YALE BANS STUDENT GROUP; EXPOSES DOUBLE STANDARD

April 25, 2025 — On April 23, Yale University banned its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (Yalies4Palestine), alleging that the group was involved in organizing a protest.

We write on behalf of concerned faculty and staff who attended the April 22nd protest and who are committed to protecting freedom of expression. What we saw speaks to a dangerous double standard: a peaceful protest met with disciplinary action while counter-protesters–present at the same time and in the same place, expressing themselves in a no less public manner–face no response from Yale’s administration. This, emphatically, is viewpoint discrimination, and a violation of the very principles of free and engaged civic discourse on which university life depends. We call on the university to immediately reinstate Yalies4Palestine, drop disciplinary proceedings against students, and publicly reaffirm its commitment to freedom of expression—especially when that speech challenges power.

On the one-year anniversary of the Yale encampments, an autonomous group of students organized a protest for the people of Palestine. We watched as students sang, chanted, stood quietly with linked arms, and sat next to their tents. We also witnessed a handful of pro-Israel counter-protesters who shouted at them, filmed them by holding phones inches from protesters’ faces, and shoved past them into the midst of the protest. At least one administrator was present and must have witnessed what we did: provocation on the part of counter-protestors, and consistent refusal to rise to these provocations on the part of the justice for Palestine students.  The justice for Palestine protesters dispersed as requested by the Yale administration.  

Yet, the University has now banned Yalies4Palestine and begun disciplinary proceedings against justice for Palestine students, a move that raises concerns about discriminatory profiling. No such condemnation has been issued to counter-protesters who were, after all, also demonstrating. To be clear: we oppose punitive action by Yale University for expressions of speech, but we would be remiss not to note the ongoing disciplinary double standard.

This is a sharp escalation in the weaponization of university policies targeting groups based on content of speech and expression. The selective harassment of Palestine-focused student groups and persons has become a troubling trend at Yale and elsewhere and raises questions about Yale’s lack of interest in addressing the rise in Islamophobia on university campuses. 

This double standard is even more concerning because the safety of students is at stake: a far-right organization, Canary Mission, known for doxxing protesters, has been using footage filmed at Yale–including at university-approved public gatherings–to target individuals for harassment. Additionally, names of students alleged to have been there were shared online. Yale has not indicated they are taking steps to investigate how students are being targeted or to protect students from such harassment. 

Punishing students for peaceful protests is against university values and interests; it also inflicts a moral injury on those prevented from speaking out against grave injustices. This most recent protest came one day before the visit of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir—a man convicted of inciting racism and supporting mass killing. Ben-Gvir has publicly idolized Baruch Goldstein—the Israeli who massacred 29 Palestinians in 1994. Just this week, Ben Gvir called for bombing food and aid depots in Gaza, promoting the collective punishment of starving civilians. In other words, Yale has chosen to punish students for peacefully opposing a public official who advocates mass killing. It’s a chilling inversion: protesting genocide is treated as more offensive than participating in one.

Yale’s actions align with a national campaign of repression. Under pressure from the Trump administration and far-right, pro-Israel lobbying groups, universities are punishing students, redefining anti-Semitism to silence criticism of Israeli policy, and targeting scholars for imagined infractions. But Yale students, faculty, and staff are fighting back. Over 1000 faculty signed a letter to the administration demanding protections for speech and academic freedom. Students have echoed these demands and called for a university-wide anti-doxxing policy. The administration has yet to respond.

We write this not only in defense of our students, but in solidarity with the people of Gaza. When our students chant “Free Palestine,” they are insisting on an essential truth: every mangled child, every person consumed in flames, every dust-covered face—they were a whole world. To themselves and everyone they knew. Lives as complex, joyful, and difficult as our own. We call on administrators, on the Yale community: Don’t look away. Don’t tell our anguished students to keep silent. Every voice of courage and morality matters.

Free Palestine!

Examples of Yale’s Double Standard

These are select examples of Yale’s double standard. There are many more.

Written by an identified student in a Yale residential college in Oct 2023. Yale administration refused to take any action.