Yael Nativ, an Israeli dance researcher and sociologist, filed a lawsuit in Alameda County alleging UC Berkeley blocked her from teaching because she is Israeli. Nativ served as a visiting professor in 2022 and applied in August to return for the 2024–2025 year to teach the same dance course. Hamas attacked Israel, killing more than 1,400 people and taking over 200 hostages, and Israel responded with strikes that the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported had killed about 10,000 Palestinians by early November 2023. In mid-November, department chair SanSan Kwan told Nativ the department could not host her because tensions were high. A seven-month internal UC Berkeley investigation found discrimination.
An Israeli professor is suing the University of California after UC Berkeley allegedly blocked her from teaching because the situation at the school was too hot after Hamas attacked Israel and Israel retaliated. A seven-month internal UC Berkeley investigation found the school discriminated against Yael Nativ because she was Israeli, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Alameda Superior Court said. The university had no comment on the complaint.
Nativ, a dance researcher and sociologist, had served as a visiting professor at UC Berkeley in 2022, the lawsuit said. She was invited in July 2023 to apply to come back during the 2024-2025 school year. Nativ, eager to return and teach again at what she considered to be one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world, sent her application in August, stating her intention to teach the same dance course that she taught in 2022.
In mid-November about three weeks after hundreds of UC Berkeley students walked out of class and rallied in support of Palestinians SanSan Kwan, chair of the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, sent a WhatsApp message to Nativ, the lawsuit said. The department, Kwan wrote, could not host Nativ for the class in the fall, the lawsuit said. Things are very hot here right now and many of our grad students are angry, Kwan wrote, according to the lawsuit. I would be putting the dept and you in a terrible position if you taught here.
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