The University of Wisconsin suspended its SJP chapter following an investigation into the chapter's disruption of an April guest speaker, The College Fix reported. Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield was perpetually interrupted.
"You're protesting, you're not interrupting a speaker, you're not interrupting an event. But when they're at the point where they're making so much noise and protesting where people can't speak they're violating someone else's First Amendment,” said Marie Fischer, director of social media for Herut North America.
Thomas-Greenfield was returning to the Madison, Wisconsin campus where she was formerly a graduate student.
The SJP organization has also accused Israel of killing tens of thousands of children. Fischer says those are misleading statistics from the Hamas-run health ministry of Gaza.
The protesters focused on several U.N. resolutions vetoed by the United States regarding the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
"All the information everyone is getting is from the Gaza Health Ministry, which is basically Hamas, so no one really knows what's going on. And also, what age? I don't say what age are the children, but at what age are they getting these children into fighting?" Fischer said.
University officials told the protesters to leave or the police would be called, according to The College Fix. The protesters chose the latter option.
The University of Wisconsin SJP had been placed on probation last October for rules violations associated with a pro-Palestinian encampment, The College Fix reported.
If the proposed suspension of SJP is upheld, the organization will be prohibited from conducting any activity such as events or meetings apart from one executive board meeting per week until January 2026, after which the suspension will end, and a probation period will follow.
In a social media post, the chapter said the university is just following a trend.
“This conforms with the pattern of other university administrations who have been suspending pro-Palestine student organizations, withholding degrees and barring students from campus and graduation events simply for speaking up about Palestine,” the post read.
