Columbia University anti-Israel group banned from Instagram

The Columbia University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine was banned from the Instagram social media platform on Sunday as the academic year began.

Columbia SJP said on X on Monday that its account of 124,000 followers was removed at the same time as its backup account, and when they attempted to make a new account it was soon deleted.

As the school year is just about to begin, Columbia SJP has been permanently banned from Instagram. Our account was permanently deleted at 124k followers at the same time as our backup account, and when we made a new page it was deleted within 2 days.

— Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (@ColumbiaSJP) August 26, 2024

Palestinian Youth Movement, National SJP, and the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition denounced the deletion of the page in a joint Instagram post on Monday.

No normalcy

“Throughout the Student Intifada, the account served as a crucial tool for organizers to disseminate information on the ground and mobilize supporters and students, both in the US and internationally,” said the anti-Israel groups, explaining that it had gained prominence as Columbia had become the epicenter of the encampment protest movement. “The timing of this move is not coincidental.

With the beginning of fall semester just days away, the Columbia administration has put all of its efforts into proactively suppressing any and all pro-Palestinian protest, from fencing up the Butler lawns to announcing heavy restrictions on movement in and out of campus.

On Sunday anti-Israel activists gathered outside the university to protest an event welcoming new students, warning that there would be no normal operation of the campus until it adopted anti-Israel policies.