Despite the suspension, members of the Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine group continued to demonstrate this week.
Tufts University suspended a pro-Palestinian student group last week after it used images of weapons to promote a protest rally and urged members of the Tufts community to “join the student intifada.”
Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine was placed on interim suspension on Oct. 2, according to a university spokesperson and a social media post from the group itself.
The Tufts spokesperson said that the group violated multiple university policies. They cited an Instagram post made by Tufts SJP on Sept. 30 that depicted people with assault rifles, called for followers to join a “student intifada,” and for them to “escalate for Gaza.”
The post was made to promote a series of demonstrations planned for this week that the group has dubbed a “week of rage,” marking the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks and the beginning of the current war.
“This comes as israel [sic] continues to rain bombs on Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Iran,” the group wrote in an online petition for its reinstatement. “Suspension of tuft SJP [sic] is an attempt to silence all student voices educating and agitating against genocide. It is absolutely legitimate to protest research ties, investments, and all ongoing support of genocide. A movement cannot be suspended.”
The Tufts spokesperson said Tufts SJP also violated university policies on Sept. 12, when members marched through an academic building and hung signs and blocked the entrance to another building. The group was already facing a conduct proceeding related to that event.
In addition, the spokesperson said that Tufts SJP “failed to meet the requirements from previous disciplinary actions related to demonstra