A House committee investigating widespread anti-Semitism on college campuses across the country slammed the University of California, Los Angeles, on Wednesday for its "inadequate response to antisemitism and failure to protect Jewish students."
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which is running several probes into American universities, asked UCLA’s leadership to turn over internal documents about the school’s failure to shut down a pro-Palestinian encampment where Jewish students have been assaulted and harassed. Like other schools across the country, pro-Palestinian protesters have erected an unlawful campus encampment where violence has repeatedly broken out.
"For days, the unlawful encampment’s checkpoints illegally denied students access to campus buildings," the committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), wrote in a letter to the university’s leadership. "Jewish students were attacked, harassed, and intimidated for walking on their own campus, and all UCLA students were denied a safe and uninterrupted learning environment."
"I am horrified by UCLA’s negligent and incomprehensible reaction to antisemitic violence and exclusion on its campus," Foxx wrote. "UCLA’s leaders have allowed their campus to become a severe and pervasive hostile environment for Jewish students, standing by as students, faculty, and affiliates were assaulted and harassed."
As part of its latest investigation, the House committee instructed UCLA to produce video and audio recording of events at the protest site and internal reports about anti-Semitic incidents at the school.
The letter outlines numerous instances of anti-Semitic harassment at the school dating back to late April, when the encampment was erected. This includes assaults on Jewish students, efforts to intimidate them from freely navigating UCLA’s campus, and blocking access to various university buildings.
UCLA administrators, including president Michael Drake, are accused by the committee of "allowing severe and pervasive civil rights violations and harassment against UCLA students, many targeted for their Jewish identity."