Masked students from an anti-Israel group that praised Hamas issued a list of demands to Rutgers University on their first day back on campus after being suspended.
The members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) wrapped khaffiyeh scarves around their heads to hide their faces as they rolled off their demands at a press conference.
The radical group was banned from campus last month because its “disruptive or disorderly conduct… posed a substantial and immediate threat to the safety and well-being of others”.
A man whose face was hidden spoke at a lectern draped with a banner reading “Rutgers Profits Off Of Palestinian Suffering.”
This is not from Gaza.
— Cheryl E 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱 (@CherylE59628) January 18, 2024
This is not from Iran.
This is not from Syria, or Lebanon, or Yemen, or Egypt, or even Saudi.
This is from New Jersey. The Students for Justice in Palestine at Rutgers University.
On American soil, dressed like terrorists, they demand that the… pic.twitter.com/iXnruxWWJf
“Rutgers University must include anti-Palestinian racism which includes nakba denial into all its mandatory DEI training,” he said.
“It must provide resources for Palestinian and Arab students on campus in the form of an Arab cultural centre.
“Rutgers must release a statement from the office of the president acknowledging ongoing genocide amongst Palestinians and its impact on the Paelstinian student community and advocate for a ceasefire
“Rutgers must hire additional professors specialising in Palestinians and settler colonial studies into the department of Middle East studies.”
A female member of SJP took the lectern and said that the group had been suspended by Rutgers due to “Zionist pressure”.
When it suspended the group, Rutgers cited student complaints that members of SJP had disrupted “classes, a program, meals, and students studying.”
It also noted “allegations of vandalism” at the business school after SJP said it was “occupying the business school.”
After the press conference SJP began protesting again on campus with chants of “resistance is justified when people are occupied. Resistance is justified when people are colonized.”
SJP chapters around the U.S. issued statements supporting Hamas in the days after Oct. 7. One wrote that Palestinians are in the midst of "a historic attack on colonizers."
"Footage of liberation fighters from Gaza paragliding into occupied territory has especially shown the creativity necessary to take back stolen land," the group said.
Rutgers have yet to respond for a request for comment.
