Cleveland State University (CSU) has rejected an appeal by pro-Israel activist Rabbi Alexander Popivker over a February ruling banning him from campus for at least two years, the Cleveland Jewish News reported.
CSU indefinitely banned the Orthodox Rabbi after a hearing over his allegedly theft of a banner that belonged to the campus chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, and also affixing an Israeli flag to a CUS light pole. The activist was charged with misdemeanor theft over the banner by Cleveland prosecutors.
The banner said: “CSU Solidarity for Palestinian Rights” and was illustrated with an outline of Israel, including Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip, collectively emblazoned in the Palestinian Liberation Organization flag. A dove holding an olive branch appeared on top of the image.
Rabbi Popivker confessed to the theft on Instagram, explaining he had stolen the banner from the school’s student center “as an act of civil disobedience.”
“This incitement to annihilation of Israel should have never been permitted at CSU,” Rabbi Popivker said.
A handyman and part-time rabbi for a Russian-speaking Jewish community, Popivker has become known around town as an omnipresent pro-Israel advocate. He can often be spotted counter-protesting against local anti-Israel demonstrations, or putting on displays of his own, with his wife Sarah on hand filming every contentious encounter. Before moving to Cleveland, the Popivkers operated what they called Chabad outpost in Naples, Italy, though he was never an official emissary of the Orthodox movement, according to a Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman.
One major theme of his protests, and his worldview, as he explained to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: “Palestinians and Nazis are the same thing.”
For the last year, Popivker had been making weekly trips to Cleveland State, occasionally accompanied by other students or community members, to give public demonstrations that elaborate on that idea — sometimes with the aid of swastika-emblazoned props. In the early going, the university provided him with police protection and said his visits to campus were protected by free speech laws.
CFO David N. Jewel stated in a March 22 letter to Popivker that there was no procedural error, adding that the indefinite ban was appropriate based on the accusation, according to the Cleveland Jewish News.
“Accordingly, your appeal of the February 2, 2023 decision of the hearing officer is hereby denied,” Jewel said.
Under CSU regulations, visitors designed “persona non grata” are not allowed to be on campus at any locations of Cleveland State University.
Rabbi Popivker will be able to request that the ban be lifted after March 22, 2025 by sending a written request to the university’s CFO.