Duke University has suspended and frozen funding for its campus Students for Justice in Palestine chapter after the anti-Israel organization shared an illustration flagged for 'antisemitic imagery', according to the Duke Chronicle.
The student organization advertised an event last month in an Instagram post featuring an illustration of two pigs, one labeled as 'Zionism' and depicted holding a Star of David, and the other as 'U.S. Imperialism' holding the Statue of Liberty's torch.
Background on the Incident
A university official informed SJP leadership that the university's Office of Institutional Equity received 10 student complaints about the image, which was originally published in the Black Panther Party's newspaper in 1970. The university's Student Affairs office suspended the group and revoked its funding over 'alleged harassment under the Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct', the Chronicle reported.
SJP officials told the Chronicle that the illustration 'was never intended to be antisemitic' and that anti-Zionism is 'not the same as targeting Jewish people.' The incident has sparked debate about the line between political advocacy and harassment, with some arguing that SJP's actions have contributed to a hostile environment for Jewish students on campus.
Noah Hamid, a leadership member of Duke's Students Supporting Israel chapter, told the Washington Free Beacon in a statement that 'the suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine feels like a long-overdue acknowledgement of what many of us have been experiencing for years.' He added that 'this is not about one protest, one chant, or one controversial flyer', but rather 'a pattern, one that has too often crossed the line from political advocacy into something that isolates, intimidates, and, at times, openly targets Jewish students'.
The Duke SJP chapter has faced criticism for its social media posts, including those excusing Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel. In one Instagram post from July 2024, the group shared a graphic claiming that the Hamas attack was 'a reaction and resistance to decades of oppression', adding that 'to insinuate otherwise reveals a deep lack of historical knowledge, a lack of empathy for the daily lived reality of Palestinians, or both'.