Students For Justice In Palestine Allowed Back On Rutgers Campus

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is now allowed back on the Rutgers campus — but they're on probation until December 2024.

They can resume holding meetings and protests. But because they are on probation, it means any additional complaints or investigations by the university may result in SJP being permanently shut down.

"We are proud to announce we are officially reinstated and no longer suspended, but are on probation until December 2024," said the student group Jan. 17. "The attempted suspension of our organization is nothing short of a political posturing by Rutgers University in response to Zionist pressure."

It was in December that Rutgers announced it was suspending the pro-Palestine student group, saying they disrupted students studying and taking exams, and threatened the safety of other students. Rutgers Police also investigated vandalism that happened during an SJP protest they held at the business school.

A Rutgers spokeswoman said the school received "multiple complaints" about Students for Justice in Palestine.

She said Rutgers put them on probation "based on the fact that the students were protesting in non-public forums, and causing disruption to classes and university functioning, which are violations of university policy."

A separate pro-Palestinian student group, Endowment Justice Collective, will hold a protest at 3 p.m. this Thursday outside Brower Commons. The protest will call for Rutgers to divest any investments tied to Israel, as the Israel-Hamas war and Israel's siege on Gaza, continues.

Here is a press conference SJP held Jan. 17 to announce they are allowed back on campus:

SJP continues to call for Rutgers to identify and terminate the administrator who leaked their suspension letter to the media last month. SJP said they only found out they were suspended when a Bergen Record reporter contacted them to ask for their response.

SJP also wants Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway to release a statement "acknowledging the ongoing genocide against Palestinians and advocating for a ceasefire," neither of which he has done.

Additionally, SJP wants Rutgers to start teaching "anti-Palestinian racism, which includes Nakba denial, into all of its mandatory DEI training and race-based curriculum for faculty and staff;" for Rutgers to launch a department of Middle East Studies and build an Arab Cultural Center on campus.

Related: 200 Professors Criticize Rutgers President For Israel-Hamas Response (Oct. 2023)

Congressman Asks Rutgers To Cancel Two Pro-Palestine Speakers (Dec. 2023)