Brandeis University in in Waltham/Boston, Massachusetts on Monday banned the chapter of the National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on its campus over the group’s support of Hamas terrorists. This makes Brandeis the first private university to ban a pro-Hamas group.
The group posted this mournful announcement on Instagram:
A Brandeis University spokesperson told The Hill: “SJP has called on its chapters to engage in conduct that supports Hamas in its call for the elimination of the only Jewish state in the world and its people. Such expression is not protected by Brandeis’ principles of free speech. Students are welcome to express their support for Palestinians in a manner that complies with our rights and responsibilities.”
The Anti-Defamation League and the Brandeis Center in late October wrote the presidents of some 200 colleges and universities, urging them to investigate the activities of their SJP chapters for violating the ban against giving material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The schools included Boston-area colleges and universities including Tufts University, Harvard University, MIT, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University, and UMass Boston.
ADL and the Brandeis Center informed the school presidents that “SJP is a network of student groups across the US which disseminate anti-Israel propaganda often laced with inflammatory and combative rhetoric. In recent weeks, their rhetoric and activity have escalated significantly.
“Many of the organization’s campus chapters have explicitly endorsed the actions of Hamas and their armed attacks on Israeli civilians, voicing an increasingly radical call for confronting and ‘dismantling’ Zionism on U.S. college campuses. Some SJP chapters have issued pro-Hamas messaging and/or promoted violent anti-Israel messaging channels. SJP chapters are not advocating for Palestinian rights; they are celebrating terrorism,” the ADL-Brandeis Center letter added.
“If universities do not check the activities of their SJP chapters, they may be violating their Jewish students’ legal rights to be free of harassment and discrimination on campus. We fully recognize and support students’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, even odious speech. We remain committed, however, to calling out and speaking out against antisemitism and anti-Israel bias. And we certainly cannot sit idly by as a student organization provides vocal and potentially material support to Hamas, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” ADL and the Brandeis Center concluded.
Brandeis University sent out a letter to SJP on their decision to ban its student chapter, saying: “This decision was not made lightly, as Brandeis is dedicated to upholding free speech principles, which have been codified in Brandeis’ Principles of Free Speech and Free Expression. However, those Principles note that ‘The freedom to debate and discuss ideas does not mean that individuals may say whatever they wish, wherever they wish, or however they wish,’ and that, ‘…the university may restrict expression…that constitutes a genuine threat or harassment…or that is otherwise directly incompatible with the functioning of the university.’”
Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan, who recently has taken to wearing a yellow Jewish star when addressing UN bodies, tweeted a hearty congratulation: “Thank you Brandeis U for taking a stand against terror supporters. The safety of all students must be every university’s number one priority!”
Student groups that support and praise genocidal Hamas terrorists have no place on campuses. Thank you @BrandeisU for taking a stand against terror-supporters. The safety of all students must be every university’s number one priority!https://t.co/TyeyNO3xSX
— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) November 7, 2023
And then there was IfNotNow Boston, catering to antisemites who prefer their Jew-hatred to come from Jews. This vile bunch tweeted: “Extremely disturbing to learn that Brandeis U de-recognized Brandeis SJP over a *vigil* for those killed in Gaza. Even more disturbed to learn it was because this vigil was considered ‘a genuine threat.’ Public grief for those murdered by Israel is not a threat to Jews.”
Well, ever since that display of public grief in butchering and beheading 1400 Israelis on October 7, we’ve become a tad suspicious of pro-Hamas vigils.
And then those collaborators with the worst evildoers on the planet posted this atrocious horse pucky:
We recognize the uptick in antisemitism around the country + here in MA. To Jews feeling fear in this moment – we are with you, + we will show up for you. Conflating Palestinian solidarity w/ antisemitism is morally repulsive + obstructive to real efforts to fight antisemitism.
— IfNotNow Boston ? (@IfNotNowBoston) November 7, 2023
God help me, I’m experiencing unkind thoughts about some of my Jewish brothers and sisters.
