EDITORS' CORNER
Key Takeaways
- George Mason University reinstated the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter after it served a suspension due to police finding weapons and anti-Semitic material at leaders' homes.
- SJP claims their suspension was unjust and is now operating as a registered student organization, emphasizing their commitment to Palestinian liberation in a recent recruitment video.
- The university is also facing scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Education for allegedly violating federal law in hiring practices, which the university disputes, asserting there was no discrimination.
George Mason University has reinstated its Students for Justice in Palestine campus group this week, completing its punishment after police found ammo and a “death to Jews” sign at two student leaders’ home last year.
“The student organization Students for Justice in Palestine served out its university-imposed suspension after having been found responsible for violating university policy,” George Mason spokesman John Hollis told The Washington Free Beacon.
The group can now operate like all other student groups on campus and is “subject to all university and student conduct policies,” he said.
SJP at George Mason posted a recruitment video on Instagram this week in which a student leader states that the “spirit of resistance will not be quenched until we see full liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.”
The speaker concealed nearly their entire face with a keffiyeh and used a voice-altering device to disguise their speech. They said SJP at George Mason was “unjustly suspended without due cause or process” after police raided two student leaders’ home last year.
“We are all too aware of the tactics that the Israeli occupation uses and the ways in which they manifest in the belly of the beast,” the speaker said.
“Despite these attempts to strike fear in our hearts, our allegiance to achieving Palestinian liberation and echoing the calls of our people have not wavered,” they said.
“We’re back. With steadfastness and confrontation,” the caption of the post reads.
The FBI raided Jena and Noor Chanaa’s family home last year following allegations they were responsible for pro-Palestinian vandalism on campus in late August, The College Fix previously reported.
The sisters were suspended from campus for four years after law enforcement found weapons and pro-terror propaganda.
The group’s reinstatement comes amid ongoing controversy at the school.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced that GMU violated federal law by considering race and other characteristics when hiring and promoting staff.
As part of a proposed Resolution Agreement, the department demanded that the school’s president issue a public apology.
Attorney Douglas Gansler sent a letter to the school’s Board of Visitors on President Gregory Washington’s behalf, stating he is “far from needing to apologize,” NBC News reported.
“To be clear, per OCR’s own findings, no job applicant has been discriminated against by GMU, nor has OCR attempted to name someone who has been discriminated against by GMU in any context,” the letter reads.
“Therefore, it is a legal fiction for OCR to even assert or claim that there has been a Title VI or Title IX violation here,” it reads.
It also states that the OCR’s allegation “borders on the absurd.”
