By Yasin Gungor
ISTANBUL (AA) – The US Justice Department announced Wednesday it opened a civil rights investigation into the University of California (UC) to determine if it permitted an antisemitic “hostile work environment” on its campuses.
The probe will assess if the school violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.
“This Department of Justice will always defend Jewish Americans, protect civil rights, and leverage our resources to eradicate institutional Anti-Semitism in our nation’s universities,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
The investigation follows widespread pro-Palestine protests on US campuses in response to Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip, which have killed more than 48,000 victims, mostly women and children. The Trump administration has repeatedly labeled the protests antisemitic, a claim critics argue conflates criticism of Israeli policies with hatred toward Jewish people.
US President Donald Trump declared Tuesday that federal funding would be revoked from institutions allowing “illegal protests.” He warned that “agitators” would face imprisonment or deportation, while American students could be expelled or arrested.
The announcement is part of Trump’s broader initiative to combat antisemitism, including an executive order targeting campus protests and a pledge to revoke student visas for individuals deemed sympathetic to Hamas.
The Education Department has also launched probes for alleged antisemitism into five universities, including Columbia University; Northwestern University; Portland State University; the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, all of which saw Pro-Palestine demonstrations.