Three Jewish UCLA students filed a federal lawsuit against UC regents and several university officials on Wednesday, alleging that anti-Israel protesters blocked their access to crucial parts of campus.
In the 74-page filing, the plaintiffs — two second-year law students and a second-year history student — described UCLA as a “hotbed of anti-Semitism,” with activists carrying signs with threatening messages, chanting “Death to the Jews” and obstructed the passage. to campus facilities.
Lawyers for the students said pro-Palestinian protesters set up checkpoints at their camp on Royce Quad, allowing entry only to those who condemned Israel.
“With the knowledge and acquiescence of UCLA officials, activists imposed what was effectively a 'Jewish Exclusion Zone,' segregating Jewish students and preventing them from accessing the heart of campus, including classroom buildings and the main library. university,” the lawsuit says. “In many cases, activists erected barriers and linked arms, preventing the passage of those who refused to repudiate Israel.”
The filing against the University of California comes about six weeks after protesters set up camp at UCLA, demanding that the university sever ties with Israel over its war in the Gaza Strip.
Some Jewish students expressed dismay at the checkpoints and said they were excluded from the camp simply because they supported the existence of Israel. Other students defended them, telling the Times that they were necessary to prevent “agitators” from entering and endangering protesters.
Lawyers for the three students said UCLA's handling of the situation resulted in their clients being denied their right to free speech, their freedom to practice religion and equal access to educational facilities, among others. other things.
“If the masked agitators had excluded any other marginalized group at UCLA, Governor Newsom would rightly have sent in the National Guard immediately,” said Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of the nonprofit Becket Fund for Religion Liberty, which provided some of the legal representation. if.
UCLA officials issued a statement saying they were aware of the lawsuit but had not yet received notification.
“We will review and respond in due course,” the statement said. “UCLA remains committed to supporting the safety and well-being of the entire Bruin community.”
Yogita Goyal, a professor of English and African American studies at UCLA, rejected the lawsuit's claims, calling them “patently false.”
“I spent many days walking throughout the area and never saw anyone excluded from the camp unless they came with the clear intention of disrupting and harming the students inside,” he said in an email. “No student was prohibited from taking classes or entering the library. “It was campus security that established alternative routes.”
Goyal, whose office is near Royce Quad, said protesters in the camp were “constantly threatened by outsiders and hecklers.” Getting around the camp, he said, simply required an extra two or three minute walk.
The lawsuit names several university officials as defendants, including UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, who was recently called to testify before members of Congress about the protests. Lawyers for the three students have seized on some of Block's statements, noting that at one point he publicly acknowledged that students heading to class had been “physically blocked” from accessing parts of the campus.
On April 30, counterprotesters attacked the camp using fireworks and crude weapons, and law enforcement did not intervene for several hours. Police tore down the initial pro-Palestinian camp the following night and arrested more than 200 people.
The Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the arrests and criticized UCLA for carrying out a “militarized police response” to an “antigenocide camp.” The organization also denounced the police for failing to protect protesters from violence.
In mid-May, a pro-Israel counterprotester was arrested in connection with the attacks.
Jewish students make up approximately 8% of UCLA undergraduates. In the wake of the demonstrations, Goyal said, dozens of Jewish UCLA faculty and staff members signed an open letter calling for amnesty for arrested protesters and arguing that criticism of Israel is not “allegedly anti-Semitic.”
“While the signatories have deep disagreements about the State of Israel, we agree that it is dangerous to frame all criticism of the State or government of Israel, or all criticism of Zionism, as anti-Semitic,” the letter states.
