UW-Milwaukee suspends pro-Palestine student groups after they said Hillel, other Israel-supporting groups will be 'treated' as 'extremist criminals'
The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee has suspended five pro-Palestine student organizations after they posted intimidating and anti-Semitic messages targeting Jewish groups on Instagram.
The suspension could lead to the loss of funding and meeting privileges for these groups.
The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee has suspended five pro-Palestine student organizations after they overtly threatened Jewish groups on campus and called entities aligned with Israel “extremist criminals.”
“UWM has temporarily suspended five student organizations associated with a coalition that posted alarming messages on Instagram,” the university announced on July 31. “The suspensions come as part of UWM’s ongoing investigation.”
Specifically, the school suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the Muslim Student Association, Students for a Democratic Society, Young Democratic Socialists of Americ, and Un-PAC.
The suspension could result in loss of funding for the student groups or the removal of the group’s ability to use campus buildings for meetings, according to The Center Square.
The university explained that the five suspended groups helped to form an anti-Israel coalition called the “UWM Popular University for Palestine.”
As Campus Reform previously reported, the now-suspended anti-Israel coalition threatened Jewish students and organizations, calling them “genocidal extremists.”
The “UWM Popular University for Palestine” issued the threat through an Instagram post in July: “We will no longer normalize genocidal extremists walking on our campus. Any organization or entity that supports Israel is not welcome at UWM. This includes the local extremist groups such as Hillel, Jewish Federation, etc.”
“We refuse to normalize extremists and extremist groups walking around our campus,” the post continued. “We are watching Israel’s legitimacy and international recognition fall to pieces on the world stage. Any organization that has not separated themselves from Israel will be treated accordingly as extremist criminals. Stay tuned.”
The July 31 UW-Milwaukee press release announcing the suspension described these posts as intimidating and anti-Semitic.
[RELATED: Faculty for Justice in Palestine groups form, emulating anti-Israel student organization]
“A July 19 Instagram story post to the uwm4palicoalition account included intimidating language aimed at Jewish community members and organizations that support Israel,” the administration stated. “UWM strongly denounced the post, and any form of antisemitism.”
At the time the threat was made, one of the Jewish groups targeted by the anti-Israel activists spoke out against the post, saying it could incite violence.
“While we deeply believe in and support freedom of speech and freedom of expression, we believe this post could encourage harassment and violence towards Jewish students on campus as well as towards the staff of Hillel and the Jewish Federation,” the Milwaukee Jewish Federation wrote.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
