A Jewish group is demanding that the US federal government take stronger action against Palestine protesters, including using laws designed to combat the Ku Klux Klan.

StandWithUs (SWU), a Jewish educational organisation dedicated to combatting antisemitism, is demanding that the US Justice Department invoke the “KKK Laws” in response to the coordinated actions of five anti-Israel campus groups at Columbia University, where Jewish students have been harassed and assaulted by pro-Palestine demonstrators.

The Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871, known colloquially as the KKK Laws, allow the federal government to crack down on those who violate the civil rights of protected groups. The acts were ratified to combat the systematic political violence and intimidation of Black Americans by the Ku Klux Klan and has since been cited in rare instances to sue neo-Nazis, among other such radical groups.

And now the California-based SWU is dusting off the KKK Laws to file a suit against five anti-Zionist groups for "violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, breach of contract, and a conspiracy to deny Jewish students’ civil rights under the civil components of the KKK laws,” according to an SWU press release.

Student demonstrators occupy the pro-Palestinian "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the West Lawn of Columbia University on 24 April, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

In a letter sent to US Attorney General Merrick Garland and the DOJ on Wednesday, SWU accused the activist group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) of being the coordinator of a campaign “to deprive Jewish students of their constitutional and federally protected rights” on campuses across the US. Other groups accused include Columbia/Barnard Jewish Voice for Peace, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Columbia School of Social Work for Palestine, and Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine.

“It is hard to differentiate the tactics of the Columbia student groups from those of Nazis in the early days of the Holocaust, Hezbollah in Beirut in the 21st century or, of course, the KKK in the American south after Reconstruction,” the letter said.

According to SWU, the groups’ tactics include “brandishing weapons on campus, physically attacking Jews and using large crowds to physically prevent Jews from attending classes or using campus facilities.”

The letter cited numerous examples of such intimidation and harassment incidents by pro-Palestine protesters, including chanting “F— the Jews,” “Death to Jews,” “Jews will not defeat us,” and “From water to water, Palestine will be Arab,” in the wake of October 7, allegedly violating the university’s code of conduct but never facing punishment for doing so.

SWU also noted that members of the group often cover their faces with masks or keffiyehs during demonstrations, allowing them to act out with impunity, and drew a parallel between the masked pro-Palestine students and members of the KKK, who are known to cover their faces with pointy white hoods.

In February, SWU along with a number of Columbia students filed a lawsuit against the university for condoning antisemitism and thereby violating students’ rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. In June, the complaint was reportedly amended to include 40 additional plaintiffs and “over 230 pages of allegations.”

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik visits Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University following the closure of student pro-Palestine encampments on 1 May, 2024. (Photo by Indy Scholtens/Getty Images)

Columbia University president Minouche Shafik, who took office in July 2023, faced calls for her resignation for her lukewarm attempts to quell campus unrest and complaints of antisemitism, and especially after failing to fire high-level administrators who mocked testimonies of campus antisemitism in leaked group chat messages.

Yael Lerman, Director of the SWU Saidoff Legal Department, said: “We hope the Department of Justice will take this opportunity to restore justice on Columbia University’s campuses and hold bad actors responsible for violating federal laws.

“Columbia President Shafik’s concession that Columbia is a hostile environment for Jewish students in violation of Title VI reflects a critical need for the current administration to take decisive action at Columbia. We urge the DOJ to investigate the school’s failure to prevent groups and individuals on its campus from joining forces and depriving Jewish students of their civil rights, a failure that runs afoul of the KKK laws.”