The Ministry of Justice starts the investigation of anti -Semitism allegations at UC

The US Ministry of Justice announced on Wednesday that a civil rights investigation had initiated allegations of anti -Semitism at the University of California. His lawyers believe that there is a “potential pattern” of discrimination against Jewish employees in the state's university system.

The investigation would determine whether UC “a pattern or a practice of discrimination on the basis of breed, religion and national origin against its professors, employees and other employees by an anti -Semitic enemy work environment on their campus,” said the department in a statement.

Reports on anti -Semitism have grown on the UC system since October 7, 2023, the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's war in the Gaza. The decision of the department did not cite any specific incidents to the UC campus and did not interpret the locations, apart from a brief mention of the UCLA.

UC officers were not immediately available for comment.

“This Ministry of Justice will always defend Jewish Americans, protect civil rights and use our resources to eliminate institutional anti -Semitism at the universities of our nation,” Atty. General Pamela Bondi said in the explanation.

Chad Mizelle, Deputy Attorney General and head of the department of the department, cited a “disturbing increase in anti -Semitism to educational institutions in California and nationwide” in the declaration.

The department said it would work with the Commission for Opportunities and the Federal Task Force to combat anti-Semitism, a multi-agency group founded last month, to investigate UC.

The member of the Task Force, Leo Terrill, who is also a senior lawyer in the Civil Rights Department of the Ministry of Justice, said in a statement that the post-Oct. 7 Landscape has led to a “outbreak of anti -Semitic incidents at leading university facilities in America, including my own Alma Mater on the UCLA campus of UC”.

Terrill said: “The impact on the students of UC were the subject of considerable attention in the media and several federal investigations. But these locations are also jobs, and the Jewish faculty and the employees there deserve a work environment that is free of anti -Semitic hostility and hatred. “

This story develops and is updated.