Legal Actions

Organizers of Antisemitic Riot in LA Face Federal Lawsuit from Jewish Victims StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice alleges CodePink, Palestinian Youth Movement and WESPAC Foundation violated federal law in violently blocking access to synagogue. Seven Jewish individuals, through their membership in the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice, filed a federal lawsuit on July 24, 2024, against three groups that organized a riot to violently block Jews from entering a synagogue in Los Angeles last month. The SCLJ has filed a lawsuit on behalf of several of its members who were violently harassed, assaulted, and blocked by pro-Hamas groups and individuals from accessing religious services at Adas Torah Synagogue in Los Angeles last month. The lawsuit raises claims under the federal FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act and the California state corollary law. Both laws include a provision prohibiting the blocking of access to places of religious worship and allow victims of such conduct to recover damages.

The Lehigh administration and campus police appear to have deliberately downplayed and failed to curb antisemitic incidents on an increasingly hostile climate for Jewish and Israeli students on campus. In doing so, Lehigh has ignored its legal obligations, and enabled the trampling of not only the legal rights of these students but also Lehigh’s own values and policies. The university must undertake a thorough investigation of the incidents and take appropriate and immediate remedial action to restore a discrimination-free campus environment for Jewish and Israeli students.

On April 1st, 2024, StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice (SCLJ) filed a federal Title VI complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on behalf of Jewish students and other campus stakeholders at the University of California Davis who are the victims of a pervasively hostile and antisemitic campus climate. The SCLJ complaint, which can be found online here, details extensive examples of antisemitic hostility and harassment targeting Jews, Israelis, and Zionists including during class, on social media by school organizations, in housing facilities, and more. The UC Davis leadership has met this conduct with indifference and a failure to enforce any policies to protect Jewish students. Jewish or Israeli students, actual or perceived, have also been physically assaulted at UC Davis with no known police investigation or follow up, no known administrative response, and no known compliance with federal hate crime law reporting. Antisemitic faculty are mistreating Jewish and Israeli students.

On March 7, 2024, StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice (SCLJ) and MIT students filed a federal lawsuit against MIT over the university’s condoning of antisemitism in violation of the students’ rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The complaint, filed in Massachusetts District Court by several law firms, describes how MIT turns a blind eye to antisemitic activities on its campus, refuses to enforce policies to protect Jewish and Israeli students and faculty, and has thereby created a hostile environment for Jews. This lawsuit seeks to remedy this.

Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Against Columbia University Alleges Hostile Antisemitic Environment for Jewish and Israeli Students

On February 15th, 2024, The StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice filed a Title VI complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights seeking to remedy the creation of a pervasive and ongoing antisemitic environment for Jewish students at Middlebury College.