The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) sued Columbia University over its decision to suspend multiple pro-Palestinian student groups on campus.
Columbia suspended the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) chapters in November for the fall term. The NYCLU alleges that the school violated “its own policies and procedures” when suspending the organizations, according to the lawsuit.
Read: Biden Admin Releases Plan To Electrify Major Trucking Routes As EV Charger Program Stalls
“Universities should be havens for robust debate, discussion, and learning — not sites of censorship where administrators, donors, and politicians squash political discourse they don’t approve of,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU, said in a press release. “These student groups were peacefully speaking out on a critical global conflict, only to have Columbia University ignore their own longstanding, existing rules and abruptly suspend the organizations. That’s retaliatory, it’s targeted, and it flies in the face of the free speech principles that institutes of higher learning should be defending.”
“Columbia University has a robust history of peaceful protest, from 1968 to 1985, that it now champions solely in retrospect and when convenient,” Maryam Alwan, an organizer for the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, said in the press release.
Read: Florida Sen. Rubio Demands Biden Defend, Investigate Attacks On U.S. Catholic Churches
The groups accused the university of holding an “unauthorized event” in November that “included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.” According to the Columbia Spectator, The “unauthorized event” was a walkout on Nov. 9.
Multiple student organizations at colleges and universities held pro-Palestinian rallies on campus following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, some of which used violent anti-Israel slogans. Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered two state universities to shutdown campus SJP chapters, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued, arguing the organizations were being unfairly punished for statements made by the national organization.
Columbia did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Help support the Tampa Free Press by making any small donation by clicking here.
Android Users, Click To Download The Tampa Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our free newsletter.