When Columbia University reached a settlement with the Trump administration last year, the deal included a $21m fund to compensate Jewish employees for an allegedly hostile work environment due to heated protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.

This week, as the window to file claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission came to a close, several Jewish faculty members filed claims to say they had experienced harassment as Jews on campus – but probably not on grounds Trump’s EEOC intended.

In half a dozen filings shared with the Guardian, excerpts of which were also made public, faculty alleged that Columbia indeed enabled a hostile climate for Jews. But they argued that the hostility they faced stemmed from their support for Palestinian rights and student protests. They criticized what they view as Columbia’s implication that all Jews identify with the state of Israel as “textbook antisemitism”, and argued that by repressing pro-Palestinian speech in the name of Jewish safety, the university turned Jews into “scapegoats”.

“I no longer consider Columbia University a safe place to work for Jews who dare to dissent from the political agenda of its most ardently pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian donors and trustees,” wrote Joseph Howley, a classics professor, in his claim.

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