Court Rules UCLA’s Failure to Protect Jewish Student as “Unimaginable” and “Abhorrent,” Can’t Allow Protesters to Block Jewish Students from Campus, UCLA APPEALS

A court has ruled that #UCLA’s failure to protect #Jewish students from exclusion was “unimaginable” and “abhorrent.” Every university should take notice, lest your institution be forever stained as UCLA has been today.

A federal judge just issued a preliminary injunction ruling UCLA can’t allow anti-Israel protesters to block Jewish students from accessing classes & other parts of campus. This is the FIRST time a US judge has ruled against a university over anti-Israel protests on campus. Question: Why was it necessary for Jewish students to bring a lawsuit against a PUBLIC UNIVERSITY to be able to get to class & walk on campus??? In response, UCLA claims that complying with the judicial ruling will harm the school. In an Orwellian comment, UCLA spokesperson Mary Osako said, The ruling “would improperly hamstring our ability to respond to events on the ground and to meet the needs of the Bruin community,” before adding, “UCLA is committed to fostering a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination, and harassment.”

I’ll never forget that this actually happened. Abhorrent, @UCLA.
Via @stephsvox https://t.co/vKaINfpV4W pic.twitter.com/TRn2aHc7XN

— Tali Goldsheft (@TaliGoldsheft) August 14, 2024

Most Amazing aspect of @UCLA being told they cannot stand by anymore while Jews are excluded from areas of campus is that they admitted this happened & did not deny they did nothing about it. Now imagine same thing happened to African-Americans. UCLA leadership must resign. pic.twitter.com/oivTrlLqFZ

— Aizenberg (@Aizenberg55) August 14, 2024

UCLA can’t allow protesters to block Jewish students from campus, judge rules

By: The AP, August 13, 2024

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the University of California, Los Angeles, cannot allow pro-Palestinian protesters to block Jewish students from accessing classes and other parts of campus.

The preliminary injunction marks the first time a U.S. judge has ruled against a university over the demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses earlier this year.

U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed in June by three Jewish students at UCLA. The students alleged that they experienced discrimination on campus during the protest because of their faith and that UCLA failed to ensure access to campus for all Jewish students.

“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith.” Scarsi wrote.

UCLA argued that it has no legal responsibility over the issue because protesters, not the university, blocked Jewish students’ access to the school. The university also worked with law enforcement to thwart attempts to set up new protest camps.
Scarsi ruled that the university is prohibited from providing classes and access to buildings on campus if Jewish students are blocked from it.

Yitzchok Frankel, a UCLA law student who filed the lawsuit, celebrated the order.

“No student should ever have to fear being blocked from their campus because they are Jewish,” Frankel said in a statement. “I am grateful that the court has ordered UCLA to put a stop to this shameful anti-Jewish conduct.”

UCLA spokesperson Mary Osako said the ruling “would improperly hamstring our ability to respond to events on the ground and to meet the needs of the Bruin community.”

The university is also considering all available options moving forward, she said.