Who’s really behind Students for Justice in Palestine?
Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Jonathan Schanzer discusses the organization's founding and funding and reacts to AOC calling the campus protests ‘peaceful.’
The Columbia University student group that instigated nationwide anti-Israel demonstrations, built encampments at colleges across the country and that was criticized for acting as a proxy for Hamas was kicked off Instagram for repeatedly violating the platform's "dangerous organizations and individuals" policies.
The Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Columbia announced on X Monday evening that both its main Instagram account, containing roughly 124,000 followers, and its backup account were "permanently deleted" from the platform. The student group added that when it tried to create a new account, Instagram deleted it two days later.
Meta's "Dangerous Organizations and Individuals" policy says it addresses "some of the most serious threats to the safety of our users."
"In an effort to prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we do not allow organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have a presence on our platforms," the policy states. "We assess these entities based on their behavior both online and offline, most significantly, their ties to violence."
In April, Columbia's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter established a "Gaza Solidarity" encampment to protest the Israel-Hamas war and U.S. support for the Jewish state. The conflict that culminated with student and non-student protesters illegally occupying an academic building on Columbia's campus ultimately set off a wave of other anti-Israel protest encampments at universities and colleges across the country.
Many of these protests, in particular the one that took place at Columbia, were considered antisemitic by critics. Video from one evening of tense demonstrations at Columbia showed a protester holding a sign that pointed toward a group of Jewish students. The sign said "Al-Qassam's Next Targets," referring to Hamas' military wing.
Other protesters could be heard yelling "We Are Hamas" and calling pro-Jewish passersby "pigs." Meanwhile, Arab-Israeli journalist Yoseph Haddad was physically assaulted by anti-Israel agitators.
Anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University (Fox News)
American families who lost loved ones Oct. 7 are pushing U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Students for Justice in Palestine, which has a national body and a number of local chapters, for allegedly violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The families are asserting that Students for Justice in Palestine has been violating the law by working as a proxy for Hamas at universities and colleges across the U.S.
"American campuses should be safe spaces for education, not platforms for spreading hate and violence," the Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center, which is working on behalf of the families, wrote on Facebook last week.
In addition to the FARA complaint, victims' families are also suing the National Students for Justice in Palestine and its parent group with the help of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, a pro-Israel nonprofit, and several other groups. The plaintiffs in that suit have sought compensation for what they describe as a coordinated effort to justify Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Students at Columbia University protesting (FNTV)
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Following the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine chapter's removal from Instagram, the national Students for Justice in Palestine and the Palestinian Youth Movement and Columbia University Apartheid Divest extolled support and denounced the cancellation in a joint social media post.
"The timing of this move is not coincidental. With the beginning of fall semester just days away, the Columbia administration has put all of its efforts into proactively suppressing any and all pro-Palestinian protest," the groups said in their response. "SJP's account ban now ensures the censorship of student organizers both on campus and online."
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Fox News Digital reached out to Columbia's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine but did not receive a response.
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