November 12, 2023

Over the past four weeks, National Students for Justice in Palestine has witnessed the most blatant administrative and governmental assault on students’ political speech in recent history. We are deeply concerned with politically-motivated administrative retaliation against individual students and student organizations at universities across North America. This unconstitutional and immoral suppression of our students—students speaking out against the decades-old genocidal depravity of a US vassal state—has cast a dark shadow over our supposedly pluralistic institutions.

American universities pride themselves on providing a diversified, transformative education. Yet, world-renowned institutions, including Columbia University, Brandeis University, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, have taken direct action against Palestinian, Jewish, and allied students who have dared to speak out against US participation in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. This isn't just an infringement on Palestinian rights; it's a signifier of the erosion of US democracy itself.

The administrative surveillance and targeting of individual students sets an extremely concerning precedent. A student at New York University was suspended for one year for simply tearing down a Zionist propaganda poster on campus. Nearly sixty students at UMass Amherst were arrested and now face disciplinary action for their sit-in, a non-violent protest. Harvard University evicted a Black student from student housing for helping marshal a protest. Across the country, students have been notified that university administrators are coordinating with campus police, state police, and even the Department of Homeland Security to suppress pro-Palestine activism.

Our students’ resolve and pursuit of justice remain unmoved by fear of administrative reprisal. As we continue to fight for Palestinian liberation on campus, we call on journalists, reporters, columnists, and academics to use their influential platforms to expose instances of administrative overreach and external pressure. The agendas of political lobbyists and wealthy donors have no place on our university campuses; it's crucial to hold these institutions and their administrative bodies accountable and protect the voices of students facing unjust McCarthyist targeting.

National Students for Justice in Palestine calls on all journalists of conscience to cover these administrator-led recrimination campaigns and wide-scale violations of student and faculty rights. We commend student organizers for steadfastly upholding their political line despite these attempts to silence our righteous fight for justice.