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A federal judge has ruled that UCLA must ensure Jewish students are not blocked from attending classes, entering buildings, or participating in campus activities after they were restricted from certain areas by pro-Palestinian protesters

Let’s bring you up to speed: Three Jewish students sued UCLA after being blocked from parts of the campus by pro-Palestinian protesters last spring. The students claimed that protesters set up checkpoints, allowing passage only to those wearing wristbands supporting their cause while excluding individuals with Jewish symbols like the Star of David. As a result, the students argued they were prevented from attending classes, entering buildings, and participating in campus activities because they refused to renounce their Jewish faith. The lawsuit claimed that this exclusion violated their religious freedom and that UCLA failed to protect them from religious discrimination.

What the judge ruled: Judge Mark Scarsi ruled that UCLA cannot exclude Jewish students from classes, buildings, or campus activities based on their religious beliefs, issuing a preliminary injunction against the university. He wrote, “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. Instead, UCLA claims that it has no responsibility to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students because the exclusion was engineered by third-party protesters. But under constitutional principles, UCLA may not allow services to some students when UCLA knows that other students are excluded on religious grounds, regardless of who engineered the exclusion.”

UCLA responds: In a brief statement, Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, said the school was “committed to fostering a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination and harassment. The district court’s ruling is improper and would hamstring our ability to respond to events on the ground.”