Rutgers University has suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, the youth-led pro-Palestinian group responsible for many recent antisemitic campus protests.
Associate Dean of Students Michelle Jefferson said in a letter that the student group was placed under an interim suspension on Tuesday. It is unclear how long the suspension will last. The New Jersey college joins a host of other universities that have also disbanded their campus SJP chapters, including Columbia University and Brandeis University.
“There is a reasonable basis to conclude that the continued activities by the student organization pose a substantial and immediate threat to the safety and well-being of others, or the suspension of organizational activities is needed to maintain preservation of the University,” Jefferson wrote.
The suspension comes one day after the Department of Education opened an ethnic-discrimination investigation at Rutgers.
“We have received notice that an investigation has been opened of the university’s response to alleged incidents in October and November of 2023. The notice provides no further details, but we will certainly fully cooperate,” Rutgers spokeswoman Dory Devlin said.
“Rutgers stands against antisemitism and against hate in all its pernicious forms,” Devlin added. “The university strives to be a safe and supportive environment for all our students, faculty, and staff. We reject absolutely intolerance based on religion, national origin, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, or political views.”
Josh Gottheimer (D., N.J.) wrote university president Jonathan Holloway a letter on December 4, admonishing the school for allowing antisemitic events on campus.
“At Rutgers, anonymous protesters have gathered outside of the Chabad House, destroyed hostage posters, and verbally assaulted Jewish students. The Chabad Rabbi reported that Jewish students felt ‘physically afraid’ to leave the building,” Gottheimer wrote. “The University’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter labeled Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attacks as ‘justified retaliation.’ In November, a Rutgers student was charged with bias intimidation, terroristic threats, and false public alarm after posting on social media threats to kill an Israeli student from the AEPi fraternity. Jewish students on campus feel ‘devastated, and terrified.'”
The group’s Instagram page lists many pro-Palestinian protests it has conducted since October 7; a study-in strike in a library, a courtyard demonstration with a sheet that read “Rutgers you have blood on your hands,” a protest of the school’s board of governors meeting, and an event to demand a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. The group’s page also describes a number of ways students can support the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement.
On October 10, Rutgers SJP posted its first social-media post since October 7. Students were told to go “all out for Palestine” at an SJP-sponsored teach-in. SJP noted that students should “maintain anonymity: wear masks/sunglasses, do not disclose personal info of yourself or others,” “blur, or avoid posting photos with others’ faces entirely,” and “refrain from speaking to the press/[Rutgers University Police Department].”
“Rutgers Students for Justice in Palestine believes in the power of activism to educate Rutgers University-Newark about the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people as well as their history and cultural heritage,” the group’s still-active university profile says. “Furthermore, RSJP seeks to promote the Palestinian right to education and to foster communication with Palestinian schools and scholars. In the spirit of free expression, RSJP seeks to provide an alternative perspective to existing narratives as well as to engage in constructive dialogue, discussion and coalition building with other Rutgers student organizations.”