Ivy League school suspends chapter of pro-Palestinian group amid investigation into protests

Brown University, an Ivy League school based in Rhode Island, has suspended its chapter of the group Students for Justice in Palestine after one of the chapter’s rallies allegedly led to harassment and threats against school officials.

This year, Ivy League universities and other prestigious schools found themselves in a difficult situation protests in support of Hamas erupted on their campuses last spring. Columbia University was one of the focal points of the protests, but the University of Southern California at Stanford and other schools across the country also saw anti-Semitic protests in which campuses were closed and disrupt the graduation ceremony.

Brown’s suspension of the pro-Palestinian group comes nearly a week after it organized a rally to protest the school’s decision not to divest its funds from 10 companies that continue to support Israel in its war against Hamas.

“(The suspension is) a retaliatory, politically motivated ploy to defame protesters, dismantle the student movement and belittle its complicity in the extermination of the Palestinian people,” the group said in a statement: according to NBC News.

“By banning SJP from holding any events, including our weekly vigils, the administration has weakened the only organization on this campus dedicated to holding space for collective grief in the face of the mass slaughter of Gazans by the Zionist regime,” he added.

The campus ordered the chapter to “cease all organizational activities” pending the rally’s review, including suspending all scheduled events and meetings, according to the chapter. The group is also prohibited from publishing posts on social media.

The university defended its decision in a statement, maintaining that while it supports the protests, the Oct. 18 rally brought allegations of “threats, intimidation and harassment” against administrators and staff.

The alleged conduct included blocking vehicles, shouting obscenities at people in close proximity and people of color, and shouting while filming and following people.

“As a campus community, we should state strongly that such behavior is unacceptable, is not reflective of Brown students or our community as a whole, and is not commensurate with what we expect of ourselves and others,” the school said in its statement. statement.

Misty Severi is the evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on x for greater coverage.