A Jewish student is suing a British university for giving her a failing grade on an essay that she said she was penalized for because it did not blame Israel for crimes committed by Hamas.
According to Leeds University student Danielle Greyman, 23, an essay she wrote about Hamas crimes against Gazans received a failing grade because it did not blame Israel. Due to the bad mark on the paper, Greyman was forced to retake the class, which she passed.
But because of having to retake the course, she was unable to graduate in time to begin a master’s degree at Glasgow University, the Daily Mail reported.
In the research paper, Greyman wrote about Hamas using human shields as a “betrayal of the Palestinian people by their government.” But the instructor’s notes on the essay said: “This ignores the fact that the Israeli state commits acts of violence.”
In an external review of the essay, an examiner who studied it said that it should have received a passing grade.
Greyman’s lawyers wrote a legal claim against Leeds University, alleging negligence, discrimination and victimization.
“It’s been massive emotional damage. I almost had a complete breakdown over this,” Greyman told the Jewish Chronicle.
She added: “[Sociology] was very much my passion, I wanted to become a sociologist. After this happened, I had an entire meltdown… I don’t think returning to sociology is an option. I can’t retrain in another subject, I’ve used my student loan, I’ve basically wasted this time in my life.”
Jonathan Turner, director of UK Lawyers for Israel, told the news outlet: “If students are penalized for defending Israel then that may constitute indirect discrimination… We are concerned that the underlying bias has not been addressed and remains liable to result in discriminatory treatment of other students.”