Lawsuit: ‘Although the student may have been fabricated, the fears about the student were objectively reasonable’
The University of California San Francisco medical professor who was suspended, and later terminated, after allegedly “singling out” a first-year Israeli student is suing the school, claiming it violated her First Amendment rights.
Rupa Marya alleges administrators “infringed her First Amendment right of free speech, both as to statements she made as a private citizen and others in the course of her duties.”
She regularly posted anti-Israel comments but made headlines last fall after she wrote on X that some of her students were “concerned” about having the student in their class since Israel’s mandatory military service meant he may have “participated in the genocide of Palestinians.”
Marya was suspended after the comments; UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood responded that “targeting any member of our UCSF community — especially in a way that fosters hostility or discrimination — will not be tolerated.”
The Jerusalem Post reports that the lawsuit “plays extensively on Marya’s identity as ‘female, South Asian, Sikh,’ and as someone with ‘disabilities.'”
Marya wrote a lengthy blog post that her suspension was due to a “‘coordinated’ campaign by powerful interests, Jewish pro-Israel donors, and a ‘repressive’ UCSF administration.” She recently told Democracy Now she was terminated from her position late last month.
When asked the reasons behind her firing, Marya said “all sorts of horrible activity happened for the last 20 months as I was advocating for the rights of Palestinians who are facing genocide.”
However, The Jewish News of Northern California reports Marya’s suit (actually two separate complaints) accuses UCSF of “violat[ing] her free speech rights” and notes she only was suspended, not fired.
And there never may have been an Israeli student in Marya’s class at all.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the lawsuit notes UCSF records indicate no first-year medical student from Israel at the school. Nevertheless, the suit states “although the student may have been fabricated, the fears about the student were objectively reasonable.”
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Marya’s complaint ponders if the entire situation had been “manufactured,” and lists “alleged harassment and other misdeeds by Israelis” at other campuses, including the debunked “toxic chemical” sprayed on pro-Hamas activists at Columbia University.
The Jewish News of Northern California reports:
The admission that the Israeli medical student was not real points to the stridency with which Marya sought to identify and tarnish Israel and Israelis in her midst.
“It’s the climate that Jewish students are facing. It’s just emblematic of it,” a Jewish UCSF community member told J. on Friday, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear of litigation and reputational damage. …
Two Jewish UCSF staff members who spoke with J. at the time of [Marya’s] X post said they weren’t aware of any first-year Israeli medical student. One of them later said the misunderstanding may have originated from a rumor passed between medical students.
Marya told Democracy Now she has endured “horrible threats […] death threats, horrific, racist death threats, rape threats.”
“Solidarity is the only thing we have,” Marya said. “It’s our superpower to fight authoritarianism, fascism and this kind of racist repression. So, I ask for all healthcare workers around the world to stand in solidarity with me, because my fight is our fight, and our fight is for the liberation of Palestine and our collective liberation.”
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IMAGE CAPTION & CREDIT: Rupa Marya at a microphone; Richie Greenberg/X