“Unimaginable” and “terrible”.
Those are the words federal District Court Judge Mark Scarsi used Wednesday to condemn the University of California at Los Angeles for allowing a “Jewish Exclusion Zone” to operate on campus this spring.
UCLA allowed pro-Hamas protesters to set up and enforce the zone on the property — and according to Scarsi, the same horrific behavior will happen again unless the courts step in.
Three Jewish UCLA students sued the college, claiming their right to exercise their religion — a core right guaranteed by the First Amendment — was violated in April and May.
At that time UCLA allowed pro-Palestinian agitators to take over part of the campus, erecting barricades and encampments.
The three students claimed they could not cross the main part of the campus, or even enter the library, unless they disagreed with Israel to the agitators at the camp’s checkpoint, which their faith would not allow them to do.
The barricades were allegedly in operation for a week before UCLA officials asked campus police and outside law enforcement to remove them on May 2. That month, pro-Palestinian protesters returned with more barricades.
Shame on UCLA for tolerating the Jewish exclusion zone even for hour.
The lawsuit will drag on for months, and now, Scarsi is taking the unusual step of issuing a preliminary injunction against the university.
The ultimatum, in fact: Every part of the campus that is closed to Jewish students must be closed to everybody.
UCLA announced it would appeal, claiming the judge’s order would “hamstring our ability to handle events on the field.”
Ridiculous. UCLA remains free to determine how it will protect full access for Jewish students.
If his manager can’t figure it out, he doesn’t deserve his six and seven salary.
Scarsi’s order will reverberate across the nation.
They apply what should be a fundamental principle: Government-run universities like UCLA are prohibited by the Bill of Rights from allowing attacks on the religious freedom of Jewish students, or any student.
Private institutions — including big names like Harvard and Columbia — are also out of touch.
They receive billions in federal and state grants, tuition assistance for students, and research grants for faculty.
Federal law requires them to protect students from discrimination based on race, gender or religion.
But university administrators and faculty are almost entirely left-wing, so they are reluctant to protect students who belong to groups they don’t like.
If a campus rioter shouts anti-black or anti-LGBTQ+ slogans on a bullhorn and demands a Queer Exclusion Zone, they will be shut down immediately. And it’s true.
Six Jewish students sued Harvard in January, making similar claims to the UCLA litigants.
The university tried to dismiss the suit, claiming it had a First Amendment duty to promote free speech on campus.
Federal District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns didn’t buy that bogus argument: The court, he said, “dubious Harvard can hide the First Amendment. ”
Rampant antisemitism, not the principle of free speech, is to blame for what happened to Jewish students.
Trustees, alumni and parents must have the backbone to sustain the support of the institution. And politicians must have the courage to withhold public funds.
Eyes are now on presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris.
Last month he claimed sympathy for pro-Palestinian protesters: “They show exactly what human emotion is, in response to Gaza,” Harris told The Nation.
To be fair, he added a qualification: “There are some protesters who say I’m against it, so I don’t want to wholesale endorse those points,” he said. “But we have to navigate. I understand the emotions behind it.
Navigating antisemitism is a nasty business. Unfortunately, we can’t rely on our elected officials to fight back.
That’s why our Constitution is so important: It protects the rights of those who don’t like it, like Jewish students on campus.
The heroes are judges who uphold the principles of the Constitution. Political correctness be damned.
Betsy McCaughey is the former lieutenant governor of New York.