Columbia University has been a hotbed of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests since the war began. School administrators have decided that the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) have crossed a line and have suspended the two groups as “official” student groups through the end of the term.
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SJP is a hate-inspired group who have continually threatened Jewish students in every protest they hold. But they’re being suspended for holding “unauthorized events” according to a statement released by Gerald Rosberg, Senior Executive Vice President of the University,
Rosberg said that the SJP and JVP “repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.”
“Suspension means the two groups will not be eligible to hold events on campus or receive University funding. Lifting the suspension will be contingent on the two groups demonstrating a commitment to compliance with University policies and engaging in consultations at a group leadership level with University officials,” he wrote.
The university is only asking the SJP and JVP what other student groups are required to do in order to function as a recognized student group.
”Like all student groups, SJP and JVP are required to abide by University policies and procedures. This 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.”
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The response was typical leftist blather: “You can shut our organizations down, but can’t stop our hearts from beating for liberation, humanity, and the freedom of Palestine. Our actions will be louder than our words, for all the people who are yearning for freedom, and for the media outlets: Keep an eye on Columbia.”
These are college kids and that’s the best they can come up with? You “can’t stop our hearts from beating for liberation, humanity, and the freedom of Palestine”?
Not exactly, “Make Love Not War,” is it?
According to the Spectator, Rosberg met with students Wednesday participating in a sit-in at the School of Social Work and “called in University delegates to tell participants they were in violation of a rule in the University code of conduct which prohibits actions that ‘interrupt, shout down, or otherwise disrupt an event or to obstruct the view of the speaker.’”
The Columbia chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine celebrated the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 in southern Israel, many of them civilians, women and children, calling it “an unprecedented historic moment for the Palestinians of Gaza.” It added to critics of the violence that “nothing else is working” so bloodshed would continue due to the situation.
The announcement of the suspensions drew extensive attention online, with some pro-Israel voices cheering the move, while pro-Palestinian voices denounced it as censorship.
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The terrorist lovers can still protest and scream dirty words at Jews, so I don’t see what their problem is. They just can’t do it on campus and they won’t get any money from Columbia to purchase any of the slick signage they use for their protests.
So I don’t see how it could be considered “censorship.” But then, what good is a protest in a free country if you can’t have the freedom to scream “censorship” to rile up your supporters?