People walk on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, US, April 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Vincent Alban

Northwestern University on Wednesday submitted a motion to dismiss a lawsuit, filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which aims to cancel an antisemitism prevention course.

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, CAIR — an organization that has been scrutinized by US authorities over alleged ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas — sued Northwestern University over the matter last month, arguing that the course in question violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that it serves as a “pretense” for censoring “expressions of Palestinian identity, culture, and advocacy for self-determination.”

In its filing, Northwestern University argued that CAIR’s claims are political, not legal, and preclude adjudication in a court of law.

“Plaintiffs fail to allege facts showing intentional race, ethnicity, or national origin discrimination,” a copy of the motion obtained by The Algemeiner said. “Plaintiff’s allegations, even accepted as true, describe ideological disagreement, not actionable discrimination.”

Filed on behalf of the Northwestern Graduate Workers for Palestine (GW4P) group, the suit arrived in federal dockets with a request for a temporary restraining order to halt the course, which the university mandated as a prerequisite for fall registration, and the rescission of disciplinary measures imposed on nine students who refused to complete it.

The suit primarily takes aim at Northwestern’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and its application to the training course, which, at its conclusion, calls on students to pledge not to be antisemitic.

Used by governments and other entities across the world, the IHRA definition describes antisemitism as a “certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” It provides 11 specific, contemporary examples of antisemitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace, and in the religious sphere.

Beyond classic antisemitic behavior associated with the likes of the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the examples include denial of the Holocaust and newer forms of antisemitism targeting Israel such as demonizing the Jewish state, denying its right to exist, and holding it to standards not expected of any other democratic state.

“Plaintiff, GW4P lacks standing to sue,” Northwestern argued in Wednesday’s motion. “The complaint does not allege facts establishing organizational or associational standing, and the allegations center on ideological alignment rather than protected characteristics.”

Several lawsuits have challenged universities’ quelling riotous anti-Zionist activity on other grounds, such as Students for Justice in Palestine’s (SJP) unsuccessful lawsuit against Columbia University last year, but none have argued that allowing antisemitism to thrive is inclusive of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian identities and that fighting it is discriminatory.

However, CAIR argued that the IHRA definition is anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian, discriminating against both cultures while being hostile to CAIR’s vision of Palestinian self-determination.

“Northwestern requires students to complete a training course elaborating on that definition and requires them to attest that they agree to abide by conduct policies that incorporate that discriminatory definition,” CAIR’s complaint said. “The training course and attestations discriminate against Arab students whose racial and national origin identities are fundamentally incompatible with this definition.”

This is the latest CAIR activity in a long line of initiatives that have prompted a storm of controversy, as previously reported by The Algemeiner. In September, for example, US Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) exposed materials which CAIR distributes in its local activism — notably its “American Jews and Political Power” course — to spread its beliefs. Some of it attempts to revise the history of Sharia law, which severely restricts the rights of women and is opposed to other core features of liberal societies.

Additionally, since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, CAIR’s chapter in Philadelphia has lobbied the state government to enact anti-Israel policies and accused Gov. Josh Shapiro of ignoring the plight of Palestinians. In a 2023 speech following Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities, CAIR’s national executive director, Nihad Awad, said he was “happy to see” Palestinians “breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land.”

CAIR has extensive links to jihadist groups which suppress freedom and promote hate, according to some experts.

“CAIR itself has a long history of terrorist ties in particular to the Muslim Brotherhood, illustrated by the fact that in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) terrorism financing trial, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator, and evidence showed direct financial interactions between CAIR and the now-defunct Hamas-linked charity,” Asaf Romirowsky, a Middle East expert and executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), told The Algemeiner last month. “This tactic of trying to turn antisemitism on its head in order to deflect from the nefarious activities of groups who have actual ties to terrorism is part of a larger strategy we see employed by Palestinian groups on campus such as the SJP. All of the above validates why the State Department is considering designating CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in August that the United States was actively working to designate the Muslim Brotherhood, a key ideological backer of Hamas that has been linked to CAIR, as a foreign terrorist organization.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump told Just the News that an official designation is forthcoming, a comment confirmed by the White House the following day.

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the state-level designation of the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as terrorist organizations.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.