Columbia suspends anti-Israel student groups for 'threatening rhetoric and intimidation'

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Was Columbia University justified in suspending two student groups?

Outkick founder Clay Travis reacts to Columbia University suspending two anti-Israel student groups on 'The Story.'

Columbia University is suspending the far-left groups Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as official student groups through the end of the fall term, it announced on Friday, saying they had violated university policies.

The university said it made the decision after 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 marks the second university to take action against SJP in recent days, with Brandeis University banning the group this week for its statements supporting Hamas. 

Gerald Rosberg, Senior Executive Vice President of the University, released a statement explaining Columbia's decision.

"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.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT PRAISES ‘PERSISTENCE’ OF STUDENTS ACCUSED OF ANTISEMITISM

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators attend a protest at Columbia University in New York City, New York on Thursday, October 12, 2023.  (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

"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."

In response, the groups released a joint statement on X Friday.

"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."

On Thursday, the anti-Israel groups organized a walkout that included demands that the university call Israel's actions against Gaza in retaliation for the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack a "genocide." It also included a "die-in" demonstration.

"University event policy generally requires groups to apply for permits at least 10 days in advance of any demonstration or protest in order to hold events on school grounds," student newspaper the Columbia Spectator reported.

JEWISH COLUMBIA STUDENTS FACED WITH THREATS, ATTACKS SPEAK OUT, SAY SOME PROTESTERS AREN'T FULLY EDUCATED

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.

"Columbia University's decision to suspend Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace is a betrayal of the values for which the school, my alma mater, ostensibly stands," one alumnus wrote.

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.

A Jewish billionaire and philanthropist, Henry Swieca, also resigned from the Board of Columbia Business School last month, claiming the Ivy League institution had expressed a "moral cowardice" that left Jews feeling unsafe on campus. Swieca called the recent Hamas attacks against Israel "revolting" and said that statements from the school are "meaningless" when "pro-Hamas students" are allowed to march on campus yelling slogans that call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

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."

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Columbia didn't respond to a request for comment. Fox News Digital has also reached out to Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine for comment.

Fox News' Nikolas Lanum contributed to this report.

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