Fordham SJP blames university for being 'complicit' in 'genocide' against Palestine
Fordham Students for Justice in Palestine, a group that is not officially recognized by the university, rallied to protest the school’s alleged support for the 'genocide' in Gaza.
‘There hasn’t been that same sense of condemnation for Israel [as there has been for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack], and I think that really just shows the hypocrisy,' one protester said.
On Jan. 19, Fordham University’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) hosted a rally to condemn the university’s alleged support for Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.
The protest, which took place in New York City, saw protestors chanting: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” “Fordham, Fordham, you can’t hide; you’re supporting genocide,” and “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes.”
In an Instagram post advertising the event, the group claimed that “Fordham’s administration has continued to inadequately address the ongoing genocide in Gaza as they remain complicit of the violence occurring in occupied Palestine while refusing to provide students with the resources and opportunity to take action and facilitate discussion on campus.”
Fordham SJP, currently unrecognized by Fordham, has previously pursued legal options to gain official recognition from the school, according to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which helped take up the group’s case.
Though a New York court supported SJP’s case in 2019 and told Fordham it had to officially recognize the group on campus, the New York State Appellate Division for the First Department reversed that decision and upheld Fordham’s right to deny official status to the student organization, as noted by the Jewish Insider.
Receiving official recognition would have given Fordham SJP access to school funding, Jewish Insider writes.
Fordham SJP wrote to Campus Reform, saying: “Our main message for [the protest] is to remind administration that fordham sjp is on campus and refuses to be silenced we will not be quite [sic] while fordham funds a genocide.”
The group added that it is “currently working on a report to publish to our members showing how fordhams board of trustees invest in various companies that have ties to furthering the apartheid,” and added that “we are using method [sic] similar to nyu and columbia.”
One protestor who spoke to Campus Reform at the rally said he hopes that university leadership will issue “a direct condemnation of what Israel is doing.”
“There hasn’t been that same sense of condemnation for Israel [as there has been for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack], and I think that really just shows the hypocrisy. It shows who is investing in Fordham, it shows that there is a bias here, a clear bias,” the individual added.
In a message to students on Nov. 7, Fordham President Tania Tetlow issued a statement addressing the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.
“Since October 7th, members of our Fordham community have faced deep trauma, losing both Israeli and Palestinian loved ones and worried for so many more,” she wrote. ”Watching the Hamas attacks on video and then the bombs dropping on Gaza, we agonize over the innocent lives lost and so much searing pain. For both communities, the ability for the rest of us to go about our daily lives without being consumed by that pain can feel like a real betrayal.”
In December, Campus Reform reported that Columbia University’s SJP and the pro-Palestinian Jewish Voices for Peace were accused of holding unsanctioned events while being temporarily suspended from campus.
Earlier this month, Campus Reform also reported that the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into Temple University over anti-Semitic incidents relating to a SJP chapter.
After the Hamas attacks, Liora Rez, founder of Stop AntiSemitism, said, “It’s very frightening to be a Jewish college student right now,” according to The Washington Post.
Campus Reform has contacted Fordham University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
