The New York Civil Liberties Union is demanding Columbia University reinstate two pro-Palestinian student groups suspended last semester over protests against Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza.
Columbia, which has been roiled by campus unrest following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, has until the end of next week before the NYCLU moves ahead with legal action, according to a letter made public Friday.
“If the university is unwilling to reverse its suspension decision and reinstate the groups, the NYCLU is prepared to file a lawsuit to vindicate their rights,” the memo read.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU, said the groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, were “peacefully” speaking out on current events, when Columbia broke with its longstanding policies to quash the organizations.
The university has a board tasked with holding “formal proceedings” if a student group is accused of violating university policies, according to the letter. But the NYCLU said Columbia “bypassed these governing procedures” and “unilaterally suspended” the organizations on Nov. 10.
The former process would have afforded the groups several protections, the NYCLU said, whereas the administration’s decision denied students the opportunity to appeal.
“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,” Lieberman said in a statement.
The letter goes on to say that the two groups were not alone in organizing the Nov. 9 protest that most closely prompted the suspension, after what Columbia said then were repeated violations of university policies by the groups.
At the time, administrators also said the demonstration “included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.”
NYCLU countered Friday the accusation had “no basis in fact.”
The suspension, which means the two groups cannot hold campus events or receive university funding, was slated to last through the fall term. But reinstatement came with contingencies, including that the organizations commit to complying with university policies and meeting with administrators.
“The university’s priorities are not with its student body,” said Safiya O’Brien, a junior studying political science and human rights at Barnard and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine. “Certainly not with its Palestinian students and the overwhelming number of those that advocate for them.”
Spokespeople for Columbia declined to comment, but directed the Daily News to the university’s interim policy on campus demonstrations.
“We are committed to free and open debate, and the principle that the right to speak applies equally to everyone, regardless of their viewpoint,” it reads. “Just as every member of our community has this right, they also have a corresponding responsibility not to interfere with the rights of others to speak, study, teach, and learn.”
Earlier this week, Columbia was slapped with a lawsuit over alleged campus antisemitism and continues to face a House probe. The NYPD is also investigating pro-Palestinian students’ reports that they were sprayed with a noxious chemical at an on-campus protest.
