CV NEWS FEED // Federal Judge Mark Scarsi has ordered the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to create and submit a plan to protect Jewish students from antisemitic encampments and harassment on campus by August 5.
The counsels representing the Jewish students, Becket Law and Clement & Murphy PLLC, had filed a federal lawsuit, Frankel v. Regents of the University of California, on June 5. The lawsuit requested that UCLA be held accountable for failing to protect Jewish students from the antisemitic encampments, barricades, and pro-Hamas protests that were on campus in May.
According to a July 29 Becket Law news release, the federal judge has ordered that UCLA create the plan with the Jewish student plaintiffs, Becket, and Clement & Murphy PLLC.
In May, pro-Hamas protestors and activists set up a “Jew Exclusion Zone” on campus, blocking Jewish students from accessing places on campus such as the library and classrooms.
According to Becket’s case summary on the lawsuit, the protestors did not let students pass “unless they disavowed Israel’s right to exist… The activists used checkpoints, built barriers, and often locked arms to prevent Jews from walking through the encampment.”
“They also created an identification system, giving wristbands to those who had passed their anti-Israel ideological test and preventing those without one from entering,” the case summary notes.
Becket’s July 29 news release noted that UCLA admitted in court to setting up barricades that reinforced the encampment.
Becket President Mark Rienzi stated in the news release, “It’s disgusting that a prestigious American university would aid and abet antisemitic agitators who harass and segregate Jewish students. UCLA’s behavior needs to change, and we look forward to working out an appropriate plan that protects Jewish students on campus.”
The plan to protect the students must be submitted to the court by August 5.
