The University of Minnesota put Students for Justice in Palestine and the Young Democratic Socialists on probation in April 2025 for breaking protest guidelines.
SJP and YDSA hosted a March 24 protest at Northrop Plaza for the University to divest from companies associated with Israel, reinstate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices, and keep ICE off campus.
The protest had over 100 participants, without an outdoor events permit and more than one amplified sound device, according to a University letter sent to SJP.
The letter outlined the same rules were broken on April 3, when SJP and YDSA marched from Coffman Union to Huntington Bank Stadium, where Israeli Consul Yinam Cohen was speaking. The University wrote in the letter that the groups also placed posters in unapproved locations.
YDSA member Luz Stern said the protesting guidelines are unrealistic. He said he did not know how they were supposed to keep track of how many people showed up, and felt frustrated that the University did not investigate whether the posters were actually placed by their organization.
“We reject those accusations, and more importantly, we reject that our right to voice dissent has to be granted at the discretion of the administration,” Stern said.
Joel Delikowski, another member of YDSA, said the group hopes to stay off probation, but they feel as though they cannot push back on the rules without more consequences.
“The University’s clear targeting and enforcement of ridiculous rules and regulations make it very hard to know what little thing they will go after us for next without warning,” Delikowski said.
Cunningham took the Aug. 7, 2024, regents meeting as an opportunity to reinstate the protesting guidelines set out by the University.
“These policies are not new, and they were not altered at all in response to the events of last Spring,” Cunningham said. “We want our students, faculty, and staff to use their voices to help make the world a better place.”
The University last updated the protesting guidelines in 2016.
Cunningham outlined how the University responds to civic engagement violations after protests against the University’s compliance with businesses financially supporting Israel, such as the occupation of Morrill Hall in October 2024.
Organizations on probation at the University cannot reserve spaces on campus or advertise their events on campus, including through social media, according to the Student Group policies. Groups on prohibition also cannot access university funding, host fundraising events or access their University group Google account.
The University took SJP and YDSA off probation in October 2025.
SJP Board member Amro Heshmat said he feels the University is only enforcing the rules for pro-Palestinian activism.
“It feels like there is selective enforcement of University policies, specifically upon these groups that the University tends to want to be a little quieter than they are,” Heshmat said. “The risk of trying to fight back against the University on something like this probation could mean more long-term issues for SJP and hurt our overall ability to do what we are here to do on campus.”
The University announced that institutions cannot release statements unapproved by the Board of Regents in Spring 2025, according to the Minnesota Daily.
Heshmat said the rule is another example of the University suppressing free speech on campus.
“The essence of free speech being clamped down upon on campus, and that it is oftentimes very directly related to the causes that are important to SJP or YDSA,” Heshmat said.
KG
Nov 20, 2025 at 8:55 am
Loosen up, guys and gals, and pay attention! I am especially talking to the commenters: lol, my gosh, LM and Ron. Seriously, all of you are at the wrong university. If you’re looking for a payout, you need to head to California. CAIR is handing out $1,000 to its activists and providing $20,000 interest-free loans. That’s clearly the place for you people to be—not at the U. Check out the New York Post from November 18, 2025.
As for us? The Jews have maintained a continuous presence in Israel for 3,000 years—long before the rise of Islam or the start of the Arab colonization project in the 7th century. Let’s be clear: the Jews are the actual indigenous people of Israel. The Arab conquerors—and the Palestinians, as some of them choose to call themselves today—are the actual settler-colonialists.
I know you love the narrative that “Jews stole Palestinian land,” but history tells a different story. When Benjamin of Tudela visited the land in the 12th century, he recorded dozens of existing Jewish towns. In 1850, the British estimated that 15,000 Jews were living there. The Zionists who immigrated in the late 19th century were returning to join their brethren who had never left. They didn’t steal land; they bought the most neglected, malaria-infested, and barren land available from its legal owners. Tel Aviv was founded on empty sand dunes precisely because they couldn’t buy inside Jaffa; the Jews of Tel Aviv displaced no one. But because Jews were indigenous to the land—carrying the language, religion, culture, and heritage of their ancestors—they had the spirit and courage to transform that desert into the thriving Israel of today.
And finally, consider Gaza. No Jews have lived there since 2005. The people of Gaza elected their own government and received billions in foreign aid. They had the opportunity to build schools, hospitals, and a thriving “Singapore of the Middle East.” Instead, they built hundreds of miles of terror tunnels and rockets, resulting in the barbaric war Hamas launched against Israel on October 7, 2023.
You people need a serious rethink. Jews are the indigenous people of Israel, and we don’t need anyone to pay us to defend our own country.
lol
Nov 19, 2025 at 6:44 am
“I am certainly not paid by Qatar or Saudi Arabia through CAIR or its pyramid of NGOs or anything similar.”
When you put it like that it sounds like you most certainly are, KG.
my gosh
Nov 18, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Wow, he does it for free. Somehow that’s even more pathetic.
KG
Nov 17, 2025 at 5:05 am
Ron, your list expresses a hodge-podge of ignorance, malice, and prejudice. Let’s focus on your first two points: Israel is definitely a democracy. Israeli citizens elect their government at least every four years (or more frequently). That government has executive powers for its term in office subject to the laws of the state. It is different from the American form of government and similar to the European model. It’s true that Israel doesn’t have a constitution, but England doesn’t either. Instead, Israel’s Basic Laws function as constitutional principles, and all laws apply equally to all citizens regardless of ethnicity. Numerous non-governmental organizations, in fact, operate freely in Israel, enabling Arab and minority citizens to appeal successfully to the courts for redress of their rights, even to the Supreme Court.
Now, let’s skip ahead to your fifth point: It is a demonstrable fact that Arab citizens of Israel are fully integrated into civic life: Arab judges preside over cases involving Jews, Arab doctors and surgeons treat Jewish patients in hospitals, and Arab police officers enforce traffic laws on all citizens, including Jews. Arab students attend Israeli universities in proportion to their demographic percentage. This is not the practice of a state committed to persecution; it is evidence of a functioning and vibrant, if imperfect, democracy.
And, finally, to LM: I am not paid by anyone. Are you? I am certainly not paid by Qatar or Saudi Arabia through CAIR or its pyramid of NGOs or anything similar. My motivation is simple: to combat the flood of extremist Palestinian misinformation dominating U student discourse. U students deserve accurate facts to think critically and form genuine conclusions, not fabricated extremist pro-Palestinian narratives. Questioning settler-colonialism as applied to Israel-Palestine and challenging disinformation, such as the false claim of “genocide” inflicted on Palestine, is central to true learning, and that is precisely what I am doing here.
LM
Nov 14, 2025 at 9:30 am
How much do you think KG was paid for each comment here, $7000 per?
Ron
Nov 13, 2025 at 8:23 pm
Reasons I’m Against Israel
1. Israel is not a democracy but an autocratic theocracy
2. It has no constitution, protecting minority rights
3. It interferes in US politics and now even University politics
4. The october 7th attack was allowed by Netanyahu by him removing the guards at the Gaza border and didn’t respond to calls for help for at least 4 hrs
5. It treats the Palestinian people as if they have no right to living
6. They cover up their own atrocities in Gaza, their prisons, and the West Bank
7. They have constant surveillance and have convinced the US to surveil its citizens
8. It limits protests by Palestinians and other oppressed groups
9. It prosecutes whistle blowers instead of the authorities and the IDF for their bad behavior
10. Over 25 Congressmen have dual citizenship with Israel. How can you consider the rights of US citizens and protect the US when your committing yourself to another country?
I could go on, but people need to better understand the intent and actions of Israel before giving them support.
KG
Nov 12, 2025 at 11:21 am
First- and second-year students weren’t on campus when research, teaching, and study were shockingly and continuously disrupted by extremist, Hamas-supporting encampments, loud demonstrations, building occupations, endangered staff, Hillel’s shot-out windows, disrupted commencements, worried parents, and endless U resources drained for security. Our friend “Opportunity” would have us believe that time, place, and manner restrictions—standard at every university—don’t apply at the U. Amro Heshmat sanctimoniously informs us that the U is only enforcing the rules for pro-Palestinian activism. Really? We all know that pro-Palestinian extremists are the only ones violating the rules. Their appeal to rights of “free speech” and “assembly” really means free access to push an extremist pro-Palestinian agenda and roiling our campus. Essentially, it’s a call for dismantling the Jewish state based on race—creating instead a “Palestine from the river to the sea”—that would be free of Jews, Judenfrei, just as the Nazi-like Hamas terrorists intended when they wiped out dozens of Israeli villages on October 7, 2023.
Curiously, “Opportunity” wants readers to believe that an old sexual misconduct allegation regarding a former U Regent is somehow tied to U restrictions on political activity. Whew—what a stretch! “Opportunity,” you must think everyone reading the Minnesota Daily is a fool.
But, if that’s your topic, let’s talk. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister for “war crimes” a year ago. It turns out ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan—the man behind the warrant—has been placed on probation for sexual misconduct, including rape, with multiple complainants. He rushed the Netanyahu warrant because he knew he was under investigation (he unexpectedly cancelled a planned trip to Israel). The truth emerged when one of the women refused to stay quiet—he tried to convince her that it would “hurt the Palestine case.” Here’s the kicker: Qatar secretly paid to investigate that woman and her family, hoping to find an Israeli link (they found none). All this is hot off the presses from The Guardian of November 11, a far left, anti-Israel pro-Palestinian newspaper available on-line.
So no, there was never any Israeli “genocide,” and the ICC case against Israel was a smokescreen to protect its prosecutor against rape charges.
TA
Nov 8, 2025 at 2:03 pm
Roger Williamson – You’re an incredibly unintelligent person.
opportunity
Nov 8, 2025 at 12:19 pm
There are also consequences for stifling free speech.
Truthy, you sound ridiculous talking about rule breaking when anyone paying attention can see the basic rules of human decency being broken on the regular by world leaders. You expect the young people, college students, will just sit down and comply?
Snap out of it, Truthy!
These student groups are suspended for allegedly putting up posters up in the “wrong” places and didn’t keep track of how many people showed up at their gatherings. That’s farcical.
The foundation for exactly this kind of clamp down on free speech on campus was laid by former Regents like but not limited to Michael Hsu and Darrin Rosha, both of whom this publication cites as sources for many of its articles. The Daily published articles about how Darrin Rosha was investigated for sexual harassment at the music school he used to work at. He was fired there for “administrative” reasons before being voted in a Regent at the U. The investigation of Rosha and the truly anti-democratic policies put in place by the Board of Regents all took place around 2016. Cunningham says, “these policies are not new” but that doesn’t excuse how insidious they are.
This repression of the student voice will backfire. These student groups (and all students, frankly) will now become even more creative and effective in their communications and organizing. Anyone opposed to what these groups are doing should have just let them be; your opposition makes them even more powerful.
KG
Nov 8, 2025 at 8:01 am
Roger, are you still beating the tired, phony “Israel-is-guilty-of-genocide” drum? No one serious believes that anymore. On October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas death-cult terrorists crossed a peaceful border into Israel, wiping out dozens of civilian villages—murdering, raping, torturing, and taking hostages. That was genocide. Then they waged war from underground tunnels, using Palestinian civilians as human shields. In recent days, videos have surfaced of Hamas gunmen murdering Palestinian civilians in cold blood on the streets of Gaza. Hamas is the one guilty of genocide.
Roger, if you’re truly concerned about genocide, why aren’t you focused on the well-documented atrocities in Sudan—reported even by Nicholas Kristof—where Arab militias are systematically raping and slaughtering Black Africans? I guess that doesn’t meet your high standards of moral outrage.
We don’t want to lose class time to encampments, building occupations, or classroom disruptions. We don’t want our campus hijacked by extremist pro-Palestinian agitators or SDA, SDS, hangers-on, “useful idiots,” and non-students. Frankly, those groups got off lightly with a six-month suspension. Cunningham was too generous. And she certainly shouldn’t have allowed that violent felon, Kyle Feldhake, back on campus after leading the Morrill Hall occupation, causing thousands in damage and endangering staff. The U priorities should be research, teaching, and learning—not serving as a stage for imported conflicts halfway around the world.
Truthbetold
Nov 7, 2025 at 9:42 am
You break the rules, there are consequences.
Roger Williamson
Nov 7, 2025 at 7:27 am
When did not getting a permit become more important than the lives of thousands of men, women and children being subjected to genocide?
I think your priorities are out of line with you presenting yourself as an institue of higher learning.
By focusing on the method of protest rather than its cause, the institution is seen as implicitly siding with the status quo and the powerful.