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

In April 2023, The Lawfare Project, in collaboration with Ignacio Palacios of The Legal Council in Spain, filed a lawsuit against the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, for unlawfully suspending relations with Israel, including a sister-city agreement with Tel Aviv. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Barcelona Institute for Dialogue with Israel, a local charity, argued that Colau had exceeded her authority by infringing on the Spanish government's prerogative to conduct foreign policy and violated established legal procedures.

The Lawfare Project, working with local counsel in Stockholm, Sweden, recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Svensson (we are using a pseudonym to protect his identity), a physician who was subjected to antisemitic discrimination and abuse at the Karolinska University Hospital and the Karolinska Institutet (whose Nobel Academy selects Nobel Prize laureates in physiology or medicine) (collectively, the "Karolinska").

An attorney and longstanding EU official (called “Eva” for her own protection) was targeted by her employer—the European External Action Service (EEAS), the diplomatic service and combined foreign and defense ministry of the European Union—with entirely unsubstantiated rumors that she was engaged in espionage on behalf of the State of Israel. The goal of this campaign was clear: to remove Eva from her role in the Middle East peace process. Allegations that she was leaking confidential information were documented and spread widely despite no evidence to support the claims.

The Lawfare Project represented a Jewish trauma surgeon at a major hospital with Christian affiliation, who was subjected to an environment of religious hostility following Easter emails containing Biblical verses that for centuries have been used to denigrate Jews and to justify Jew hatred and allegations of deicide.

Goods produced in all Israeli-controlled territories were unquestionably labeled as "Product of Israel" in Canada until a politically motivated complaint was filed with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The complaint was denied, along with a follow-up appeal, but then Canada's Federal Court ruled that labeling wines from disputed territories as "Product of Israel" was "false, misleading and deceptive."

Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) unlawfully discriminates against Israeli nationals by refusing to recognize their passports or fly them on any of their flights on routes around the world.

After alerting the U.S. Department of Transportation of KAC’s discriminatory behavior in 2017, The Lawfare Project took steps to force the airline to choose between complying with federal and foreign law or facing the termination of its lease at JFK International Airport. KAC canceled its popular JFK-London route, likely resulting in millions of dollars of pecuniary loss.

Numerous city councils throughout Spain have adopted discriminatory resolutions and other official policies of refusing to enter into any agreements or contracts (political, commercial, cultural, etc.) with Israeli entities and non-Israeli entities that cooperate or do business with Israeli companies.

The European Union announced that it would impose discriminatory and illegal labeling requirements on goods imported from “disputed territories” in Israel, and that all its member states would be expected to comply.

The Lawfare Project successfully opposed trade-restrictive measures that would have affected agricultural imports from Israel into the EU.

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), a public interest association of legal professionals, refused to sell advertisement space in its annual gala journal to an Israeli company.  According to an email sent by the NLG National Office, the Guild’s refusal was based on an official “resolution barring [NLG] from accepting funds from Israeli organizations.”

Senior administrators at CUNY Kingsborough have actively attempted to limit the hiring and obstruct the promotion of Jewish faculty, and created a hostile and intimidating workplace. Along with co-counsel Corey Stark, The Lawfare Project is representing CUNY professor and department chair Jeffrey Lax in an employment discrimination lawsuit against the university.

In April 2025, The Lawfare Project, announced a defamation lawsuit in partnership with Zacharias Vickers McCann LLP on behalf of Collin May, former Chief of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. The suit addresses a targeted campaign by Progress Alberta and the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), who falsely accused Mr. May of Islamophobia based on a scholarly book review he authored in 2009.

In September 2020, The Lawfare Project achieved an unprecedented victory in causing tech giants Zoom, Facebook, and Google (YouTube) to block from their services a webinar featuring Leila Khaled, a notorious two-time plane hijacker and leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO).

Canadian counter-terrorism expert Tom Quiggin was targeted with a predatory defamation suit for his investigative reporting on the connections between Canadian radicals and terrorist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood.

David Harris, a Canadian counter-terrorism expert who was formerly with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), was sued by a professor—the former president of the Islamic Society of North America and a vocal proponent of extremist positions and entities—after Harris referred to the professor as a "radical" during a radio interview.

For years, the educational programs of the UN agency UNRWA, which supports Palestinian refugees, have been used to incite terrorism and violence, ubiquitous antisemitism, and Islamist extremism among the population they serve. UNRWA schools have also been used by Hamas to store and launch rockets.

The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) and its president, Jibril Rajoub, have repeatedly promoted racist propaganda, incited hatred and violence, and encouraged kidnap and murder.  The Lawfare Project partnered with dozens of attorneys from top law firms around the globe to deliver a letter to Tokyo Sexwale, the Chairman of FIFA’s Monitoring Committee for Israel and Palestine, informing him of the PFA’s violations.

The Lawfare Project funded a “hate speech” lawsuit against a professor at a major Italian university, who has persistently engaged in antisemitic and discriminatory behavior on campus.

The Lawfare Project funded a legal action against an Italian fundraising front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist group in the United States, Canada, and throughout Europe.

Leila Khaled—a notorious plane hijacker and member of designated terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP—has been traveling throughout Europe with impunity and giving speeches glorifying terrorism, including before the European Parliament.

TV channels run by terrorist groups such as Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas) and Al-Manar network (Hezbollah) regularly air programming—targeting children—that incites violence against Jews and promotes acts of terrorism.

After learning that a Hamas event was scheduled to be held at an InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) hotel in Doha, Qatar, The Lawfare Project sent a cautionary letter to IHG advising that the company would risk criminal and civil liability under U.S. federal law if it proceeded in hosting the designated terrorist organization. IHG immediately cancelled the event.

The Lawfare Project is financially backing a lawsuit filed by Texans for Israel, challenging the Biden Administration’s Executive Order imposing sanctions on Israeli entities and their American supporters.

With the support of The Lawfare Project, one of Israel's most prominent constitutional and administrative law lawyers requested leave from Israel's High Court of Justice to submit an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief opposing the introduction of chametz (leavened bread) on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) military bases during Passover. The underlying lawsuit — launched in 2021 by non-governmental organizations the Secular Forum and Hiddush — seeks to overturn the longstanding IDF prohibition on food that is not kosher for Passover.

In partnership with leading UK barristers’ chambers 9 Bedford Row, The Lawfare Project submitted a series of briefings to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding legal issues arising from the ICC's intervention in Israel, as well as issues that would arise from any investigation of nationals of ICC non-member states (such as Israel and the United States).