Campus Watch October 30, 2024

Brown University Suspends SJP Chapter

Brown University has suspended the campus Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter and is facing an external investigation over an anti-Israel protest on Oct. 18.

The protest, according to The Brown Daily Herald, was against the Brown Corporation’s decision against divesting from companies that conduct business with Israel. Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey wrote in an email to the community on Oct. 20 that “protestors were ‘banging on a vehicle,’ ‘screaming profanities at individuals’ and at one point used a ‘racial epithet directed toward a person of color,’” the Herald reported. University spokesperson Brian Clark told the Herald, “Given the severity of alleged threatening, intimidating and harassing actions during an event on campus, Brown University has initiated a review of the event and required the Brown chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine to cease all organization activities pending full review of the matter.”

The Brown Divest Coalition told the Herald that the suspension was “a retaliatory, politically-motivated ploy to defame protestors, fracture the student movement and detract from their complicity in the extermination of the Palestinian people.”

UTLA Supports Congressional Resolution Blocking Arms Sales to Israel

The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) union voted on Oct. 23 to support a congressional resolution calling for blocking more than $20 million in arms sales to Israel.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the resolution “passed easily” and obtained documents stating the union’s rationale was that “the arms named have been used in violations of U.S. and international law, indiscriminately killing large numbers of civilians, many of them children” and that “as educators, we have watched for one year as Israel has decimated the education system for current and future Palestinians, destroying every university in Gaza and forcing children to attend school in refugee camps or not at all.” Scott Mandel, a member of UTLA’s board of directors, provided the Times with the statement he shared at the meeting: “Please understand, criticizing Israel is NOT anti-Semitic. Criticizing the Jewish State while NOT condemning the Hamas atrocities IS an anti-Semitic act! If this motion passes,” Mandel added, “not only will we lose many Jewish and Israel-supporting members, but the negative P.R. that will result will be tremendous.”

Report: Foreign Money Behind Anti-Israel Material, Walkout in NYC Schools

The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and New York City Public School are releasing a report alleging that foreign money is behind anti-Israel material and a walkout campaign in New York City schools.

The New York Post reported on Oct. 26 that the city’s Department of Education (DOE) provides the Teach Palestine project as a resource, which is funded by a nonprofit reportedly connected to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group. Teach Palestine provides “materials that emphasize ‘Palestinian victimhood’ and frame Zionism as a ‘colonialist’ movement” as well as material stating that “anti-Zionism is not automatically antisemitism” and accusing Israel of attacking “children, schools, and [the] historical memory in Palestine.” The report also states that a map of the Middle East that excluded Israel was part of a program funded by QFI, the American arm of The Qatar Foundation, which is funded by the Qatari regime. Additionally, “Teachers Unite, a public-school educators group funded by George Soros’ Tides Foundation, and NYC Educators for Palestine, collaborated with The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) on controversial school walkout campaigns… The far-left PSL has documented ties to China and Chinese Communist Party-linked entities. The NYC school walkouts were also part of the Shut it Down for Palestine coalition, which the report alleged has ties to hostile foreign actors,” the Post reported.

Pomona College President Suspends 10 Anti-Israel Protesters Who Occupied Campus Building

Pomona College President Gabrielle Starr announced on Oct. 23 that she suspended 10 anti-Israel protesters who occupied Carnegie Hall on Oct. 7 for the rest of the academic year.

Starr explained in an email to the community that she used her executive authority to implement the suspensions, stating that “the damage to Carnegie, including to teaching infrastructure, was egregious and is being separately adjudicated; however, the most far-reaching violation of the individuals thus sanctioned by the college was their involvement in the takeover of a building, the forced end of classes and the disruption of our academic mission,” reported The Student Life (TSL). Starr also said that most of the protesters involved in occupying the building weren’t students and that the school will be banning them from campus. Suspended students can ask for their suspensions to be reviewed. An investigation into what happened that day is ongoing.

Associated Students of Pomona College President Devlin Orlin issued a statement criticizing Starr’s actions, stating: “This decision comes at a time when many students have expressed that the actions of administrators do not prioritize the well-being of the community, and to utilize the extraordinary authority of the president today, which has not been used for at least President Starr’s entire tenure, causes greater harm to the community by denying students a process in which their peers adjudicate questions of accountability.”