LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the University of California at Los Angeles cannot allow pro-Palestinian protesters to deny Jewish students access to classes and other parts of campus.
It is the first time that a US judge has ruled against a university over the protests on college campuses earlier this year against the war between Israel and Hamas.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi came in a lawsuit filed in June by three Jewish students at UCLA. The students alleged that they experienced discrimination on campus because of their faith during the protest and that UCLA failed to provide access to campus for all Jewish students.
“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the state of California and in the city of Los Angeles, Jewish students were barred from parts of the UCLA campus for refusing to renounce their faith,” Scarsi wrote.
UCLA argued that it has no legal responsibility over the issue because protesters, not the university, blocked Jewish students from entering the school. The university also worked with police to thwart attempts to set up new protest camps.
Scarsi ruled that the university cannot hold classes or have access to buildings on campus if Jewish students are denied access.
Yitzchok Frankel, a UCLA law student who filed the lawsuit, welcomed the ruling.
“No student should ever have to fear being barred from campus because they are Jewish,” Frankel said in a statement. “I am grateful that the court has ordered UCLA to end this shameful anti-Jewish behavior.”
UCLA spokeswoman Mary Osako said the ruling “would improperly hamper our ability to respond to events on the ground and meet the needs of the Bruin community.”
The university is also considering all possible options for the future, she said.
“UCLA strives to create a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination and bullying,” Osako said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The ruling came after Scarsi last month ordered UCLA to create a plan to protect Jewish students. The University of California, one of the nation’s largest public university systems, is also working on system-wide campus guidelines for protests.
The demonstrations at UCLA became part of a movement on campuses across the country against the war between Israel and Hamas. At UCLA, police ordered more than 1,000 protesters to disperse in May as tensions on campus rose. Counterprotesters attacked the camp overnight, injuring at least 15 protesters. In June, dozens of protesters were arrested on campus after they tried to set up a new camp.
