Brandeis university in Massachusetts is the first private university in the USA to ban Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
On the same day, Ronald Liebowitz, the Brandeis president, wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed that student groups that call for violence against Jews or for the destruction of Israel ‘should lose all privileges associated with affiliation at their schools’. Liebowitz used ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ as an example.
‘In no way does this violate higher education’s deep and enduring commitment to free speech’, Liebowitz wrote. He added that free speech comes with ‘the responsibility to uphold community standards against the incitement of violence and harassment, and free of intimidation’.
‘In this twilight zone moment, when students and faculty seem to be enjoying their freedom to express grotesque language about Jews, Jewish life and the Jewish state, Brandeis will uphold free speech rightly understood’, he added.
‘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.’
‘The National SJP 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.’
‘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.’
Brandeis was established in 1948 by the American Jewish community at a time when Jews and other minorities, and women, faced discrimination in higher education.