Private university bans Students for Justice in Palestine as Middle East fallout spreads

A Massachusetts-based private university has banned a student chapter of the National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on its campus amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, becoming the first U.S.-based private university to do so. 

A Brandeis University spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Monday that the school had banned the student chapter of the national organization, saying the leading factor in their decision was the SJP’s support of militant group Hamas. 

Brandeis was founded as a nonsectarian Jewish university in 1948.

“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,” the school’s spokesperson said in its statement to The Hill. “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 spokesperson concluded.

The school also sent out a letter to SJP on the decision, which was obtained and published by Jewish Insider. 

“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,” the school’s letter reads, according to Jewish Insider.  

“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.’” 

The school’s letter also states that the national SJP’s calls for its student chapters to support Hamas is not protected under its University’s Principles, noting that students who choose to participate in conduct supporting Hamas “will be considered to be in violation of the University’s student code of conduct.”

“Students who wish to express their support for the rights of Palestinian civilians may form another student organization, through established procedures, that complies with University policies,” it added.

University President Ronald Liebowitz also penned an op-ed in the Boston Globe, writing that student organizations who participate in antisemitism should “lose all privileges associated with affiliation at their schools.”

Reached for comment, the national SJP pointed to its student chapter at Brandeis University to share a statement on the matter. 

“The claims made by the administration are unsubstantiated, as we have not received any evidence that can lead to the suppression of our right to free speech,” a spokesperson for the student chapter said in a statement to The Hill. “This also comes as an attempt by Brandeis to silence Palestinian voices, as the administration has not shown any support to their Palestinian and Arab students, who lost many people in Gaza.” 

“None of the chants or slogans cited by President Liebowitz come close to meeting the legal criteria for incitement or harassment,” Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression senior program officer Zach Greenberg said in a statement to The Hill. “Make no mistake, Brandeis is punishing its students for nothing more than protected political advocacy.”  

“In this difficult moment, Brandeis could have demonstrated how students can engage with opposing viewpoints. Instead, President Liebowitz is teaching them to simply silence those they hate,” Greenberg added. “This betrayal of Brandeis’s free speech promises is a stain on the school’s 75-year reputation as a bastion for free inquiry.”

The university’s decision comes after the the Anti-Defamation League and the Louis D. Brandeis Center sent a letter to 200 colleges and universities late last month urging them to investigate student organizations of SJP “for potential violations of 18 USC 2339A and B, and its state equivalents, that is, for potential violations of the prohibition against materially supporting a foreign terrorist organization.” 

Florida officials also ordered its state universities and colleges to disband SJP student chapters on its respective campuses as well.

The Hamas-Israel conflict, which has entered its fourth week, began after the militant group conducted a surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people and the taking of around 240 hostages who remain in Gaza.

In response, Israel has launched a series of airstrikes and a ground invasion in Gaza, resulting in an estimated 10,000 deaths, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

—Updated Wednesday at 1:55 p.m.