Columbia University announced on Friday it was suspending the pro-Palestinian Arab groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace through the end of the fall term, cutting off the groups’ University funding and eligibility to hold on-campus events.
According to the Columbia Spectator, the student newspaper at the university, Gerald Rosberg, senior executive vice president of the University and chair of the Special Committee on Campus Safety, wrote to the organizations via email that the suspension is the result of “repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events.”
Rosberg cited a walkout on Thursday as an “unauthorized event” that “proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.”
SJP and JVP were previously recognized under the Student Governing Board, one of six governing bodies overseeing and funding undergraduate student groups and organizations. SGB was previously in conversations with University Life to find a way to mediate the situation and avoid the groups’ derecognition, according to the report.
Jewish groups have pressured universities to withdraw funding for SJP in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, when the group described the attack as “a historic win for Palestinian resistance.”
Earlier this week, Brandeis University announced it is revoking recognition of the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), saying the group “openly supports Hamas”.
Florida’s public university system banned SJP in late October following a directive by Governor Ron DeSantis.
The leadership of Columbia University has come under fire for its failure to denounce pro-Palestinian Arab student organizations, as reflected in a recent passionate speech by Shai Davidai, an Israeli American professor at Columbia.
Jewish students at Columbia University recently said at a press conference that they and their peers on campus had been subjected to a series of antisemitic incidents in recent weeks, including death threats. They demanded the university administration take action to protect Jews on campus.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)