Columbia Suspends 2 Pro-Palestine Groups

Columbia University suspended two pro-Palestinian student groups for violating campus event policies, according to an announcement Friday afternoon by Gerald Rosberg, senior executive vice president and chair of the Special Committee on Campus Safety. The suspension will remain in effect until the end of the fall semester, Dec. 22.

The message does not specify which policies the two groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, violated, but says that the groups held “an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.”

Both clubs posted an advertisement on Instagram for an event at 2 p.m. Thursday entitled “Shut It Down! For Palestine,” which was described as a walkout and “peaceful protest art installation.” Similar events were held at campuses across the country on the same day.

Videos and photographs of the Columbia event show the installation, composed of plywood posters painted with images of trees and Palestinian flags, along with phrases related to the anti-Zionist movement. One poster seemed to make demands of the Columbia administration, requesting that the university “publicly call for a ceasefire” and ”call it a genocide,” among other things. Small white bundles covered in red paint lay in front of the panels, alongside signs asking observers to “Remain quiet please.”

At the time of publication, neither group had posted a public statement regarding the suspension, nor did they respond to Inside Higher Ed's request for comment.

“Once again, we are witnessing the suppression and silencing of pro-Palestinian voices on campus,” said Afaf Nasher, executive director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a statement. “SJP and JVP are dedicated to holding institutions, including institutions of higher learning, to account for their support of Israeli apartheid and genocide of the people of Gaza. This brave, principled stance seems to bother the administration of Columbia University. We stand in solidarity with them and call on the university to stop this attack on constitutionally protected free speech.”

Jewish Voice for Peace is a U.S. anti-Zionist organization made up of Jewish members that is involved in the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel. According to its website, there are 70 local chapters. Twelve are on campuses, according to the ADL, which has condemned the group for championing ideas that could give rise to antisemitism and for at times posting antisemitic content. JVP, meanwhile, promotes the idea that antisemitism and anti-Zionism are not equivalent.

Rosberg's note stated that, like any student organization, SJP and JVP are expected to follow campus rules and protocols. According to Columbia's University Event Policy, student groups must give notice 10 working days in advance of any “special events,” a term which covers anything that fits at least one of the following criteria:

• event in outdoor University space
• presence of press/media (invited or otherwise)
• advertised beyond Columbia's campus
• high attendance/capacity, generally more than 25 attendees
• presence of alcohol
• potential for significant disruption
• security concerns

“Shut It Down! For Palestine” occurred outdoors on Columbia's campus, and many more than 25 people attended. It is unclear if the event fit any other criteria.

Rosberg said in the announcement that the university's event policy “ensures both the safety of our community and that core University activities can be conducted without disruption. During this especially charged time on our campus, we are strongly committed to giving space to student groups to participate in debate, advocacy, and protest. This relies on community members abiding by the rules and cooperating with University administrators who have a duty to ensure the safety of everyone in our community.”

On Thursday, university officials restricted campus access to individuals with campus IDs, “based on information received about a planned demonstration tomorrow afternoon.” All but two entry points to campus were closed.

Pro-Palestinian student organizations, especially SJP, have been criticized for their initial response to the Israel-Hamas war, which held “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.” Since then, they have continued to spark backlash for using chants such as, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which many Jewish students see as antisemitic but the SJP says is a call for Palestinian liberation.

The Anti-Defamation League has called for an investigation of all officially recognized campus chapters of SJP. In Florida, the State University System of Florida Chancellor Ray Rodrigues called on the two system universities with SJP chapters to shut them down, due to wording used by the national SJP organization that Rodrigues said violated Florida anti-terrorism law. However, leaders on both campuses found that they were not under the authority of the national SJP, Rodrigues said at a Board of Governors meeting Thursday. The chapters remain active.

Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized efforts to shut down SPJ chapters and other pro-Palestine organizations, stating that leaders should not “disband, or penalize student groups on the basis of their exercise of free speech rights.”