Judge slams blue state university for excluding Jewish students during protests

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that pro-Palestinian protesters cannot prevent Jewish students from entering the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) after a lawsuit alleging that students were “excluded from parts” of the campus .

The case was filed by three Jewish students who argued that the pro-Palestinian protests that took over the UCLA campus in April intentionally excluded Jewish students, infringing on their religious freedom and “directly interfering with instruction by blocking the of students in classrooms”. Trump appointee Judge Mark C. Scarsi granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the university from “knowingly permitting or facilitating the exclusion of Jewish students from the regularly available parts of UCLA's programs, activities, and campus areas.”

“This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating, Jewish students were excluded from parts of UCLA's campus because they refused to declare their faith. UCLA does not argue,” the judge wrote in the court decision.

Students also claimed that they were prevented from attending or “evacuating” exams.

The university argued that it is not responsible for the actions of “third-party protesters” and that the case is moot because it is based on past actions that the university believes have been resolved. Scarsi rejected the argument, saying the university has a responsibility to protect students and hasn't shown it won't allow similar ones. incidences to occur in the future.

“UCLA claims it has no responsibility to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students . . . but under constitutional principles,
UCLA may withhold services for some students when UCLA knows that other students are excluded on religious grounds, regardless of who engineered the exclusion,” Scarsi wrote.

Demonstrators in April, he established a “Jewish Exclusion Zone” on campus and asked students to denounce Israel and wear wristbands to identify their support for the cause. More than 100 protesters were arrested in May after turning violentwhich resulted in several injuries and a ruined campus.

Since police removed the original week-long encampment, the university has allowed three additional violations to protest the rules, once again allowing university grounds to be occupied and events at the campus, court documents allege.

UCLA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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