Antisemitism ‘unimaginable’ and ‘abhorrent’ at UCLA, says judge

A federal judge tore into the regents of the University of California system while issuing an injunction against keeping anti-Israel encampments at UCLA.

In the order granting the injunction, Judge Mark C. Scarsi told the university system that it must not allow pro-Hamas encampments at UCLA that exclude portions of the student population from using student facilities by requiring them “to denounce their faith.”

“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.

“This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. UCLA does not dispute this,” Scarsi wrote in his decision, adding the italics for emphasis. 

The relief was sought by Jewish students who said the encampment created an atmosphere of fear, according to the motion for the injunction. 

The encampment was designated by anti-Israel activists as a so-called “Jew Exclusion Zone,” said the motion. 

To enter the area to go to class, or use the common areas, one had to denounce the Jewish faith and wear a wristband indicating the group’s approval. The lawsuit called it an “Orwellian inquisition.” 

“UCLA should have taken steps to ensure that its Jewish students were safe and protected from harassment and undeterred in obtaining full access to campus facilities,” the plaintiffs added. 

The encampments have been a feature of campus life at UCLA, off and on, since they were first erected in the spring. 

Police cleared out an encampment in May, for example, but a new encampment almost immediately sprang up.

At one point, the academic workers union intervened, threatening university administrators with a strike if police cleared out the protesters.

“It’s a very fraught, violent environment that the administration has created here,” Vincent Doehr, a graduate student and union member, told The Los Angeles Times. “The disruption to campus today is coming from administration shutting down this entire area due to an encampment that’s simply in the courtyard of one building.”  

The president of Becket Law, which filed for the injunction on behalf of the students, hailed the latest ruling and called the protesters “antisemitic thugs.”  

“Shame on UCLA for letting antisemitic thugs terrorize Jews on campus,” said Becket Law’s Mark Rienzi. “Today’s ruling says that UCLA’s policy of helping antisemitic activists target Jews is not just morally wrong but a gross constitutional violation. UCLA should stop fighting the Constitution and start protecting Jews on campus.”