Judge Mark C. Scarsi’s preliminary injunction order came after three Jewish students sued the university over protests in the spring concerning Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Judge Scarsi said that constitutional protections for religious freedom prohibited the university from allowing such encampments to stand if they prevented the campus from being “fully and equally accessible to Jewish students.” “Jewish students were excluded from portions of the U.C.L.A.
campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” Judge Scarsi wrote in the order.
Amid the clashes, some Jewish students said they felt threatened and intimidated by the encampments.
Judge Scarsi noted that the constitutional problems would arise if the university again allowed protests that blocked parts of the campus for Jewish students.
The University of California, Los Angeles was temporarily prohibited by a federal judge from permitting demonstrators to obstruct Jewish students’ access to campus and its amenities, including libraries, classrooms, and gathering areas.
Judge Mark C. Three Jewish students sued the university in the spring over protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, leading to Scarsi’s preliminary injunction order. Pro-Palestinian protests and pro-Israel counterprotests descended into violence, sparking a lively demonstration that resulted in the arrest of over 200 individuals on campus.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators erected an encampment with plywood and metal barricades in Royce Quad, a busy thoroughfare, during those demonstrations. The judge declared that they had prevented “people who supported the existence of the state of Israel” from entering the encampment and other parts of the campus by “establishing checkpoints and requiring passersby to wear a specific wristband to cross them.”.
According to Judge Scarsi, if such encampments keep the campus from being “fully and equally accessible to Jewish students,” then the university is not allowed to permit them to remain under the constitution’s protections for religious freedom. “.
There were areas of the U.S. where Jewish students were not allowed. C. L. A. Judge Scarsi wrote in the order that they were not allowed to deny their faith on campus. It is important to reiterate this fact because it is so unbelievable and repugnant to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. “.
Columbia: Three deans have resigned after being placed on leave earlier in the summer for disparaging messages directed towards Jewish panelists. The university will continue to employ a tenured fourth dean.
Harvard: In an attempt to restore stability following months of intense public scrutiny and internal strife, the university appointed Alan Garber as president. Following Claudine Gay’s resignation, Garber assumed interim presidential duties.
Johns Hopkins: Thanks to a $1 billion donation from Michael Bloomberg, the majority of students enrolled in the medical school at Johns Hopkins University will receive free tuition.
Yale: The Ivy League school’s new president, Maurie McInnis, focused heavily on policing during her four years as president of Stony Brook University, which infuriated faculty members.
As Judge Scarsi stated, U. D. L. 1. had maintained that since the exclusion was planned by outside demonstrators, it “has no responsibility to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students!”. He did not, however, say that it mattered who blocked the students.
Attorneys representing the students claimed that this nationwide injunction against “an antisemitic encampment” was the first of its kind. “.
In an interview on Wednesday, the students’ attorney, Mark Rienzi, stated, “A public university is not allowed to have facilities and parts of the campus that are closed off to Jews.”. “You simply cannot manage a campus with a Jew-free quad, any more than you can have a quad without Black people or women on it. “.
You. C. l. An. declared on Wednesday that it was opposed to having the court dictate how it should handle protests and that it was dedicated to stopping religious discrimination.
You. B. L. 1. is dedicated to creating a campus environment where everyone is free from harassment, intimidation, and discrimination, according to a statement from Mary Osako, vice chancellor for strategic communications at the university. “The district court’s decision is incorrect and would make it more difficult for us to react to events as they occur. “.
Faculty for Justice in Palestine is represented by Thomas Harvey, a civil rights attorney based in Los Angeles, who claims the judge overreached in issuing the injunction because it “paves the way for total removal of pro-Palestinian activity on campus.”. “.
“Any class, campus event, or speaker that criticizes that nation’s legal or political decisions might be prohibited if the sincerely held religious belief being protected here is the belief in the Jewish state of Israel,” the speaker stated.
Numerous pro-Palestinian encampments appeared on campuses across the country in the previous spring. Numerous, including those at U. C. L. 1. police intervened and broke them up, resulting in over 3,100 arrests made countrywide and, occasionally, physical altercations.
Some Jewish students claimed that during the altercations, the encampments made them feel scared and intimidated. Countering, protestors said they were merely expressing their right to free speech.
The grievance lodged against U. C. L. 1. presented by Joshua Ghayoum, Eden Shemuelian, and Yitzchok Frankel described in detail the experiences of the students during the spring protests. Often asked if they were Zionists, and denied entry for wearing a Star of David necklace, the complaint dubbed the encampment and its environs “the Jew Exclusion Zone.”. The complaint further stated that Mr. Ghayoum was refused entry to a building due to his lack of a red wristband, which was distributed by demonstrators to identify which students were permitted entry.
Judge Scarsi, a Trump appointee, issued the order on Tuesday. Trump was careful to clarify that he wasn’t attempting to assess the virtues of the war or the associated movements of protest and counterprotest.
You. B. L. 1. claimed that it had taken corrective measures for the safety of students since the spring protests, including the establishment of a new Office of Campus Safety, in accordance with court documents. Since instructors and students are expected to return to campus in a few weeks, Judge Scarsi doubted that those steps would be sufficient to stop similar blockades.
Judge Scarsi pointed out that if the university permitted protests that once more cut off areas of the campus for Jewish students, then constitutional issues would surface.
In the absence of a preliminary injunction, the court determined that the plaintiffs would likely suffer irreversible harm because of the possibility that protests will recur in the fall and restrict certain Jewish students’ access to regularly offered programs, activities, and campus areas.
