The University of Chicago Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter told students in an Instagram post that they should avoid taking "S****y Zionist classes” last week.
The anti-Israel post also declared, "Support the Palestine movement for liberation by boycotting classes on Israel or those taught by Israeli fellows."
The post states that students attending classes discussing Israel or who are taught by Israeli fellows are "participating in a propaganda campaign that creates complicity in the continuation of Israel's occupation of Palestine."
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Jewish human rights organization the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles told The Jerusalem Post on Friday that the “University of Chicago has for decades been a top tier institution of higher learning, a place where world-class faculty and students debated and contributedthe issues of the day impacting on all Americans. Reading these calls for boycotts on classes on Israel and fellow students from the Jewish State is something we experienced in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia.”
The University of Chicago spokesperson told Fox News Digital: "The University of Chicago is committed to support the wellbeing of all members of our community, to welcome people of all backgrounds, and to provide an environment for faculty and students to engage freely and openly on a wide range of issues. These values compel our steadfast opposition to discrimination, including rejection of antisemitism, anti-Palestinian bias, and other forms of bias that are incompatible with our commitment to diversity and inclusion."
The spokesperson “didn't directly address the Instagram post or the student organization but said in a statement that it opposes antisemitism," wrote Fox News Digital.
Cooper added that “in 2022, we need accountability when Jew-haters, racists, and bigots are emboldened to say and do almost anything without fear of consequences. The UC Chancellor's statement is a deflection from responsibility, not leadership. Robust debate, yes. Providing a blank moral check to those who seek Israel's destruction is an outrage that poses a further threat to Jews on and off campus.”
The Students for Justice in Palestine chapter termed Israel an "apartheid state" and said, "Boycott these classes that serve as vehicles to spread Zionist propaganda on American college campuses. The Zionist agenda of these classes can be read directly off their course descriptions, which we’ve highlighted for you here. If you or anyone you know are taking these courses, DROP THEM.”
SJP is one of the leading student organizations in the US that advocates for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Israel. The Austrian and German federal parliaments declared BDS an antisemitic movement that resembles the Nazi boycott of German Jewish businesses during the 1930s.