Letters to the Editor: Recent reporting on UC antisemitism probe is hard to reconcile

To the editor: It’s difficult to reconcile staff writer Jaweed Kaleem’s report on UC campus antisemitism (“Times Investigation: Ex-Trump DOJ lawyers say ‘fraudulent’ UC antisemitism probes led them to quit,” Dec. 13), which focuses on only one side of the story, with the following statement from U.S. District Court Judge Mark C. Scarsi in Frankel vs. UC Regents:

“In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. UCLA does not dispute this. Instead, UCLA claims that it has no responsibility to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students.”

With this factual background, I hope all Americans support the Justice Department’s investigation into potential civil rights violations against Jewish students on UC campuses — regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.

Merrit Maddux, Laguna Beach

..

To the editor: The widespread and, yes, even rarely violent protests by college students over what’s going on in Gaza had nothing to do with antisemitism. They were about fighting the incredible suffering of the Palestinians and criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government for their attacks on the Palestinian people.

It has always been the right of students and a great necessity to protest wrongdoings and attacks on human rights.

Liselotte Millauer, Hollywood