Civil Rights Groups Launch Legal Aid Initiative for Parents of Victimized Jewish Students

Three leading civil rights nonprofits announced on Thursday a partnership for providing free legal assistance to parents of children attending California K-12 schools where antisemitism is reported to be pervasive and unchecked.

The initiative, titled Legal Protection K-12 Helpline, follows the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law’s and the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) filing a civil rights complaint alleging that the Berkeley United School District (BUSD) has refused to enforce anti-discrimination policies that would protect Jewish students from bullying and trauma in and out of the classroom.

“Frankly, school principals and administrators should themselves be cracking down on the surge in anti-Jewish bullying we are witnessing. This is what the law requires,” Brandeis Center founder and chairman Kenneth D. Marcus said on Thursday. “However, far too many are failing in their legal responsibilities and choosing to sweep escalating antisemitism under the rug. Our legal team stands by ready to step into this gap and demand the protections Jewish students are guaranteed under the law.”

Legal Protection K-12 Hotline will also be supported by StandWithUs, a nonprofit which promotes education about Israel and fair treatment of Jewish students on college campuses, and four law firms. In a press release, the groups said parents will be offered both legal counsel and referrals to other organizations that can be of help.

“Spikes in antisemitic incidents in K-12 schools, coupled with the failure of administrators to respond with meaningful corrective action, has created the need for a more unified and coordinated educational and legal response,” Carly Gammill, legal strategy director of StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice (SCLJ) said. “All students deserve an educational environment free from discrimination and harassment based on their protected identities. StandWithUs is proud to partner with this coalition to achieve this goal and further protect Jewish and other Zionist students.”

As The Algemeiner previously reported, a civil rights complaint filed last week alleges that antisemitism in the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) in California has caused severe psychological trauma to Jewish students as young as eight years old and fostered a hostile learning environment.

At several schools throughout BUSD, students were recruited to assist anti-Zionists teachers in cheering Hamas’ atrocities as “liberation.” They were called called on to join “walk outs” and rewarded with excused absences in return for their participation, another violation of district policy forbidding excused absences for all but the most important reasons. These demonstrations became salvos of antisemitic rhetoric. During one organized at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, students shouted “KKK,” “Kill Israel,” “Kill the Jews,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” In another incident, a second-grade teacher instructed her students to write “Stop bombing babies” on sticky notes.

“With reports of antisemitism in K-12 schools rising significantly since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, we wanted to ensure that parents and students have a place to turn to for legal help when they need it,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. “If this pilot helpline is successful in California, ADL and our partners will look toward expanding it to other states where antisemitism in schools is surging.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.