Brandeis University, the nonsectarian university founded by the American Jewish community in 1948 as a response to antisemitism in other schools’ admissions processes, has revoked its recognition of the Students for Justice in Palestine student group, according to a report in Jewish Insider, and banned the group from conducting activities on campus, or using the Brandeis name or logo in its promotions.
“SJP’s open support for Hamas, which the US has designated as a terrorist organization, was the driving factor in the decision,” the report said, citing “a source familiar with Brandeis’ plans.”
Brandeis’s SJP chapter itself confirmed the disbanding via a post on social media.
“With heavy hearts,” the post said, “we would like to announce that our vigil today is canceled, as our organization has been derecognized [sic]. This decision by Student Affairs came as a response to our vigil as Student Affairs considers it ‘a genuine threat’ or ‘harassment.'”
The national student group, which has chapters on hundreds of campuses across the United States, praised Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, in which thousands of terrorists invaded the country’s south and murdered, raped, and kidnapped more than 1,400 civilians. The group called that attack “a historic win for Palestinian resistance,” and called for “Not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors.”
SJP calls the decision ‘purely racist’
Brandeis SJP’s social media post called the decision “purely racist,” and said that the ban “goes against the values of Brandeis University, an organization that was built to fight racism in higher education.”
But Brandeis’s decision comes after the university’s president, Ron Leibowitz, wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe on the subject of “how universities should confront antisemitism on campus.” Leibowitz argued that “universities cannot stop hate speech, but they can stop paying for it.”
“Brandeis will ensure that groups that receive privileges through their affiliations with the university, including using its name, will lose their affiliations and privileges when they spew hate.”
In a letter to SJP obtained by Jewish Insider, the university explained its rationale: “This decision was not made lightly,” it said, “as Brandeis is dedicated to upholding free speech principles.” But “The National SJP,” it said, “has called on its chapters to engage in conduct that supports Hamas in its call for the violent elimination of Israel and the Jewish people. These tactics are not protected by the University’s Principles.”
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