Columbia University suspended Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) for the remainder of the fall term, citing violations of school policies, including “threatening rhetoric and intimidation.”
“This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” Gerald Rosberg, the chairman of the Special Committee on Campus Safety, wrote in an official statement on Friday.
“Suspension means the two groups will not be eligible to hold events on campus or receive University funding. Lifting the suspension will be contingent on the two groups demonstrating a commitment to compliance with University policies and engaging in consultations at a group leadership level with University officials.”
A joint statement released by the groups denounced the move as an attempt to “shut our organizations down, but [which] can’t stop our hearts from beating for liberation, humanity, and the freedom of Palestine. Our actions will be louder than our words,” the groups added. “Keep an eye on Columbia.”
“To Columbia and other institutions too cowardly to stand against genocide and apartheid, history will not reflect kindly on your silencing tactics, or your bullying of students,” the statement warned.
On Thursday, the groups organized a school walkout and a symbolic “die-in” on the campus quad. The previous day, Rosberg had met with protesters in the School of Social Work and explained the demonstrations constituted a violation of the university’s code of conduct prohibiting actions that “interrupt, shout down, or otherwise disrupt an event or to obstruct the view of the speaker.”
“I want to say to you as clearly as I possibly can that what you are doing, all of you, just by being here, is a serious violation of our rules,” Rosberg told those in attendance, according to a video reviewed by the school’s student paper.
Growing concerns of campus antisemitism led billionaire philanthropist Henry Swieca to resign from the Board of Overseers of the Columbia Business School in late October. “With blatantly anti-Jewish student groups and professors allowed to operate with complete impunity, it sends a clear and distressing message that Jews are not just unwelcome, but also unsafe on campus,” the financier wrote in a letter obtained by JTA publicized on Wednesday. “My resignation is an expression of my deep concern for the direction in which the university is heading.”
Since hostilities erupted in early October following Hamas’ brutal invasion of Israel, the campus has become a hotbed of pro-Palestinian activism. Students have been assaulted for sharing photos of kidnapped civilians on campus, as protests have featured chants of “F*** the Jews” and placards claiming “resistance is not terrorism.”
“Statements from the university are meaningless when pro-Hamas students march on campus calling for the complete destruction of Israel,” Swicea said in his resignation letter, citing chants such as, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”