Suspended U of Illinois SJP chapter covers university building signs with names of 'martyrs'

The controversial anti-Israel student group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) recently vandalized building signs at their school’s campus by adding posters of people killed in the war between Israel, Hezbollah, and Hamas.

“We will honor all our martyrs,” the posters stated. The university removed the posters on Oct. 16 and condemned the vandalism in a statement.

“Affixing banners in unauthorized areas, such as on building signs, is not permitted by this policy and subjects those affiliated with the University to internal disciplinary processes,” said Robin Kaler, UIUC’s associate chancellor of strategic communications.

UIUC’s SJP chapter posted pictures of the posters to its Instagram account on Oct. 16, alongside the caption “Our martyrs live on.”

The group additionally posted a verse from the Quran for which the English translation is: “Do not consider those who are killed in the way of Allah as dead, but they are alive with their Lord.”

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UIUC stopped recognizing its SJP chapter in late April because it allegedly violated “numerous provisions of the Student Code” during the anti-Israel encampment it erected on the school’s campus during the spring semester.

Pro-Palestine students also “initiated physical contact with and impeded access and the attempted removal of the nonpermitted structures by university staff and law enforcement by linking arms and using wooden boards,” explained university spokesperson Chantelle Thompson.

The group will not be able to apply for official school recognition until 2017.

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“Until then, the SJP chapter may not operate on the University of Illinois campus as an RSO, cannot represent itself as a university-recognized RSO, and will not have access to or use of university resources, funding and support that RSOs enjoy,” added Thompson, the UIUC spokesperson.

UIUC’s SJP critiqued the university’s decision in a statement online.

“We regret to inform you that SJP UIUC is no longer recognized by UIUC as an official registered student organization,” the student group posted to Instagram. “The wrongful disbandment of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is part of a disturbing trend of silencing student activism.”

Campus Reform has contacted the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.