Florida Walks Back Order to Shut Down College Pro-Palestinian Groups
The change came after concerns were raised about "potential personal liability for university actors who deactivate the student registered organization," according to state officials.
EMMA CAMP | 11.14.2023
REASON
(Paul Weaver/Sipa USA/Newscom)
Last month, Florida Governor and 2024 Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis ordered the derecognition of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters at public universities in Florida.
The announcement followed the release of a "toolkit" from the National SJP, which characterized Hamas' October 7th attack against Israel as "resistance," and stated that Palestinian students are "PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement."
While the state claimed the shutdown was justified by a Florida law barring "material support" for terrorist organizations, First Amendment groups were quick to point out that cracking down on pro-Palestine campus activity is illegal, even when student organizations express support for the actions of terrorist organizations like Hamas.
"The government cannot force public colleges to derecognize Students for Justice in Palestine chapters," wrote the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a First Amendment nonprofit in an October press release. "This directive is a dangerous — and unconstitutional — threat to free speech. If it goes unchallenged, no one's political beliefs will be safe from government suppression."
Now it seems that Florida is thinking twice before cracking down on campus pro-Palestine activism.
Last Thursday, Ray Rodrigues, the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida announced that the system is holding off plans to forcibly shut down SJP chapters at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, where the student group is active.
However, it doesn't seem like Florida is pausing attempts to crack down on First Amendment-protected speech because of a change of heart. Instead, Rodrigues said last week that he would hold off attempts to kick SJP chapters off-campus out of the concerns "about potential personal liability for university actors who deactivate the student registered organization," seemingly a reference to university officials who might end up facing civil rights lawsuits from SJP chapters.
Further, Rodrigues announced that he would attempt to compel an "affirmation" from the targeted SJP chapters, confirming that "they reject violence. That they reject they are a part of the Hamas movement. And that they will follow the law."
"While universities can ask all student groups to commit to following the law, they cannot force them to expressly renounce a particular ideology or otherwise express views they don't actually hold," wrote FIRE in a Friday press release. "Students shouldn't be compelled to disavow certain disfavored views in exchange for funding and recognition. Compelling speech violates the First Amendment."
These two Florida SJP chapters aren't the only pro-Palestine activist groups that have recently faced suppression. Last week, Columbia University suspended its SJP chapter, along with Jewish Voice for Peace, another pro-Palestine student group. A statement from the university cited the groups' repeated violations of "university policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation."
EMMA CAMP is an assistant editor at Reason.
GW suspends pro-Palestine group over anti-Israel messaging
Tara Suter
Tue, November 14, 2023
George Washington (GW) University has temporarily suspended a pro-Palestine group over its anti-Israel messaging on campus.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) projected anti-Israel messages on a campus library last month, amid the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. In a Tuesday statement emailed to The Hill, the university said it “determined that SJP’s actions violated university policies.”
“As a result, effective immediately, the university has prohibited SJP from participating in activities on campus,” the statement continued.
“SJP cannot sponsor or organize on-campus activities on university property or use university facilities, including indoor and outdoor spaces available for reservation through the university; this prohibition is in effect for the next 90 days,” the statement said. “Also effective immediately, SJP is prohibited from posting communications on university property through May 20, 2024.”
Last month’s projections, which garnered national attention and backlash, included messages such as “Divestment from Zionist genocide now” and “Free Palestine From the River to the Sea.” Politicians including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) condemned the projections.
“As an alumni of @GWtweets they should launch an investigation. I look forward to seeing the University statement on this,” Moskowitz said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
A representative for the SJP told the student newspaper The GW Hatchet that GW’s decision to bar the group from campus organizing was not a surprise.
“We see this very clearly as being a political response to a growing wave of backlash and repression towards Palestinian organizing, but specifically the Palestinian student movement that’s been happening the past few weeks,” the representative said, according to the Hatchet.
The suspension of the SJP at GW also follows a similar decision by Columbia University, which last Friday suspended its SJP chapter through the fall semester.
The Hill has reached out to the student-run SJP group for comment.
George Washington University suspends SJP chapter after group projected 'Glory to our martyrs' onto building
Adam Sabes
One sign read, "Glory to our martyrs" in support of Palestinians.
"After an investigation, the university determined that SJP’s actions violated university policies, including the Gelman Building Use Guidelines and the university’s policy against non-compliance, as SJP initially refused to comply with university officials’ directives to end the projections," reads the statement. "As a result, effective immediately, the university has prohibited SJP from participating in activities on campus.
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
"SJP cannot sponsor or organize on-campus activities on university property or use university facilities, including indoor and outdoor spaces available for reservation through the university; this prohibition is in effect for the next 90 days. Also effective immediately, SJP is prohibited from posting communications on university property through May 20, 2024," the university added. "After 90 days, there will be continued restrictions around SJP’s use of university facilities and hosted activities through the end of the academic year."
PLAYWRIGHT DAVID MAMET URGES JEWS TO STOP SUPPORTING DEMOCRATS, SENDING KIDS TO ‘ANTISEMITIC’ COLLEGES
Another sign read, "GW the Blood of Palestinians is on Your Hands."
The decision by George Washington University was made after an investigation "determined that SJP’s actions violated university policies, including the Gelman Building Use Guidelines and the university’s policy against non-compliance, as SJP initially refused to comply with university officials’ directives to end the projections."
In a statement to the university's student newspaper, the GW Hatchet, a representative for the SJP chapter said the group is disappointed but not surprised by the decision, stating the school has "unwavering support" towards Zionist students.
"Your Tuition is Funding Genocide in Gaza."
"We see this very clearly as being a political response to a growing wave of backlash and repression towards Palestinian organizing, but specifically the Palestinian student movement that’s been happening the past few weeks," the SJP representative said. "GW is continuously proving, as they have proven time and time again for many, many years, that they will always align with the Zionist lobby and against the right to free speech and the right to assembly of their own students."
Tara Suter
Tue, November 14, 2023
George Washington (GW) University has temporarily suspended a pro-Palestine group over its anti-Israel messaging on campus.
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) projected anti-Israel messages on a campus library last month, amid the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. In a Tuesday statement emailed to The Hill, the university said it “determined that SJP’s actions violated university policies.”
“As a result, effective immediately, the university has prohibited SJP from participating in activities on campus,” the statement continued.
“SJP cannot sponsor or organize on-campus activities on university property or use university facilities, including indoor and outdoor spaces available for reservation through the university; this prohibition is in effect for the next 90 days,” the statement said. “Also effective immediately, SJP is prohibited from posting communications on university property through May 20, 2024.”
Last month’s projections, which garnered national attention and backlash, included messages such as “Divestment from Zionist genocide now” and “Free Palestine From the River to the Sea.” Politicians including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) condemned the projections.
“As an alumni of @GWtweets they should launch an investigation. I look forward to seeing the University statement on this,” Moskowitz said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
A representative for the SJP told the student newspaper The GW Hatchet that GW’s decision to bar the group from campus organizing was not a surprise.
“We see this very clearly as being a political response to a growing wave of backlash and repression towards Palestinian organizing, but specifically the Palestinian student movement that’s been happening the past few weeks,” the representative said, according to the Hatchet.
The suspension of the SJP at GW also follows a similar decision by Columbia University, which last Friday suspended its SJP chapter through the fall semester.
The Hill has reached out to the student-run SJP group for comment.
George Washington University suspends SJP chapter after group projected 'Glory to our martyrs' onto building
Adam Sabes
FOX NEWS
Tue, November 14, 2023
George Washington University suspended its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter after the group projected "Glory to Our Martyrs" on the side of a campus building.
The university's SJP chapter projected a series of pro-Palestinian phrases onto the school's Gelman Library on Oct. 24, including "GW the Blood of Palestine is on your Hands" and "Your Tuition is Funding Genocide in Gaza."
In a statement at the time, George Washington University said the messages were "unauthorized" and violated university policy, adding "leadership intervened to ensure that these projections were removed."
The university shared a statement with Fox News Digital, which effectively suspends SJP for three months.
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS PROJECT PRO-PALESTINIAN ACTIVISM ON SCHOOL LIBRARY
Tue, November 14, 2023
George Washington University suspended its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter after the group projected "Glory to Our Martyrs" on the side of a campus building.
The university's SJP chapter projected a series of pro-Palestinian phrases onto the school's Gelman Library on Oct. 24, including "GW the Blood of Palestine is on your Hands" and "Your Tuition is Funding Genocide in Gaza."
In a statement at the time, George Washington University said the messages were "unauthorized" and violated university policy, adding "leadership intervened to ensure that these projections were removed."
The university shared a statement with Fox News Digital, which effectively suspends SJP for three months.
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS PROJECT PRO-PALESTINIAN ACTIVISM ON SCHOOL LIBRARY
One sign read, "Glory to our martyrs" in support of Palestinians.
"After an investigation, the university determined that SJP’s actions violated university policies, including the Gelman Building Use Guidelines and the university’s policy against non-compliance, as SJP initially refused to comply with university officials’ directives to end the projections," reads the statement. "As a result, effective immediately, the university has prohibited SJP from participating in activities on campus.
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
"SJP cannot sponsor or organize on-campus activities on university property or use university facilities, including indoor and outdoor spaces available for reservation through the university; this prohibition is in effect for the next 90 days. Also effective immediately, SJP is prohibited from posting communications on university property through May 20, 2024," the university added. "After 90 days, there will be continued restrictions around SJP’s use of university facilities and hosted activities through the end of the academic year."
PLAYWRIGHT DAVID MAMET URGES JEWS TO STOP SUPPORTING DEMOCRATS, SENDING KIDS TO ‘ANTISEMITIC’ COLLEGES
Another sign read, "GW the Blood of Palestinians is on Your Hands."
The decision by George Washington University was made after an investigation "determined that SJP’s actions violated university policies, including the Gelman Building Use Guidelines and the university’s policy against non-compliance, as SJP initially refused to comply with university officials’ directives to end the projections."
In a statement to the university's student newspaper, the GW Hatchet, a representative for the SJP chapter said the group is disappointed but not surprised by the decision, stating the school has "unwavering support" towards Zionist students.
"Your Tuition is Funding Genocide in Gaza."
"We see this very clearly as being a political response to a growing wave of backlash and repression towards Palestinian organizing, but specifically the Palestinian student movement that’s been happening the past few weeks," the SJP representative said. "GW is continuously proving, as they have proven time and time again for many, many years, that they will always align with the Zionist lobby and against the right to free speech and the right to assembly of their own students."
NYC Columbia University faculty and students protest suspension of 2 far-left groups
Greg Wehner, Teny Sahakian
Greg Wehner, Teny Sahakian
FOX NEWS
Wed, November 15, 2023
Columbia University students and faculty protest the removal of two pro-Palestinian groups.
During Wednesday’s protest at 116th Street and Broadway near Columbia, people were heard chanting, "One, Two, Three, Four, Occupation No More. Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Israel is a terrorist state. Israel, you can’t hide."
Other chants shouted on the street included, "Israel Bombs. USA Paid. How many kids did you kill today?," and "Free, Free Palestine."
Protesters also held banners and signs that read, "Within our lifetime, United for Palestine," "Cease Genocide" and "Resistance until return, within our lifetime."
Columbia University students and faculty protest the removal of two pro-Palestinian groups.
Members of the faculty also protested the student groups getting kicked off campus.
The faculty was seen standing together with a list of demands from Columbia, including affirming their commitment to the First Amendment, overturning the suspension of the student groups and recognizing publicly that academic freedom protects all forms of political speech.
Like many other elite institutions, Columbia's response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas has been under the microscope. One professor went viral for decrying the response by the school to instances of campus antisemitism. A Jewish student was also attacked with a stick after objecting to a woman tearing down posters of Hamas hostages.
The New York Post reported last month more than 100 Columbia professors signed a letter defending pro-Palestinian students who had defended the Hamas attack on Israel and asked administrators to stop making statements "that favor the suffering and death of Israelis or Jews over the suffering and deaths of Palestinians."
Fox News Digital's David Rutz contributed to this report.
Demonstrators Rally at Columbia in Solidarity With Suspended Pro-Palestinian Groups
Storyful
Wed, November 15, 2023
A crowd of people rallied outside Columbia University in New York City on Wednesday, November 15, in a show of support for two political organizations that were recently suspended by the school.
Footage captured by Eric Blanc shows a crowd of protesters marching in the street, some of them holding a large banner that says “Free Palestine.”
The university temporarily suspended Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace last week, saying that the groups “violated University policies related to holding campus events” when they held an “unauthorized” event that “proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.” The groups are suspended through the end of the fall term, the university said.
“Suspension means the two groups will not be eligible to hold events on campus or receive university funding,” Columbia said in a statement.
The groups released a joint response on Instagram on Monday, calling the suspension “an attack on free speech to distract from and enable Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.”
Nearly 200 Brown University faculty members are calling for charges to be dropped against 20 students who were arrested for trespassing during a pro-Palestine protest last week. Yet, as of Monday afternoon, the charges had not been dropped.
The letter, published Monday in the Brown Daily Herald and first reported by The Public's Radio, demanded the university "insist that all legal charges against the students be dropped immediately" and that they be exempt from any school discipline. The letter also asks that the school consider the students' demands that it divest from weapons manufacturers amid the Israel-Hamas war. (A 2020 report from the school's Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies, which was made up of faculty, students and alums, identified multiple companies from which it wanted the school to divest. Those included Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, among others.)
More: Brown student activists, seeking divestment, arrested at sit-in. What we know
The students, who were arrested the night of Nov. 8 during a peaceful sit-in at University Hall, were part of a group called BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now, and called not only for the divestments but for their school to promote an end to the war.
University spokesman Brian Clark said "Brown issued multiple trespass warnings and ultimately moved forward in arresting" the students, as they were in a non-residential school building past operating hours.
Brown declines to respond to letter via media
What does Brown have to say about the letter? Not much, at least to the media.
"In general, as it relates to letters and petitions, I can share that the university remains committed to engaging directly with students, faculty and staff who are in touch with the university to share their ideas or concerns, and we do so routinely," said university spokeswoman Amanda McGregor. "But we do not have a practice of responding through news media to such concerns – rather, we value direct dialogue and engagement with students, alumni, faculty and staff on matters of interest to the community."
McGregor confirmed that the charges against the students remained in place. She said she would not speculate on whether they might be dropped.
It was not immediately clear who would have the decision-making power to drop the charges.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown University faculty urge school to drop charges against students
Hundreds Stage Anti-War Sit-In at Oakland Federal Building
Storyful
Tue, November 14, 2023
Peter Aitken
Concordia University is seen on a nearly empty St-Catherine Street in Montreal on Friday, March 27, 2020.
"At the same time, I am more than happy to support any Canadian charitable organization that holds Concordia accountable and works to protect Jewish students," he continued. "Hit me up, I’m ready."
Montreal police deployed to the school around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday last week, leading to the arrest of a 22-year-old student who had allegedly assaulted a 54-year-old security guard during a violent clash between the opposing protests, CBC reported.
Police released the student on condition that they promise to appear in court. Officers remained on the scene until 4:15 p.m.
A second security guard and student were injured by assaults during the violence, but neither the guards nor the student sustained life-threatening injuries.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators attend a protest at Columbia University in New York City on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Dueling demonstrations for both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli student groups were hosted on the campus amid calls for global protests regarding the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
"I believe that the overwhelming majority of our community shares my complete abhorrence of these incidents and is appalled by them," Concordia President and Vice Chancellor Graham Carr wrote in an email to the student body and wider university community.
"A university, including ours, is a place where academic freedom, and the respectful, civil exchange of thoughts and ideas is valued above all else," Carr wrote. "One source of pride for Concordia’s community is our cultural diversity and our desire and willingness to learn from others whose experiences and knowledge differ from our own."
"But under no circumstances can we, as a community, tolerate the reprehensible acts of hate and violence that occurred today," he added.
Carr stressed that the university body must "be accountable for our actions and our words whether in the classroom, in meetings or in other university spaces."
"I am deeply saddened and disgusted that the actions of a few individuals have now brought us to the point that we arrived at today," he lamented. "The vast majority of Concordians, irrespective of their political and ideological views, have worked diligently to maintain calm and to uphold the integrity of university life even at a moment when events elsewhere are creating extreme levels of anxiety and tension."
However, the altercation was just one of three separate incidents reported at the university on Wednesday in which "violence or incitement to violence" took place, Carr admitted, including a social media post that could "reasonably be construed as inciting violence" and the discovery of swastikas in a university building.
An anti-Israel protester in Cambridge on Monday shouted slurs at the pro-Israel counter-protesters, calling them "pigs" and "Nazis."
University campuses across both the U.S. and Canada have grown increasingly tense as students remain divided over the current war in Gaza, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press on toward the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza - the largest hospital in the strip. The IDF and Israeli officials have repeatedly claimed that the hospital sits atop a Hamas terrorist command center. Israeli forces have exposed several weapons and supplies deployed at schools or stored under hospitals as they enclosed on Al-Shifa.
Younger generations, particularly Gen Z, have shown significantly greater support for the Palestinians leading to a headache for university leadership on any given campus as they find themselves under pressure to address antisemitism on campuses, particularly by rich donors who have either threatened to pull funding or have already declared they will not be giving any money going forward.
Columbia University in New York City announced last week that it would suspend two student groups - Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace - from the campus until the end of term for alleged violations of school policies following intense backlash from some faculty members and donors over the handling of protests on campus.
Harvard President Claudine Gay released a statement Thursday condemning antisemitism and called out the pro-Palestinian rallying cry "from the river to the sea" as crossing the line.
"Our community must understand that phrases such as ‘from the river to the sea’ bear specific historical meanings that to a great many people imply the eradication of Jews from Israel and engender both pain and existential fears within our Jewish community. I condemn this phrase and any similarly hurtful phrases," Gay wrote.
The international community has heavily polarized over Israel's operations in the strip, which the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed has led to the deaths of over 11,000 people. The Biden administration has repeatedly cast doubts on the accuracy or veracity of the numbers, with critics noting that the ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths in its count.
Fox News Digital's Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
Wed, November 15, 2023
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters stood outside of Columbia University in New York City on Wednesday, holding signs while chanting and demanding the removal of Jewish people from Gaza, while others boycotted the suspension of two far-left student-led groups by the school's administration.
The "emergency protest" was shared on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, by groups such as WOLPalestine (Within Our Lifetime) and CUNYPalestine, noting the event was scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m.
"All Out for Gaza at Columbia University," the post read. "In solidarity with Columbia SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) and JVP (Jewish Voices for Peace) who were recently unjustly suspended by the university administration.
COLUMBIA SUSPENDS ANTI-ISRAEL STUDENT GROUPS FOR ‘THREATENING RHETORIC AND INTIMIDATION’
Columbia University faculty members stand in front of a campus building with a list of demands from the university administration Thursday.
Last week, Columbia University suspended the far-left groups as official student groups through the end of the fall term, saying they had violated university policies.
Specifically, the university said the 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."
It marked the second university at the time to act against SJP in recent days, with Brandeis University in Massachusetts banning the group earlier in the week for statements supporting Hamas. On Tuesday night, George Washington University also sanctioned SJP.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT PRAISES ‘PERSISTENCE’ OF STUDENTS ACCUSED OF ANTISEMITISM
The "emergency protest" was shared on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, by groups such as WOLPalestine (Within Our Lifetime) and CUNYPalestine, noting the event was scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m.
"All Out for Gaza at Columbia University," the post read. "In solidarity with Columbia SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) and JVP (Jewish Voices for Peace) who were recently unjustly suspended by the university administration.
COLUMBIA SUSPENDS ANTI-ISRAEL STUDENT GROUPS FOR ‘THREATENING RHETORIC AND INTIMIDATION’
Columbia University faculty members stand in front of a campus building with a list of demands from the university administration Thursday.
Last week, Columbia University suspended the far-left groups as official student groups through the end of the fall term, saying they had violated university policies.
Specifically, the university said the 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."
It marked the second university at the time to act against SJP in recent days, with Brandeis University in Massachusetts banning the group earlier in the week for statements supporting Hamas. On Tuesday night, George Washington University also sanctioned SJP.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT PRAISES ‘PERSISTENCE’ OF STUDENTS ACCUSED OF ANTISEMITISM
Columbia University students and faculty protest the removal of two pro-Palestinian groups.
During Wednesday’s protest at 116th Street and Broadway near Columbia, people were heard chanting, "One, Two, Three, Four, Occupation No More. Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Israel is a terrorist state. Israel, you can’t hide."
Other chants shouted on the street included, "Israel Bombs. USA Paid. How many kids did you kill today?," and "Free, Free Palestine."
Protesters also held banners and signs that read, "Within our lifetime, United for Palestine," "Cease Genocide" and "Resistance until return, within our lifetime."
Columbia University students and faculty protest the removal of two pro-Palestinian groups.
Members of the faculty also protested the student groups getting kicked off campus.
The faculty was seen standing together with a list of demands from Columbia, including affirming their commitment to the First Amendment, overturning the suspension of the student groups and recognizing publicly that academic freedom protects all forms of political speech.
Like many other elite institutions, Columbia's response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas has been under the microscope. One professor went viral for decrying the response by the school to instances of campus antisemitism. A Jewish student was also attacked with a stick after objecting to a woman tearing down posters of Hamas hostages.
The New York Post reported last month more than 100 Columbia professors signed a letter defending pro-Palestinian students who had defended the Hamas attack on Israel and asked administrators to stop making statements "that favor the suffering and death of Israelis or Jews over the suffering and deaths of Palestinians."
Fox News Digital's David Rutz contributed to this report.
Demonstrators Rally at Columbia in Solidarity With Suspended Pro-Palestinian Groups
Storyful
Wed, November 15, 2023
A crowd of people rallied outside Columbia University in New York City on Wednesday, November 15, in a show of support for two political organizations that were recently suspended by the school.
Footage captured by Eric Blanc shows a crowd of protesters marching in the street, some of them holding a large banner that says “Free Palestine.”
The university temporarily suspended Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace last week, saying that the groups “violated University policies related to holding campus events” when they held an “unauthorized” event that “proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.” The groups are suspended through the end of the fall term, the university said.
“Suspension means the two groups will not be eligible to hold events on campus or receive university funding,” Columbia said in a statement.
The groups released a joint response on Instagram on Monday, calling the suspension “an attack on free speech to distract from and enable Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.”
Credit: Eric Blanc via Storyful
Hundreds of Brown U faculty call on university to drop charges against student protesters
Amy Russo, Providence Journal
Tue, November 14, 2023
]
Hundreds of Brown U faculty call on university to drop charges against student protesters
Amy Russo, Providence Journal
Tue, November 14, 2023
]Nearly 200 Brown University faculty members are calling for charges to be dropped against 20 students who were arrested for trespassing during a pro-Palestine protest last week. Yet, as of Monday afternoon, the charges had not been dropped.
The letter, published Monday in the Brown Daily Herald and first reported by The Public's Radio, demanded the university "insist that all legal charges against the students be dropped immediately" and that they be exempt from any school discipline. The letter also asks that the school consider the students' demands that it divest from weapons manufacturers amid the Israel-Hamas war. (A 2020 report from the school's Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies, which was made up of faculty, students and alums, identified multiple companies from which it wanted the school to divest. Those included Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, among others.)
More: Brown student activists, seeking divestment, arrested at sit-in. What we know
The students, who were arrested the night of Nov. 8 during a peaceful sit-in at University Hall, were part of a group called BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now, and called not only for the divestments but for their school to promote an end to the war.
University spokesman Brian Clark said "Brown issued multiple trespass warnings and ultimately moved forward in arresting" the students, as they were in a non-residential school building past operating hours.
Brown declines to respond to letter via media
What does Brown have to say about the letter? Not much, at least to the media.
"In general, as it relates to letters and petitions, I can share that the university remains committed to engaging directly with students, faculty and staff who are in touch with the university to share their ideas or concerns, and we do so routinely," said university spokeswoman Amanda McGregor. "But we do not have a practice of responding through news media to such concerns – rather, we value direct dialogue and engagement with students, alumni, faculty and staff on matters of interest to the community."
McGregor confirmed that the charges against the students remained in place. She said she would not speculate on whether they might be dropped.
It was not immediately clear who would have the decision-making power to drop the charges.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown University faculty urge school to drop charges against students
Hundreds Stage Anti-War Sit-In at Oakland Federal Building
Storyful
Tue, November 14, 2023
A number of protesters were arrested after hundreds of people occupied the Oakland Federal Building Conference Center on November 13, and called for a ceasefire in Gaza, local media reported.
Video posted to Facebook by the Center for Jewish Nonviolence shows protesters gathered inside the rotunda and chanting “Let Gaza live”.
The Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Bay Area said in a post to X “We are not leaving, we demand an end to this bloodshed, we will not see Jewish grief used to perpetuate genocide.” Credit: Center for Jewish Nonviolence via Storyful
Video Transcript
[CLAPPING]
- Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live.
Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live.
Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live.
Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live.
Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza--
Violent incidents over Israel-Hamas war at top Canadian college leads to arrest, police investigation
Video posted to Facebook by the Center for Jewish Nonviolence shows protesters gathered inside the rotunda and chanting “Let Gaza live”.
The Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Bay Area said in a post to X “We are not leaving, we demand an end to this bloodshed, we will not see Jewish grief used to perpetuate genocide.” Credit: Center for Jewish Nonviolence via Storyful
Video Transcript
[CLAPPING]
- Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live.
Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live.
Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live.
Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live.
Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza live. Let Gaza--
Violent incidents over Israel-Hamas war at top Canadian college leads to arrest, police investigation
Peter Aitken
FOX NEWS
Tue, November 14, 2023
Dueling protests in support of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples at Concordia University in Montreal last week resulted in multiple injuries and an arrest after a student assaulted a security guard amid a violent clash.
Student group Jews on Campus told CBC that it tried to hold a peaceful demonstration in support of the hostages taken by Hamas, but then a crowd "chanting pro-Palestinian slogans" surrounded the demonstration. The "productive" effort "started to turn," according to one witness.
The pro-Palestinian crowd allegedly called the Jewish students "murderers" and a fight broke out, although it was not clear who threw the first punch. The witness described the situation as "very scary as a Jewish person on campus."
Pro-Palestinian students claimed that they submitted evidence to the police that pro-Israel protesters "attacked" them while they sold the keffiyeh - or head scarf - as a fundraiser for Palestinian people in Gaza.
The incident prompted alumnus Lawrence Muscat, a senior vice president at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to demand the university scratch his name from their list, blasting the school for having "failed to protect Jewish students."
"No, I don’t want to meet with your President and fundraisers in D.C.," he wrote on social media platform X, stressing that the school "will not get a penny from me."
Tue, November 14, 2023
Dueling protests in support of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples at Concordia University in Montreal last week resulted in multiple injuries and an arrest after a student assaulted a security guard amid a violent clash.
Student group Jews on Campus told CBC that it tried to hold a peaceful demonstration in support of the hostages taken by Hamas, but then a crowd "chanting pro-Palestinian slogans" surrounded the demonstration. The "productive" effort "started to turn," according to one witness.
The pro-Palestinian crowd allegedly called the Jewish students "murderers" and a fight broke out, although it was not clear who threw the first punch. The witness described the situation as "very scary as a Jewish person on campus."
Pro-Palestinian students claimed that they submitted evidence to the police that pro-Israel protesters "attacked" them while they sold the keffiyeh - or head scarf - as a fundraiser for Palestinian people in Gaza.
The incident prompted alumnus Lawrence Muscat, a senior vice president at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to demand the university scratch his name from their list, blasting the school for having "failed to protect Jewish students."
"No, I don’t want to meet with your President and fundraisers in D.C.," he wrote on social media platform X, stressing that the school "will not get a penny from me."
Concordia University is seen on a nearly empty St-Catherine Street in Montreal on Friday, March 27, 2020.
"At the same time, I am more than happy to support any Canadian charitable organization that holds Concordia accountable and works to protect Jewish students," he continued. "Hit me up, I’m ready."
Montreal police deployed to the school around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday last week, leading to the arrest of a 22-year-old student who had allegedly assaulted a 54-year-old security guard during a violent clash between the opposing protests, CBC reported.
Police released the student on condition that they promise to appear in court. Officers remained on the scene until 4:15 p.m.
A second security guard and student were injured by assaults during the violence, but neither the guards nor the student sustained life-threatening injuries.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators attend a protest at Columbia University in New York City on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Dueling demonstrations for both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli student groups were hosted on the campus amid calls for global protests regarding the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
"I believe that the overwhelming majority of our community shares my complete abhorrence of these incidents and is appalled by them," Concordia President and Vice Chancellor Graham Carr wrote in an email to the student body and wider university community.
"A university, including ours, is a place where academic freedom, and the respectful, civil exchange of thoughts and ideas is valued above all else," Carr wrote. "One source of pride for Concordia’s community is our cultural diversity and our desire and willingness to learn from others whose experiences and knowledge differ from our own."
"But under no circumstances can we, as a community, tolerate the reprehensible acts of hate and violence that occurred today," he added.
Carr stressed that the university body must "be accountable for our actions and our words whether in the classroom, in meetings or in other university spaces."
"I am deeply saddened and disgusted that the actions of a few individuals have now brought us to the point that we arrived at today," he lamented. "The vast majority of Concordians, irrespective of their political and ideological views, have worked diligently to maintain calm and to uphold the integrity of university life even at a moment when events elsewhere are creating extreme levels of anxiety and tension."
However, the altercation was just one of three separate incidents reported at the university on Wednesday in which "violence or incitement to violence" took place, Carr admitted, including a social media post that could "reasonably be construed as inciting violence" and the discovery of swastikas in a university building.
An anti-Israel protester in Cambridge on Monday shouted slurs at the pro-Israel counter-protesters, calling them "pigs" and "Nazis."
University campuses across both the U.S. and Canada have grown increasingly tense as students remain divided over the current war in Gaza, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press on toward the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza - the largest hospital in the strip. The IDF and Israeli officials have repeatedly claimed that the hospital sits atop a Hamas terrorist command center. Israeli forces have exposed several weapons and supplies deployed at schools or stored under hospitals as they enclosed on Al-Shifa.
Younger generations, particularly Gen Z, have shown significantly greater support for the Palestinians leading to a headache for university leadership on any given campus as they find themselves under pressure to address antisemitism on campuses, particularly by rich donors who have either threatened to pull funding or have already declared they will not be giving any money going forward.
Columbia University in New York City announced last week that it would suspend two student groups - Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace - from the campus until the end of term for alleged violations of school policies following intense backlash from some faculty members and donors over the handling of protests on campus.
Harvard President Claudine Gay released a statement Thursday condemning antisemitism and called out the pro-Palestinian rallying cry "from the river to the sea" as crossing the line.
"Our community must understand that phrases such as ‘from the river to the sea’ bear specific historical meanings that to a great many people imply the eradication of Jews from Israel and engender both pain and existential fears within our Jewish community. I condemn this phrase and any similarly hurtful phrases," Gay wrote.
The international community has heavily polarized over Israel's operations in the strip, which the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed has led to the deaths of over 11,000 people. The Biden administration has repeatedly cast doubts on the accuracy or veracity of the numbers, with critics noting that the ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths in its count.
Fox News Digital's Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
University of Pennsylvania students gather for pro-Palestine demonstration
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Tue, November 14, 2023
PHILADELPHIA - Students at the University of Pennsylvania came together Tuesday to voice their support for Palestine amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
The rally comes days after UPenn officials addressed antiemetic messages that were projected against a campus building, and hateful emails that targeted members of the school's Jewish community.
The statement signed by UPenn President Mary Elizabeth Magill, condemned the antisemitic acts and words and acknowledged the amount of hurt and fear it is causing for their Jewish students, staff and faculty.
"At a time when campuses across the country are being targeted with these types of threats, my first and highest priority is the safety and security of our community," said President Magill. "Threats of violence are not tolerated at Penn and will be met with swift and forceful action."
Miranda Sklaroff, a UPenn Graduate student, is a Jewish community member who voiced her support Tuesday for Palestine and called for peace. Sklaroff said it was her "Jewish principals" that motivated her to "side with the oppressed."
"To me, my Jewish principals have always made me want to side with the oppressed, want peace, and want to see the divine in everyone," Sklaroff said.
Supporters of Palestine at UPenn believe the school is minimizing their efforts, so they've started a coalition called "Freedom School of Palestine." The group, according to a student who did not want to be identified, is designed to be a "platform where we can elevate Palestinian voices."
FOX 29 reached out to UPenn about Tuesday's demonstration and the school reiterated its past remarks about supporting "the exchange of ideas" on campus.
Tue, November 14, 2023
PHILADELPHIA - Students at the University of Pennsylvania came together Tuesday to voice their support for Palestine amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
The rally comes days after UPenn officials addressed antiemetic messages that were projected against a campus building, and hateful emails that targeted members of the school's Jewish community.
The statement signed by UPenn President Mary Elizabeth Magill, condemned the antisemitic acts and words and acknowledged the amount of hurt and fear it is causing for their Jewish students, staff and faculty.
"At a time when campuses across the country are being targeted with these types of threats, my first and highest priority is the safety and security of our community," said President Magill. "Threats of violence are not tolerated at Penn and will be met with swift and forceful action."
Miranda Sklaroff, a UPenn Graduate student, is a Jewish community member who voiced her support Tuesday for Palestine and called for peace. Sklaroff said it was her "Jewish principals" that motivated her to "side with the oppressed."
"To me, my Jewish principals have always made me want to side with the oppressed, want peace, and want to see the divine in everyone," Sklaroff said.
Supporters of Palestine at UPenn believe the school is minimizing their efforts, so they've started a coalition called "Freedom School of Palestine." The group, according to a student who did not want to be identified, is designed to be a "platform where we can elevate Palestinian voices."
FOX 29 reached out to UPenn about Tuesday's demonstration and the school reiterated its past remarks about supporting "the exchange of ideas" on campus.
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