Photo Credit: David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News
(LOS ANGELES, CA – 8/21/2024) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today called into question the basis for a ruling issued on Aug. 13 by a federal judge against the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) calling on the school to ensure that Jewish students are not blocked from university buildings and facilities. The ruling, stemming from a previous complaint against UCLA, perpetuates the false narrative that the university’s anti-genocide student encampment was antisemitic.
The judge’s ruling follows a complaint filed in June against UCLA by three Jewish students. The complaint falsely claimed that the university’s anti-genocide student encampment created a “Jew Exclusion Zone” and encouraged “a hostile environment for Jewish students.”
The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at UCLA was established in April by anti-genocide protesters, including Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and Jewish students and community members, as part of a nationwide student movement calling on universities and colleges to divest from investments tied to Israeli apartheid.
In a statement, CAIR-LA Legal Director Amr Shabaik, Esq., said:
“Of course, no student should be discriminated against or prevented from having equal access to all that a university has to offer because of their race or religion. However, the ruling by the Trump-appointed judge takes at face value the demonstrably false statement from the legal complaint that the anti-genocide encampment was a ‘Jew Exclusion Zone.’ The reality is that many Jewish students and faculty led and participated in the encampment. In fact, as well documented, a Passover Seder was held and observed by Jewish students in the middle of the encampment.
“Members of the encampment were forced to take some sort of security measures into their own hands because UCLA failed, on numerous occasions, to protect them against constant harassment, racism, and physical and emotional attacks from pro-Israel counter-protesters. These measures were necessary to ensure that individuals intent on causing harm, attacking, or disrupting the encampment were not allowed to do so—the measures were not based on an individual’s religious identity.
“The judge’s ruling fails to consider the realities of the encampment, its clearly stated purpose to oppose the genocidal actions of a foreign military and government, and the attacks that the encampment had to endure and protect itself against.”
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims.
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CONTACT: CAIR-LA Digital Communications Manager Enjy El-Kadi, (714) 851-4851 or eelkadi@cair.com; CAIR-LA Communications Coordinator Madi Morse-Hameed, mmorse-hameed@cair.com