The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has allowed anti-Israel protests to continue for weeks, but blocked a conservative lecture from being held on campus, a new lawsuit alleges.
Young America Foundation (YAF) submitted In May, the school prevented a YAF branch from hosting a lecture titled “Everything You Know About Palestine is Wrong” by Robert Spencer, an outspoken critic of Islamic extremism. As a result, a lawsuit was filed against the university on Thursday. According to the complaint, the university was unable to respond to requests for the event before completely cutting off access to the event space, saying pro-Palestinian activists had threatened to protest the event and had to move it to a “secluded location.” It is said that the response was delayed. .
“UCLA was complicit in widespread student rights violations and other criminal and abusive conduct by anti-Israel activists, while at the same time doing everything in its power to prevent Plaintiffs’ proposed pro-Israel conference from taking place.” The complaint states: “UCLA repeatedly ignored requests for information, withheld approval of paperwork, prevented Plaintiffs from effectively promoting themselves in advance of the event, and engaged in other bureaucratic delaying tactics.”
The students who threatened to protest the event were apparently the same students who participated in a weeks-long camp in April, according to the complaint.
Police respond as pro-Palestinian students resist after police breached their position on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, in the early hours of May 2, 2024. (Photo by: ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)
“UCLA, of course, announced at the last minute the plaintiffs’ pro-Israel event due to renewed threats from protesters, which UCLA itself had emboldened with extreme reluctance (not to mention active collusion) just days earlier. “There is no reasonable argument that it was necessary to interfere with this,” the complaint states. “The reality is that UCLA’s last-minute change of direction was just a continuation of what it had been doing before, taking a very picky approach to one side of the debate (the pro-Israel side) and They took a too “hands-off” attitude toward one side. There is also the aspect that the campus was in a spiral of vandalism and violence. ”
In August, a federal judge ruled that UCLA would not allow Jewish students to access parts of campus after the school allowed protesters to create a “Jewish exclusion zone” that would require students to take a pledge of support for Palestine. The court ruled that it could not be prevented. Since Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the university has experienced widespread violent protests, some of which have resulted in arrests, but many students are still facing punishment. Not done. (Related: ‘Unimaginably abhorrent’: Judge slams Blue State University for excluding Jewish students during protests)
The plaintiffs are asking the court to prohibit UCLA from engaging in viewpoint discrimination and preventing it from disrupting the event under pressure from protesters.
“Defendants imposed this double standard because they disagree with Plaintiff’s pro-Israel message,” the complaint states. “In doing so, they engaged in viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. Defendants also locked the auditorium doors and attempted to move Plaintiffs’ event to a secluded venue. In doing so, it violated the First Amendment on its own grounds by giving official government sanctions to rioters who could “loudly denounce” on campus. The purpose is to prevent the plaintiff from speaking publicly. ”
“Cancel culture has been allowed to go unchecked for far too long,” said Scott Walker, president of the Young America Foundation. statement. “YAF’s lawsuit aims to rebalance the equation, ensuring that universities do not succumb to unfettered mobs by canceling pro-Israel speakers, and instead seek to protect them and their constitutional amendments.” We guarantee that Article 1 rights will be protected.”
UCLA and the YAF chapter did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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