A proposed ban excluding supporters of Zionism from speaking at student-hosted events at Berkley University is being challenged before the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
On Sunday, two lawyers filed a complaint with the federal government against Berkeley Law School over a August 2022 decision of at least 9 student groups to adopt a bylaw excluding Zionist speakers.
The complaint, filed by attorneys Arsen Ostrovsky and Gabriel Groisman, called on the Department of Education to investigate the university for “profound and deep-seated antisemitic discrimination” under violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in federally-funded programs.
“The groups that have implemented this discriminatory policy attempt to hide their discrimination against the Jewish community by excluding “Zionists,” the two lawyers said in a statement Sunday. “This thin veil is completely transparent as Zionism is an integral, indispensable and core element of the Jewish identity.”
