PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Brown University has temporarily suspended its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter following a student protest held earlier this month.
BACKGROUND: Brown Condemns ‘Unacceptable’ Behavior During Protests; students continue to exist
A spokesperson for Brown told 12 News in a statement “given the severity of the alleged threatening, harassing and harassing actions during” the protest, a review has been initiated and the organization will be suspended “pending a full review of the matter.” ” (read the full statement below).
The university added that while their policy allows protest, it “cannot disrupt the normal functions of the university.”
The Brown Divest Coalition, which helped organize the demonstration after Brown Corporation voted not to divest from Israel, said the SJP received an email Thursday about their suspension.
READ ALSO: Brown Corporation votes against divesting from Israel
“These outrageous actions are merely a continuation of Brown’s efforts to intimidate anyone who attempts to hold Brown’s governing bodies accountable for their explicit support of genocide, apartheid and scholasticide,” the Brown Divest Coalition said in a statement. (read the full statement below).
The Brown Divest Coalition said that with this decision, Brown “has reinforced their total disregard for and commitment to the dehumanization of the Palestinian people.”
Brown University’s policies for suspended student groups state, among other things, that they cannot sponsor or organize events, cannot receive funding from the school and cannot be recognized as a group.
Below are the full statements from Brown University and the Brown Divest Coalition.
Brown University
“Given the severity of alleged threatening, harassing, and harassing actions at an on-campus event, Brown University has initiated a review of the event and required the Brown chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine to cease all organizational activities in pending a full review of the case.
“While Brown policy makes clear that protest is a necessary and acceptable means of expression on campus, protest cannot disrupt the normal functions of the University, involve intimidation or harassment of community members, or infringe on the rights of others. We strive to uphold freedom of expression while respecting the dignity and humanity of others.
“The implementation of the interim measures is based on the severity of the alleged conduct and is without prejudice to whether the organization has violated the policy. The investigation of alleged violations of the Code of Conduct and any findings of responsibility and/or associated sanctions will be resolved in accordance with the provisions of Brown’s Student Conduct Procedures.”
Brown Divestment Coalition
“On October 24, the Brown administration sent an email to Students for Justice in Palestine informing them that the university has: suspended SJP, ending the ability to hold events and gatherings or post on social media; hired an outside investigator to begin monitoring and gathering evidence on protesters for the October 18 protest against the Corporation’s depraved decision to reject divestment.
“These outrageous actions are merely a continuation of Brown’s efforts to intimidate anyone who attempts to hold Brown’s governing bodies accountable for their explicit support of genocide, apartheid and scholasticism.
“This suspension and other allegations against SJP by the government are a retaliatory action, politically motivated to discredit protesters, fracture the student movement and denigrate their complicity in the extermination of the Palestinian people. By banning SJP from organizing events, including weekly vigils, the government has weakened the only organization on this campus dedicated to creating space for collective grief amid the indiscriminate slaughter of Gaza residents carried out by the Zionist regime. With this decision, the university has reinforced their utter disregard for and commitment to the dehumanization of the Palestinian people.
“Over the past two weeks, Israel has laid siege to northern Gaza, literally a ‘genocide within a genocide,’ bombing hospitals and refugee camps and limiting aid to more than 400,000 Palestinians, while Zionist settlers proudly proclaim their intention to settle the area. . Because the list of atrocities we witness every day only promises to grow – hospital patients burned before our eyes, craters in displaced persons camps created by US-supplied 2,000-pound bombs, residential buildings razed to the ground in Beirut have been created – our university has chosen time and time again to put their financial interests above the dignity of the Palestinians.
“The government claims to value ‘open dialogue’, but weaponizes its administrative power at every turn: by stopping us from writing the names of tortured Palestinian children, by welcoming IOF soldiers to campus with open arms, by to criminalize any criticism of students who proudly call for the elimination. of the Palestinian people, and increasing police presence at our vigils to keep an eye on grieving students.
“Brown is often portrayed in the media as the school that ‘really talked to protesters’, but don’t be fooled: this is a smokescreen for their unyielding campaign of bureaucratic violence over the past year. The government has imposed a year of institutional manipulation and justice on us simply because we refuse to be complicit. A year full of platitudes and enforced ‘neutrality’ in which we have seen Palestinians burned alive and buried, their flesh collected in plastic bags. A year of unconscionable suffering as the Brown Corporation, President Paxson and Vice President Russell Carey line their pockets with the blood of our martyrs.
“But we know that the government’s attempts to suppress the student movement will not work. No amount of outside investigation, increased police presence, holding hearings, or intimidating emails from Russell Carrey can undermine our commitment to divestment and the liberation of Palestine. We continue undeterred because we look at Gaza and see the steadfast resistance of our people in the face of forced famine, constant displacement and relentless bombing. As long as the Zionist regime continues its campaign of ethnic cleansing and territorial expansion at the expense of Palestinian and Lebanese life, we will hold our institution accountable.”
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