American University has suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine through November 2027, the D.C. private school confirmed to Jewish Insider. 

The organization was suspended for “violations to university policies,” an AU spokesperson told JI, but did not elaborate on details of the violation. 

AU’s chapter of SJP has been under disciplinary probation since April 2024, following a silent indoor protest in which about 30 demonstrators held signs calling on the university to end support of Israel. The university banned indoor protests earlier that year when it updated its speech and expression policies in response to a federal civil rights complaint from Jewish students. SJP was previously under cease and desist status, the university told JI.  

Last February, AU abruptly canceled an SJP event titled “Debunking Zionist Lies Workshop.”

The event, which was shut down just hours before it was set to begin, was advertised online with a photo of a masked individual wielding a slingshot and the call to “Smash Zionism,” which the university said contained “imagery and language that contributed to the safety concerns.”

“This event did not undergo the necessary safety assessment,” AU wrote in a statement at the time. 

Stephanie Parnes, a sophomore in AU’s School of International Service, expressed hope that “this suspension helps move us toward a more peaceful campus, one where pro-Israel students don’t feel like they have to hide who they are to feel safe or accepted.” 

While Parnes, who serves as an Israel on Campus Coalition community impact fellow and president of Eagles for Israel, was not yet on campus “to witness the harassment from SJP” in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel, but she told JI she “saw what came after and heard countless stories from friends in the years above me about the hostility and torment they experienced.” 

“One moment that really stuck with me during my freshman year was the Gaza solidarity sukkah that SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace put up during Sukkot. It was deeply unsettling to watch a Jewish holiday be used in a way that felt antisemitic on many levels,” Parnes said. 

AU SJP responded to the suspension in an Instagram post writing, “a suspension means nothing to us… University repression will be met with resistance.”