The University of California, Los Angeles is allowing anti-Israel protesters to block Jewish students from entering the library of the state school in the city’s Westwood neighborhood, according to audio of a phone conversation between a parent and the UCLA police.
“Are the protestors allowed to not allow a student who pays tuition access to their class in the library?” the concerned mother is heard asking.
“No, they’re not allowed, but unfortunately they have kind of taken over that little area. … the police are not intervening with that right now and this is coming from the university,” the police representative says.
“So the university has taken a stance that they will not in fact allow or help Jewish students get to their classes? That this is going to be tolerated?” the parent asks.
“We have received a directive to not intervene at this time, yes,” the police representative answers.
The audio was posted by @stephsvox, who also posted a video of anti-Israel protesters taking over access to an area near the school library, demanding they show the right wristbands to enter and blocking “Zionists.” The protesters form a wall to prevent a student from entering as shouts of “Allahu Akbar,” which means “God is Greatest” in Arabic and was shouted by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 atrocities in southern Israel, is heard in the background.
“So you won’t let me in because I’m Jewish?” the student is heard asking.
“Ummm no… we have a couple Jewish students here. … are you a Zionist?” one of the protesters says back.
“Yes of course I am” the student says.
“Well yeah, we’re not gonna let Zionists in.”
The Jewish Faculty Resistance Group (JFRG) at UCLA, an organization of UCLA faculty, postdoctoral researchers and staff established to support Jewish students, noted in a statement on Sunday that numerous instances of antisemitism were reported at an anti-Israel encampment on campus.
These included protesters hurling antisemitic chants such as “Globalize the intifada,” and “From the river to the sea,” a Jewish student being physically assaulted for holding a sign that said, “Israel is not apartheid, come talk,” and another Jewish student verbally accosted by a professor and accused of supporting genocide for displaying an Israeli flag.
JFRG also noted “pro-Hamas students using posters with inverted red triangles—the same red triangles Hamas uses to mark victims for violence. These students are marking Jewish UCLA students for violence. A direct threat to the peace and safety of Jews at UCLA.
“These examples and the encampment’s exclusion of Jews from entering the public area of Royce Quad are against UC [University of California] policies and highlight the escalating intimidation and harassment against Jewish students on campus,” the JFRG said.
The group condemned the UCLA administration for failing to enforce its own rules and thus furthering the “isolation and exclusion of Jewish students and faculty.
“Even before the events of the past two weeks on college campuses, JFRG warned UCLA and the UC regents that their continued acquiescence to antisemitism on campus would result in further acts of antisemitism and even violence,” the group said.
“No matter how UC leadership spins it, they have allowed the UCLA campus to become a hostile and toxic environment for Jewish students and faculty,” JFRG added.
“The UC must enforce its policies under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, ensuring that Jewish students, faculty, and staff are protected from discrimination and harassment,” the group said.
Anti-Israel encampments have overtaken many college campuses in the United States in recent weeks, demanding that they divest from companies doing business with Israel. They have often veered into antisemitism and violence, with the epicenter at Columbia University in New York, where Jewish students are suing the school over its failure to protect them. JNS
