UCLA Urges Federal Court to Reject Jewish Students’ Civil Rights Claims

The University of California of Los Angeles (UCLA) claims that it should not be ordered by a federal court to protect Jewish students from antisemitism when they return to campus in the fall, after the “encampment” this past spring.

UCLA was the scene of some of the most egregious and violent antisemitism among the dozens of “encampment” protest that swept the nation. Jewish students were barred by pro-Palestinian activists from entering some public areas of campus, and from reaching some of their classes. While there were pro-Israel counter-protests, Jewish students continued to be harassed; police only intervened after pro-Israel vigilantes attacked the encampment.

Three Jewish students are suing UCLA in federal court under civil rights law, demanding a preliminary injunction requiring the university to guarantee their safety when they return to campus. Their lawyers, from the Becket and Clement & Murphy PLLC firm, said:

UCLA … helped a group of activists as they set up an encampment where they harassed Jewish students and stopped them from accessing classes, the library, and other critical parts of campus. UCLA reinforced these zones—both by providing metal barriers and by sending away Jewish students—while taking no effective action to ensure safe passage for Jewish students. UCLA’s policies harm Jewish students and violate numerous provisions of the U.S. and California Constitutions and multiple civil rights laws.

In its response, filed Monday in federal court, UCLA admits providing the metal barriers around the encampment, but claims that it did so to prevent the encampment from expanding, not to reinforce its boundaries (made of wood and old furniture).

UCLA denies helping the pro-Palestinian activists, but admits that it decided not to call police at first, and “chose to first try de-escalation strategies to remove the encampment peacefully and durably.” The university claims that it hired “third party” security officers who “policed neutral zones with a charge of deterring violent escalation,” but that is false: the security personnel obeyed the orders of the pro-Palestinian activists and did not prevent violence.

The university claims that it did not infringe upon free speech through its policies: “UCLA’s actions neither suppressed nor coerced speech.” That, too is false: this journalist was assaulted by members of the encampment.

UCLA says that its existing policies are sufficient to comply with federal civil rights laws and that it is currently investigating any past civil rights violations on campus — whether against Jewish students, Arab students, or others.

The case is Frankel v. Regents of the University of California, in the Central District of California Western Division – Los Angeles, No. 2:24-CV-4702-MCS.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.