Judge allows pro-Palestinian students to ‘intervene’ in lawsuit against UC-Berkeley

A federal judge has allowed pro-Palestinian students to express their views in a lawsuit filed against the University of California-Berkeley over alleged anti-Semitism.

A A Jewish advocacy group is suing UC Berkeley for what it calls the “long-standing, unchecked spread of anti-Semitism” on campus.

The lawsuit was filed late last year by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a nonprofit organization that supports the civil rights of Jewish people.

They allege that UC Berkeley has failed to protect students and faculty from anti-Semitic discrimination and harassment because the school has failed to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment or halt demonstrations.

The lawsuit also focuses on the actions of a student group, Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine. The group was one of nearly two dozen to pass statutes banning Zionism adherents from speaking at their events.

The lawsuit states: “Anti-Zionism is different from criticism of Israel or opposition to the policies of the Israeli government. Anti-Zionism rejects Israel’s right to exist and denies Jews the fundamental right to self-determination.”

The new ruling from U.S. District Court Judge James Donato allows six student “interveners” to raise additional defenses that the university cannot raise. That’s according to Everyday CaliforniaN.

A lawyer representing pro-Palestinian student groups says the lawsuit is an attempt to delegitimize any criticism of Israel under the false claim that it is “anti-Semitic.”

In June, the university filed a motion in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, to dismiss the case, and a decision is pending.