From Gerwaski v. Nevada ex rel. Bd. of Regents, decided Monday by Chief Judge Andrew Gordon (D. Nev.):
Plaintiff Corey Gerwaski sues the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), its president, and several advocacy organizations. Gerwaski alleges that demonstrations on the UNLV campus caused him mental anguish, violated his constitutional rights, and caused him to lose his job at the UNLV library. Gerwaski also sues AJP Educational Foundation, doing business as American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and the UNLV chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP-UNLV) for aiding and abetting terrorism and for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED)….
AMP is a nonprofit organization incorporated in California and headquartered in Virginia. It is "dedicated to advancing the movement for justice in Palestine by educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage through grassroots mobilization and advocacy."
Gerwaski alleges that AMP controls the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) group, of which SJP-UNLV is an affiliate. He further claims that AMP uses NSJP "to operate a propaganda machine for Hamas and its affiliates across American college campuses to influence, wreak havoc and intimidate Jewish students on university campuses across the Nation." According to Gerwaski, NSJP supports Hamas, justifies Hamas's terroristic activities through its rhetoric and messaging, and perceives itself as a part of the group. Hamas, in turn, allegedly welcomes support from NSJP and its affiliates and encourages them to be "part of this battle" in the United States.
The day after Hamas's October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel, NSJP released a "Day of Resistance Toolkit" to students on American campuses and on the internet. The toolkit contained instructions and templates for users to create online announcements to organize protests. Some of the slogans in this toolkit mirror the messaging used by Hamas.
After this toolkit came out, SJP-UNLV organized several protests both on and off the UNLV campus, called for an economic boycott at UNLV, and called for UNLV to divest from investment in Israeli companies. At one of the demonstrations organized by SJP-UNLV, protestors chanted "[f]rom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" and "[l]ong live the intifada." Gerwaski alleges that these chants call for eliminating the country of Israel and express support for terrorist campaigns.
Gerwaski is a Jewish student at UNLV who wears the Jewish skullcap, or kippah, at all times. Gerwaski serves in the UNLV student government and briefly worked at the UNLV Lied Library. He alleges that he has been exposed to verbal assaults by members of Nevada Palestine Liberation, another nonstudent group, who made hateful, antisemitic comments to him. Gerwaski has elected to cover his kippah with a baseball cap or other head covering due to the antisemitic chants and chaos on the UNLV campus. Due to the conditions on UNLV's campus, Gerwaski suffered "severe and extreme emotional distress manifested as great humiliation, embarrassment, shame, and other pain and suffering."
