Masked Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) members listed new demands for a Rutgers University campus during a press conference Wednesday, which included an order for the school to cut ties with Israel.
Video footage posted on Twitter by a citizen journalist showed three students covering their faces with what appeared to be keffiyehs, or traditional Arab headscarfs. The students led the press conference at the Rutgers University New Brunswick campus. (RELATED: Pro-Palestinian Student Org Sues DeSantis Admin Over Campus Ban)
The student stood in front of a sign that said, “Rutgers profits off of Palestinian suffering” while calling out the school for previously banning the group and listing new demands they claimed need to be met.
“We recognize the attempted suspension of our organization is nothing short of a political posturing by Rutgers University in response to Zionist pressure. From the beginning, Rutgers knew they could not legally uphold our suspension,” one of the students stated. “In order to silence our just activism the Rutgers administration has treated their Palestinian students with malice and disregard — either reproducing vicious anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia or allowing it to foster when students report it.”
The Student activists shared that the suspension of their chapter of SJP was due to “Zionist Pressure”. They were suspended days after the Department of Education added Rutgers to a list of schools being investigated for anti-Semitism. The University cited the chapter disrupted… pic.twitter.com/5xyKWMl75N
— Stu (@thestustustudio) January 17, 2024
Rutgers University previously suspended the New Brunswick SJP group back in December due to complaints the chapter was allegedly disrupting campus life as well as making students feel unsafe, according to NorthJersey.com. A letter from the school to SJP was leaked to the outlet, and it detailed the allegations from Associate Dean of Students Michelle Jefferson and announced the investigation into SJP. (RELATED: ‘Holocaust 2.0’ Reportedly Written On University Campus By Pro-Palestinian Activists)
“You allegedly have had multiple cases of disrupting classes, a program, meals, and students studying,” Jefferson said.
The associate dean of students additionally pointed out that there were “allegations of vandalism occurring at the Rutgers Business School while your program was taking place.” Due to the alleged evidence, Jefferson claimed that the school found a “reasonable basis to conclude” that the group should be suspended, according to NorthJersey.com.
While the students of SJP claimed the school was applying “racist double-standards,” the university lifted the ban Wednesday, putting the group on a one-year probation following the conclusion of their investigation, USA Today reported.
A spokesperson for Rutgers-New Brunswick said the interim suspension was typical for the school due to the organization facing multiple conduct complaints.
“The conduct case involving the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Rutgers-New Brunswick has been resolved and the interim suspension of organizational activity is over,” spokesperson Megan Schumann Florance said, according to USA today. “The organization has been put on probation for a year, with educational sanctions.”
The SJP students continued to list their demands, which included calling for the university to “identify and terminate” the person who had leaked the suspension letter to the outlet, “incorporate anti-Palestine racism” into DEI training for staff and faculty, as well as “provide resources” for Palestinian and Arab students in the “form of an Arab cultural center.” The group additionally reiterated five previous demands to the school that called for cutting complete ties to any Israeli connection.
“One, Rutgers must divest its endowment fund from Israeli bonds and corporations upholding the Israeli settler colonialism, apartheid and genocide. Two, Rutgers must end its agreement with Tel Aviv University, which welcomes TAU as a partner in the helix Innovation Hub. Three, Rutgers must protect Palestinian students and advocates exercising their political rights,” the student stated.
“Four, Rutgers must release a statement from the office of the president acknowledging the ongoing genocide against Palestinians, its impact on the Palestinian community at our university and advocating for a ceasefire. And five Rutgers must hire additional professors specializing in Palestine and settler colonial studies and institute a department of Middle East Studies.”
Following the demands, the university has since stated their investment policy “encourages” the community to submit requests and could be considered pending on the Joint Committee on Investments decision, USA Today reported.