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Submitted by Susan B. Tuchman, Esq. Director of the ZOA's Center for Law and Justice, Feb 27, 2009 13:18
The article correctly noted that the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of Jewish students at UC-Irvine, alleging that the university adminstration was failing to rectify a hostile anti-Semitic campus environment, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But it's not correct that the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) did not take any action in response to the complaint. OCR initiated an investigation into the complaint. It may be questionable as to how thoroughly and vigorously OCR conducted its investigation, but this marked the first time that OCR agreed to investigate a complaint alleging anti-Semitism under Title VI. After completing its investigation, OCR decided that there was no Title VI violation. But it's clear from the decision that OCR's conclusions were based on a whittled-down interpretation of Title VI, rather than on the evidence of anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation (which was substantial). In a shift from an earlier policy clarification, the agency decided to view Jews as a religious group only, and not also as an ethnic group. This meant that Jewish students would not be entitled to Title VI's protections, no matter how much harassment and intimidation they faced. In April 2008, OCR initiated a new investigation into other allegations that the ZOA made on behalf of Jewish UC-Irvine students under Title VI. That investigation is, according to OCR, still open and ongoing.
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