This Jewish Student Passed Out Copies of Alan Dershowitz's Book — Now He's in Trouble

"I felt like it was a great way to counter the antisemitism on campus" said Eliyahu Itkowitz on Monday.

A student at West Virginia University has been punished by his school for passing out a pro-Israel book by Alan Dershowitz as part of an educational community service initiative.

The student — Eliyahu Itkowitz, a religious Jew who just finished his freshman-year at WVU — was passing out copies of the book “The Ten Big Anti-Israel Lies and How to Refute Them” in the school’s dining hall.

“My book is about the truth. It is both pro-Israel and pro the Palestinian people,” American lawyer Alan Dershowitz told me Monday afternoon.

According to The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) — which has defended free speech in academia for more than 25 years — Itkowitz ran into trouble when he gave the book to dining hall employee Hannah Harper.

Hannah Harper, who is Muslim, accepted a copy of the book, but later reported the student to campus police and the school’s diversity office. She alleged the student passed out an “anti-Muslim book”, called her “anti-Jewish” and a “terrorist.”

This led WVU officials to investigate.

Then, the next time Harper saw Itkowitz in the dining hall, Harper allegedly told him that he was barred from the dining hall. This is not true; there is no record of the Jewish student being banned from the dining hall. Still, Harper called her manager Dobson for help removing the student.

“Dobson approached Itkowitz and told him he needed to leave because he was not allowed to be there. Itkowitz objected and began recording the encounter, eventually sitting down to eat with his friends, as dining hall staff contacted supervisors and Harper called campus police,” FIRE reports.

In her police report, the Muslim dining hall worker claimed that Itkowitz made a number of racially insensitive comments about her. However, none of the witnesses who were in the dining hall could back up her claims.

Nevertheless, this led to WVU issuing a no-contact order against Itkowitz, to avoid all contact with Harper.

The Jewish student was later informed that he was being investigated for religious discrimination and harassment, due to Harper’s claims that witnesses and the school admittedly could not verify.

Eliyahu, left, at a campus Jewish life function with his rabbi at WVU’s Chabad.

According to FIRE, the student denies ever having called the employee “anti-Jewish,” and reached out to FIRE for help. Even if the student made those comments, punishing him could be grounds for a First Amendment lawsuit against the school.

“The allegations against Itkowitz that he handed out books and made anti-Muslim comments describe conduct clearly protected by the First Amendment,” said FIRE Program Counsel Jessie Appleby Monday afternoon.

“By launching investigations and issuing no-contact orders based on complaints solely alleging protected expression, WVU is allowing students and staff with ideological disagreements to use its complaint process as a cudgel to silence opponents” said Appleby.

While Itkowitz can now return to the dining hall, FIRE says he feels the need to record himself to have evidence if anyone accuses him again. He’s just a freshman, and it’s awful that he feels unsafe on campus because of Harper’s allegations — especially since the school could not substantiate them.

WVU did not respond to a request for comment.

“By launching investigations and issuing no-contact orders based on complaints alleging no more than protected expression, WVU is allowing students and staff with ideological disagreements to use its complaint process as a cudgel to silence opponents,” Appleby added.

FIRE's letter to WVU, published today, urges the school to drop the no-contact order between Itkowitz and the dining hall employee, and to stop investigating students for their protected speech and expression.

In an interview Monday, Itkowitz argued that he intrepreted Harper's reaction to passing out Dershowitz's book as antisemitism, and that it only drove him closer to his Jewish faith.

Eliyahu at a campus Shabbat function at WVU’s Chabad.

"Dershowitz's book has been one of the most effective tools for helping my fellow students, especially my non-Jewish friends, better understand the complexities of the current conflict" said Itkowitz by phone.

"Facing antisemitism on campus didn't push me away from my identity — it brought me closer to it. The support I recieved from friends and especially the Jewish community made me feel prouder than ever."

"It drove me to start wearing my yarmukle, keeping kosher, wearing tzitzit, and observing Shabbat. Like the Jewish people throughout history when we're targeted, we don't shirk — we grow stronger."

This report is by Toni Airaksinen, Senior Editor of Liberty Affair. Consider supporting her news investigations by subscribing to this Substack. Her reports have appeared in the Times of Israel, USA TODAY, Quillette, and many more. Follow her on X @Toni_Airaksinen and on Instagram.