Edited by: Fern Sidman

Columbia University in New York City has suspended Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as official student groups on campus through the end of the fall semester, as was reported by the Algemeiner.com web site on Friday.  The university’s senior executive vice president, Gerald Rosberg, announced the suspension, citing repeated violations of campus event policies, culminating in an unauthorized event with threatening rhetoric and intimidation.

The decision to suspend the student groups follows a series of violations related to organizing campus events. According to the Algemeiner.com report, the breaking point was an unauthorized event on Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and reportedly included threatening language and intimidation. Rosberg, who also chairs Columbia’s Special Committee on Campus Safety, emphasized that the suspension is a response to actions that disrupt university activities and compromise the safety of the community.

In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Rosberg said: “This decision was made after the two groups 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,” as was reported by the Algemeiner.com

The suspension comes amid ongoing protests on campus, where hundreds of students walked out of classes, demanding an immediate ceasefire in the war that Hamas terrorists launched against Israel on October 7th in which they barbarically massacred 1400 Israelis and others and kidnapped 240 people that they are currently holding hostage in the Gaza strip. As was noted in the Algemeiner.com report, the protesters also called for school officials to characterize Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as “genocide” and urged the university to boycott and divest from Israeli institutions. Notably, the demands did not mention Hamas terrorism or the release of hostages held in Gaza since the Oct. 7 massacres of Israeli communities.

Rosberg pointed out that both SJP and JVP violated a rule in the university’s code of conduct that prohibits actions disrupting events or obstructing the view of the speaker. As was reported by the Algemeiner.com, all student groups, including SJP and JVP, are required to adhere to university policies and procedures to ensure community safety and the smooth conduct of core university activities.

“Like all student groups, SJP and JVP are required to abide by university policies and procedures,” Rosberg also said in his statement, as was mentioned in the Algemeiner.com report.  “This ensures both the safety of our community and that core university activities can be conducted without disruption.”

The suspension means that SJP and JVP are not eligible to hold events on campus or receive university funding. Rosberg indicated that lifting the suspension would be contingent on the two groups demonstrating a commitment to compliance with university policies and engaging in consultations with university officials at a leadership level, according to the Algemeiner.com report.

Columbia University has faced intense scrutiny for its response to the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom and the subsequent conflict between Israel and the terror group. As was indicated in the Algemeiner.com report, professors and students have released letters directly blaming Israel for the conflict and rationalizing the actions of the Iranian backed Hamas terrorists.

“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,” Rosberg also said in his statement. “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.”

Jewish billionaire and philanthropist Henry Swiec recently resigned from the Board of Columbia Business School, citing the university’s perceived “moral cowardice” that left Jews feeling unsafe on campus, the Algemeiner.com report added.

Columbia’s decision to suspend SJP and JVP comes shortly after Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts revoked recognition of its SJP chapter over its support for the Hamas terrorist attack that sparked this ongoing military conflict. The Algemeiner.com reported that following the incident, several SJP chapters and pro-Palestinian student organizations expressed solidarity with the Hamas terrorists and disseminated propaganda rationalizing the violence.

In a statement sent the media of Friday, the Jewish Voice for Peace said the following, “JVP is appalled at Columbia University’s decision to suspend JVP and SJP student chapters for the semester. This is an appalling act of censorship and intimidation by the administration. The University is spuriously claiming that these groups violated university policy when calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where over 11,000 civilians have lost their lives, including at least 4,500 children.”

The students in these groups are acting with moral clarity. They are protesting war and trying to save lives by calling for a ceasefire. By suspending Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine, Columbia has made a statement that Palestinians, students who support Palestinian rights, and Jewish students who reject the state of Israel’s actions in their name, are unwelcome on campus.

Instead of supporting students’ rights to speak and to mobilize on campus, Columbia has chosen to prioritize suppressing speech on Israel and organizing to end the ongoing genocide and worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

Also weighing in on this hot button issue was the American Jewish Congress. In their own statement to the media on Friday, they said that they welcomed Columbia University’s announcement of the temporary suspension of the chapters of National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

“All Americans have seen that these groups threaten, intimidate, and endanger the safety of Jewish students on campus and are in truth, by their very actions, not student groups, but organized anti-Semitic mobs. They do not deserve official recognition and certainly do not deserve funding from the institutions to further their intent and perverse activities and create a hostile environment for Jewish students on campus, “ the AJC declared.

They added that, “We hope that today’s decision indicates a reckoning by U.S. academic institutions’ leadership about the gravity and scale of anti-Semitism on campus. Nevertheless, more needs to be done and we encourage Columbia to make this decision permanent.

SJP and JVP have left no doubt about where they stand on the terror group Hamas with their defense and justification of the horrific October 7 terror attack, and for that, they should be permanently banned. Moreover, all academic institutions should follow suit.”