NYU Suspends 11 Students for One Year Over Peaceful Sit-ins in Support of Gaza

New York (Quds News Network)- Eleven pro-Palestine students have been suspended for one year from New York University (NYU) for participating in peaceful sit-ins in support of Gaza last month, according to a pro-Palestine staff group at the university.
In a press release, NYU Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (NYU SJP) wrote that the notices went out on Wednesday, suspending 11 students until January 2026.
The group called the move “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” in December 11, 2024, the group added.
The sit-in was to demand a meeting with administration officials regarding disclosure of and divestment from institutional investments in Israel.”
The Office of Student Conduct at NYU told the students last week they are being punished for holding a protest which produced “a significant disruptive impact…during a particularly critical time”.
NYU SJP 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 US funding of Israel’s 15-month long assault on the enclave where over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel.
University administrators claimed the suspensions are related to “threatening messages” found in the library the same day the sit-ins took place, but NYU SJP stated there is no evidence connecting the protesting students to the graffiti.
NYU also accused the protesting students of engaging in “coordinated and collective disruptive events”. However, NYU SJP maintained that designing, printing and disseminating flyers – as well as students disguising their identities by wearing masks – are not violations of the university’s code of conduct.
“The punishments in this case are dramatically more severe than those issued over the past fifteen months,” the group’s statement said.
“The extreme sanctions placed on all of the students charged with participating in the protest can only be explained as a complete collapse in any kind of due process and instead the arbitrary meting out of collective punishment – regardless of the actions of any individual student,” NYU SJP added.
NYU SJP characterised the move from the administration as using guilt by association as a “dangerous smear tactic” to delegitimize the student movement.
Former and current students and staff have called on supporters to sign a petition for the suspensions to be revoked and for the administration to meet student organisations at the negotiating table.