Topline
Columbia University on Friday suspended its chapters of the student groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, alleging they “repeatedly violated university policies related to holding campus events” — as tensions rise on college campuses over Israel’s war with Gaza-based militant group Hamas.
Columbia University suspended two student groups for allegedly violating university policies over … [+]
Key Facts
Columbia senior executive vice president Gerald Rosberg announced the groups will be suspended from operating for the rest of the fall term, after the groups allegedly held an unauthorized event.
That event, Rosberg claimed, was organized “despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” though Rosberg did not cite specific examples of threatening or intimidating behavior (Forbes has reached out to the SJP and JVP for comment).
The SJP, an organization with branches at college campuses nationwide, is a student-led group in support of “human rights for Palestinians,” according to its website, while the JVP, a Jewish anti-Zionist group, stands for “peace, social justice and human rights,” according to its site.
According to Columbia’s policies, the university is allowed to regulate the time and location of “certain forms of public expression,” and can restrict activities if there is a “genuine threat of harassment” or an “unmanageable safety concern.”
Rosberg said the suspensions will be lifted only if the organizations demonstrate a “commitment to compliance with university policies” and consult with university officials.
Columbia’s SJP reposted several accounts on X saying the suspension follows a “peaceful walkout and art installation” and reposted pleas for supporters to call Rosberg and the university’s president, while Columbia’s student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, reported the suspension was in response to a walkout deemed an unauthorized event.
The Anti-Defamation League posted on X commending the suspension, saying the decision was “consistent with” the school’s “legal & moral obligations to protect Jewish students.”
Tangent
The suspension marks the latest action against university student groups, after 20 Brown University students involved in its SJP and Jews for Ceasefire Now were arrested Thursday for refusing to leave an administrative office after they demanded the university push for a cease-fire in Gaza. A Cornell University student was also arrested earlier this month for allegedly posting threatening online messages targeted at Jewish students, while a University of Massachusetts Amherst student was arrested by campus police last week for allegedly punching a Jewish student in the face at a protest. On Thursday, Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, suspended its SJP chapter, cutting the group’s university funding and their permits for campus activities — Brandeis’ SJP chapter president told Boston’s NBC10 on the condition of anonymity that the university never told the organization it was being investigated.
Key Background
Universities have become both a hotbed for debates about Israel’s occupation of Gaza and Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel, including at Harvard University, where a letter signed by student groups putting sole blame for the Hamas attack on Israel received heavy pushback from university donors and right-wing lawmakers. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman issued a statement in response to the letter saying he had been approached by corporate executives asking for the names of the students who signed in an effort to ensure “none of us inadvertently hire” them. Last month, conservative group Accuracy in Media staged a so-called doxxing truck exposing the names of those students. Accuracy in Media also sent a truck to Columbia’s campus, publicly displaying the names and faces of students who signed a letter pleading with university officials to cut ties with Israel, despite criticism of the truck from both students and university staff. Earlier this week, Jewish billionaire investor Henry Swieca cut ties with Columbia, where he sat on the board of the Columbia Business School, writing a letter to the school calling out “blatantly anti-Jewish student groups and professors.” Billionaire Leon Cooperman also said last month he would suspend donations to Columbia over student-led pro-Palestinian protests.
Further Reading
‘Doxxing Truck’ Takes Columbia—Here’s What To Know About The Trucks That Post Names Of Students (Forbes)
Billionaire Leon Cooperman Cutting Off Donations To Columbia Over Student Protests Of Israel-Hamas War (Forbes)
Jewish Billionaire Henry Swieca Leaves Columbia University Board Over ‘Blatantly Anti-Jewish’ Student Groups (Forbes)