By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI

Federal officials have sued pro-Palestinian demonstrators involved in a heated protest outside a New Jersey synagogue last year, citing a law created to protect abortion clinics from obstruction and threats.

Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the civil lawsuit filed Monday against two pro-Palestinian groups and some demonstrators appears to be the first time the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act has been used against protesters outside a house of worship.

Monday’s lawsuit stems from a Nov. 13 demonstration outside Congregation Ohr Torah in West Orange, about 20 miles west of Manhattan. It occurred during a real estate fair that promoted the sale of homes in Israel and in settlements in the occupied West Ba

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