NEW YORK (Dispatches) – |
Almost a dozen students have been suspended for a year from New York University (NYU) for participating in non-violent, anti-war protests for Gaza last month, a pro-Palestine group of staff members there have said. 
NYU Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (NYUFSJP) wrote in a press release that the notices went out, suspending 11 students until January 2026. 
The group called it “a draconian case of collective punishment”. 
“Those suspended thus far include students who participated in a sit-in in front of the administration offices on the 12th floor of Bobst Library and those who simply sat in the lobby of the library in solidarity. The sit-in was to demand a meeting with administration officials regarding disclosure of and divestment from institutional investments in Israel,” the statement read. 
Two NYU faculty members were also arrested during those sit-ins in December, despite the American Association of University Professors saying they were not involved in the protest itself but were there to ensure the safety of the student demonstrators.
Three faculty members were informed at the time that they had been declared personae non gratae (PNG) by the school’s security. The move rendered them unable to enter any university buildings, including their own classrooms.
This week, the Office of Student Conduct at NYU told the students they are being punished for holding a protest which produced “a significant disruptive impact…during a particularly critical time”. 
NYUFSJP insisted the sit-ins can only be described as “minor disruptions of distributing flyers and chanting for fifteen minutes” and were “intended to highlight the much more significant disruption of teaching, learning and scholarship that has taken place in Gaza”. 
The group cites the resolution passed earlier this week by the American Historical Association, in which it voted 428 to 88 to approve a resolution opposing “scholasticide” in Gaza, as well as the U.S. funding of the Zionist regime’s 15-month long assault on the enclave.