Muslim advocacy group files civil rights complaint against University of Georgia

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Council on American Islamic Relations advocacy group said on Tuesday it filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of some students at the University of Georgia alleging differential treatment of people of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim descent.

The complaint alleges the University of Georgia's actions violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars federal funds recipients from allowing discrimination based on race, religion and national origin. It was filed with the U.S. Education Department and urges a federal probe into the university.

The council said pro-Palestinian students have been the target of anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic harassment since Israel's war in Gaza began, adding the university did not do enough to prevent the harassment or remedy its effects.

The university said it supports free speech and does not discriminate based on race or religion while also enforcing its rules and holding accountable those who violate policies.

There have been numerous protests in the United States, including on college campuses, against U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza, with some turning violent.

There has also been antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric in some protests and counter protests. Human rights advocates have warned about rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered last Oct. 7 when Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Sonali Paul)