Pro-Palestinian protesters defy university order, stage march across University of Pittsburgh campus
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters defied an order from their university to stop holding events when they held a march across the University of Pittsburgh campus on Saturday.
Pitt placed Students for Justice in Palestine on interim suspension this past week, saying members of their group improperly communicated with members of the university conduct hearing board. As part of the suspension, they would not be allowed to hold events.
"The administration, under a bunch of bureaucratic claims that make no sense, suspended SJP following a series of protests," said Karim Safieddine, a Pitt PhD student who participated in Saturday's protest. "There is nothing in particular that justifies the suspension."
Organizers told KDKA-TV that they could not comment directly for legal reasons. During their march, they only briefly discussed the suspensions, saying the focus should be on Gaza.
"Students for Justice in Palestine are paying the price for raising their voices against impeding war, particularly as Trump is questioning, investigating, interrogating University administrations for tolerating affairs as such," Safieddine said.
The American Civil Liberties Union supported the protesters, writing in a letter to the university chancellor that the university singled out the protest group for actions protected by the First Amendment. The letter said that if the group is not reinstated, it will take legal action.
"There's definitely a singling out of SJP, given the affairs of the country today, the controversy of what's happening in the region, more generally, and the role of the U.S. in it," Safieddine said.
Protesters made a loop around Oakland, stopping only to let an ambulance pass and to form a circle at the corner of Forbes and Bouquet.
"We need a reminder that we're not marching for us, we're marching for the people of Gaza and the people of Palestine," one of the protesters said.
KDKA-TV contacted school officials to find out if they planned to take further action due to the protest, but have not heard back. They said earlier in the week that their conduct proceedings are designed to uphold community standards and their code of conduct.
