Columbia University has announced that the school is suspending both its Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace student groups after they “repeatedly violated university policies related to holding campus events.”
“Columbia University is suspending Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) as official student groups through the end of the fall term,” Gerald Rosberg, Senior Executive Vice President of the University and Chair of the Special Committee on Campus Safety, said in a statement.
“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,” Rosberg added.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather for a protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
The statement went on to explain that “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,” Rosberg said.
“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,” he continued.
“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 said. “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.”
As Breitbart News reported, a woman beat an Israeli student with a stick outside Columbia’s main library last month, amid heightened tensions on the Ivy League campus over the Palestinian terrorist attack against Israel.
Columbia professor Shai Davidai has been harshly critical of the school’s response to pro-terror students. As Breitbart News previously reported:
“President Minouche Shafik of Columbia University, you are a coward!” professor Shai Davidai proclaimed, before noting that even President Joe Biden and New York City Mayor Eric Adams had a stronger response to terrorism than the university president.
Davidai added that “the Center for Jewish life had to go on lockdown, not in Gaza, not in Tel Aviv,” but “here in New York City, because of this cowardice of the president of NYU, of Columbia, of Harvard!”
“I am a professor at Columbia business school. I am Israeli, but before all of that, I am a dad,” Davidai explained. “I have two beautiful children, and I’m talking to you, I’m speaking to you as a dad. I want you to know we cannot protect your children from pro-terror student organizations, because the president of Columbia University will not speak out against pro terror student organizations.”
Breitbart News will continue to report on Columbia University.
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