Rutgers Pro-Palestine Protesters Blocked From Entering Student Center

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The Rutgers chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) — which is currently banned by the school from operating on campus for one year — held a protest Monday afternoon, Sept. 16, on the Rutgers main campus in New Brunswick.

The students say this is their first protest of the semester, and many more are planned. They also say it's "strike three" against Rutgers.

At about 2:30 p.m. Monday, the pro-Palestinian student group said they tried to enter the College Avenue Student Center, but access was prevented by campus police, according to video SJP posted Monday afternoon on their Instagram account. About 20-30 protesters convened outside the Student Center, and led a teach-in and rally on the sidewalk.

Rutgers Police said they did not have the right to assemble, and were breaking school rules. The student group said Rutgers is infringing on their First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

"We originally had planned a sit-in at the College Ave. Student Center. The university learned about our plans early and, in response, ordered the Rutgers University Police Department to create a checkpoint of metal barricades outside the (Student Center)," said SJP Rutgers. "At the barricade, which was strikingly similar to an Israeli checkpoint in occupied Palestine, police refused to let anyone enter the Student Center without presenting their RUID and allowing their backpacks to be searched ... We shifted our sit-into an emergency protest outside the College Avenue Student Center. Police soon ordered us to stop using megaphones and demanded that we move to the 'public property portion of the sidewalk.' After the protest, we changed our sit-in location to the outside of the Alexander Library. We sat down together at a bench and began educating interested students on Palestine with a presentation that we had created. While an SJP member was describing their experiences and life in Gaza, an officer interrupted, telling us to disperse and that we were being 'disorderly.'"

A Rutgers University spokeswoman said their "protest was peaceful and ended by 4 p.m."

That same day, SJP also released this public statement saying it is now "strike three" against Rutgers University. This is because the Rutgers Joint Committee on Investments rejected SJP's requests that Rutgers divest from any financial involvement in the nation of Israel, and that Rutgers has refused to cancel well-publicized plans for Tel Aviv University to open a satellite campus in the NJ Innovation + Technology Hub, which is nearing completion in downtown New Brunswick across from the train station.

"Rutgers, we're not done, the intifada has just begun," said SJP Monday. "This is Rutgers admin's strike three."

On Aug. 27, Patch reported that Rutgers University put its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine on a one-year suspension. The suspension will last for the entire upcoming academic year; it will not be lifted until July 2025. The suspension means Students for Justice in Palestine cannot hold meetings, protests or marches on campus, said the university.

SJP said in this statement that same day, Aug. 27, they will refuse" to follow the suspension.

"Let it be clear: There will not be any sense of normalcy on campus as long as Rutgers continues relations with Israel," said the student group. "We are committed to ensuring matters on campus do not return to 'business as usual.'"

"We remain steadfast in our calls for divestment from Israeli apartheid, settler colonialism and genocide, as well as the termination of Rutgers’ partnership with Tel Aviv University in the New Jersey Innovation and Technology hub," said SJP-Rutgers on Sept. 20. "We will continue the struggle no matter what obstacles we face."

SJP were the main organizers of the tent encampment in the heart of Rutgers campus last April/May, which lasted for four days until Rutgers ordered the protesters to disperse.

Middle East tension on the Rutgers campus:

Tel Aviv University The Newest Tenant At Rutgers' Tech Hub (Nov. 2021)

Pro-Palestine Group Wants Rutgers To Cancel Tel Aviv University Deal (April 2023)

Rutgers Suspends Students For Justice In Palestine Group (Dec. 12, 2023)

Students For Justice In Palestine Allowed Back On Rutgers Campus (Jan. 17, 2024)

Gaza Solidarity Camp Set Up On Rutgers Main Campus (April 29, 2024)

Photos From 2nd Day Of Gaza Solidarity Camp On Rutgers Campus (April 30, 2024)

Rutgers Suspends Students For Justice In Palestine For A Second Time (Aug. 27, 2024)