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Pro-Palestinian group suspended at MIT after campus protest
The group was protesting Israeli airstrikes on and a looming invasion of Rafah.
An MIT student organization that protested the displacement and killing of Palestinian civilians was suspended by the university this week.
President Sally Kornbluth addressed the suspension of Coalition Against Apartheid in a letter Tuesday afternoon, stating that it wasn’t for their speech, but rather for conducting a demonstration “without going through the normal permission processes.”
On Monday the group held a demonstration at the Student Center to protest Israel’s ongoing airstrikes and looming invasion of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city where many Palestinians sought refuge during ordered evacuations.
“I want to be clear that suspending the CAA is not related to the content of their speech,” Kornbluth said. “I fully support the right of everyone on our campus to express their views. However, we have clear, reasonable ‘time, place and manner’ policies in place – for a good reason!”
When asked to confirm if this letter was in response to a Monday demonstration, an MIT spokesperson sent a link to demonstration guidelines that protesting student groups “must meet with Institute officials, register the demonstration, and reserve space” three business days in advance.
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In an email, the CAA argued these rules either weren’t enforced, or didn’t exist, before their protests for Palestine. An MIT spokesperson said these rules are not new, and they “felt it important to amplify these guidelines” recently due to increased protesting activity last fall and an “unwillingness of certain groups to meet with us.”
The university letter said this suspension means CAA won’t be allowed to reserve space on campus, use campus facilities, receive group funding, or organize protests on campus. The university also filed an official complaint with the Committee on Discipline, which will make a “formal determination.”
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CAA responded to the suspension by sharing a petition that allowed for other student groups — even groups associated with other colleges — to sign, demanding that MIT reinstate the group.
“We have held peaceful protest after peaceful protest in response to the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli occupation in Palestine,” the petition says. “However, the exercise of our right to free speech has been met with sanctions and suppression by the administration.”
In the petition, the group also said 13 student organizers were threatened with “permanent suspension,” which the petition also called for such threats to be retracted.
“MIT has further threatened that if we continue with organizing any activities, we may be subject to either suspension from all co-curricular activities or permanent suspension from MIT,” CAA said in an email to Boston.com.
As of Wednesday morning, more than 60 organizations had signed onto the petition.
MIT’s president ended the letter by stating that “there is a difference between what we can say — that is, what we have a right to say — and what we should say.” She added that it’s OK to criticize a government such as Israel’s, but that it’s unacceptable to “vilify” Israeli and Jewish people or to equate those who advocate for Palestinians as supporters of Hamas.
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Kornbluth had previously threatened suspension of students during a pro-Palestinian protest in early November that she called “disruptive” and said that some students refused to leave after a set deadline.
MIT also made headlines as Kornbluth was one of three university presidents who spoke during a congressional hearing about antisemitism on college campuses. The three university leaders were criticized for their responses, and it eventually led to the resignations of UPenn’s and Harvard’s presidents.
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