Rutgers SJP 'boycotts' disciplinary measures
Rutgers University-New Brunswick' Students for Justice in Palestine chapter released a statement in which it claims it is 'boycotting' disciplinary measures taken regarding a disruptive anti-Israel protest on campus.
'WE INVITE YOU TO A CONDUCT HEARING ABOUT HOW YOU THREATENED YOUR OWN STUDENTS WITH STATE VIOLENCE AS A FORM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE.'
A Rutgers University pro-Hamas group in New Brunswick, New Jersey posted a statement to Instagram in which the students “challenge” the authority of the university’s Office of Student Conduct.
The Rutgers Students for Justice in Palestine chapter (SJP) posted a series of statements on Tuesday in which the group claimed it was “BOYCOTTING ANTI-PALESTINIAN & ISLAMOPHOBIC HEARINGS.”
In the post, the group outlined that it asked students involved in SJP to advocate for professors to waive final exams in support of the ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ and student participation in an anti-Israel rally.
”We equipped students with the necessary tools to communicate with their professors that we will no longer continue ‘business as usual’ during our people’s genocide, explaining the urgency and moral obligation to support the Palestinian people amidst an ongoing ethnic cleansing,” the SJP wrote.
The group claimed that the actions taken by Rutgers against students who were found to be in violation of university rules and codes of conduct were an “[a]ttempt to discipline us for standing against the ongoing Palestinian genocide and Nakba [and] exemplifies the anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia pervasive at Rutgers University.”
“We challenge the university’s authority to regulate acts of protests, as doing so grants itself dictatorial power over student expression and provides space for Zionism to flourish on our campus,” the group continued.
The SJP at Rutgers also noted that “[w]e stand by our actions and refuse to participate in this sham process,” and claimed that it is “rejecting that the administration has the right to directly oppose the democratic will of the student body.”
The group also stated that it has taken issue with Rutgers’ involvement in the New Jersey-Israel Commission, which brought the Tel Aviv University Memorandum and the Helix Social Innovation Hub to Rutgers, claiming that the school is punishing the SJP while supporting Israel.
The group continued: “We stand in solidarity with all student groups facing similar unjust disciplinary actions across Turtle island. We will remain steadfast and boycott these sham student conduct hearings which seek to gaslight the generations of resistance within our blood.”
The Rutgers SJP closed off the statement by displaying a video of police officers with a statement above it for administrators at Rutgers University, which read: “RUTGERS ADMINISTRATION: WE INVITE YOU TO A CONDUCT HEARING ABOUT HOW YOU THREATENED YOUR OWN STUDENTS WITH STATE VIOLENCE AS A FORM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE.”
Campus Reform has contacted Rutgers University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
