UCSF Professor Fired Over Antisemitism Files Lawsuit, Blames ‘Pro-Israel Pressure’

Dr. Rupa Marya, a longtime professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), has filed a federal lawsuit against the university after being dismissed for what colleagues described as a pattern of antisemitic behavior following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

Marya, who served for 22 years at UCSF’s medical school, claims her dismissal was a violation of her First Amendment rights and that she was targeted due to political pressure from "pro-Israel forces and political allies like Senator Scott Wiener and billionaire donors such as the Diller family."

In the lawsuit, which JFeed reviewed, Marya asserts that her comments were “criticism of Israeli policy,” not antisemitism. Yet the legal filing contains inflammatory language, referring to “Israel’s war of annihilation in Gaza,” while making no mention of Hamas or the October 7 massacre that triggered the current war.

Among the more controversial moments cited in the case is a post Marya published on January 2, where she claimed that “Zionism as an ideology of supremacy in medicine” harms access to healthcare for people of color. She also reshared a viral post warning that “Zionist doctors and nurses” are dangerous to patients — a statement denounced as antisemitic by California State Senator Scott Wiener, who publicly tagged her employer.

In a subsequent statement, UCSF strongly condemned what it called “a tired and familiar racist conspiracy theory” involving Zionist doctors, calling it both antisemitic and intellectually bankrupt — though it did not mention Marya by name. Marya responded with a Substack post, insisting the criticism was directed at her and intended to silence her voice.

The lawsuit takes a bizarre turn in describing an alleged Israeli student at UCSF who, according to the filing, may have been “fabricated.” Marya claims students approached her in August and September expressing fear that a newly arrived Israeli classmate “may have participated in the genocide of Palestinians,” due to Israel’s policy of mandatory military service. The filing then notes that “no such student” could be found in official records but insists the “fears were objectively reasonable.”

Marya further accused fellow UCSF physician Dr. Abraham Kanal of “anti-Arab hate speech” after he opposed a proposed ceasefire statement within the university’s Antiracism Task Force. Kanal had written that a ceasefire “would disproportionately empower Hamas,” a statement Marya publicly attacked without ever having spoken to him.

Kanal filed a formal complaint, only to be told by UCSF’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination that Marya’s comments were protected speech.

Marya also alleged that racism and gender bias played a role in her firing, citing her identity as a “female, South Asian, Sikh” with disabilities. In a radio interview this week, she framed her dismissal as part of a broader crackdown on dissent in academia. “As a Sikh woman it is my obligation to speak up when vulnerable people are being harmed,” she said.

Rick Sheinfield, a Jewish lawyer and longtime UCSF patient, also filed a complaint against Marya in 2024, but it was later closed without disciplinary action.

The lawsuit has reignited debate over the limits of free speech, institutional neutrality, and the growing wave of antisemitism in American academia.