UC Berkeley won't ban Zionist speakers, will pay $1 million to settle antisemitism suit

"UC Berkeley said it would revise campus nondiscrimination policies, prohibit student organization bylaws from banning Zionist speakers and pay $1 million in legal fees to settle a lawsuit by two Jewish groups over alleged antisemitic incidents following protests in response to the Hamas-Israel war in 2023."

"That definition says 'denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, such as by claiming that the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavor,' is antisemitic. The definition has been criticized by pro-Palestinian and human rights groups who accuse Israel of giving Palestinians who work and live within its borders and in Gaza and the West Bank unequal rights in comparison with Israeli Jews."

"The settlement is the latest among UC campuses that have closed out lawsuits and civil rights complaints stemming from contentious pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests that reached a crescendo in 2024 with pro-Palestinian encampments at all nine undergraduate campuses and a violent attack against pro-Palestinian activists at UCLA in April of that year."

UC Berkeley agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by two Jewish groups regarding alleged antisemitic incidents following 2023 Hamas-Israel war protests. The settlement requires the university to pay $1 million in legal fees, revise campus nondiscrimination policies, and prohibit student organization bylaws from banning Zionist speakers. UC Berkeley will also update its online nondiscrimination page to clarify that it uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition when evaluating discrimination complaints. This definition considers denying Jewish self-determination and claims that Israel is a racist endeavor as antisemitic. The settlement represents one of several cases across UC campuses addressing conflicts arising from pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests since October 2023.

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