A Jewish civil rights organization is urging the Department of Justice to crack down on anti-Israel protests that have taken America’s universities by storm.

StandWithUs (SWU) is calling for the enforcement of a legal statute known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. The law enacted in 1871 is designed to empower the federal government to prosecute those who violated the civil rights of minorities, as the Ku Klux Klan did across the South during Reconstruction to prevent African Americans from exercising their rights as free citizens.

SWU alleges that five anti-Zionist organizations have committed similar abuses. The groups cited in their letter to the DOJ are Students for Justice in Palestine, Within Our Lifetime, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Columbia School of Social Work 4 Palestine, and Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine.

Members of these antisemitic groups routinely shroud their faces with masks and keffiyehs, the traditional Arab headscarves that have become symbols of solidarity with Hamas’ war against Israel. This tactic has made it virtually impossible to identify individuals who have chanted antisemitic slogans, vandalized school property, and threatened Jewish students and faculty.

“We hope the Department of Justice will take this opportunity to restore justice on university campuses and hold bad actors responsible for violating federal laws. It is a hostile environment for Jewish students which reflects a critical need for the current administration to take decisive action,” SWU director Yael Lerman said on Thursday.

If the DOJ decides to prosecute modern-day antisemitic protests under the Ku Klux Klan Act, it could mark a significant shift in how universities and law enforcement address protecting Jewish students.