Duke freezes operations of pro-Palestinian student group over cartoon post

RALEIGH, N.C. — On March 13, Duke University’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine shared an Instagram post featuring a political cartoon of two pigs: one labeled “U.S. Imperialism,” holding a torch of liberty, and another labeled “Zionism,” holding a Star of David. The two are touching snouts and interlocking toes.

Eleven days later, the university restricted the group’s status as a registered student organization, along with the funding and freedom that comes with it.

The cartoon, by Emory Douglas, was originally published by the Black Panther Party in the 1970s. An email from Duke’s Student Affairs division requested the group take the post down — and informed student leaders that, pending an assessment and review from Student Affairs, the organization would be no longer be recognized by the university.

“(R)eports indicate that the image of pigs holding a Star of David is harassment under the Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct and the Duke Community Standard,” reads a March 24 email from Ben Adams, Duke’s senior associate dean of students, to the group that The News & Observer obtained. In a March 26 email, Adams wrote: “Recognition as a student organization is a privilege that carries with it responsibility to comply with directives and university policies.”

SJP deleted the post, but the freeze persists. It means that SJP cannot sponsor or request funding for events or reserve campus space for events or meetings, according to Duke’s disciplinary outcomes explanation. It reads: “Residential or cohesive units may be suspended for a specified time period from activities sponsored, cosponsored, performed by, or attended by its members on and/or off campus.”

Student group calls it censorship

One SJP member spoke about the situation in a speech at a campus demonstration on Friday, without identifying herself by name. SJP members reported receiving hate messages and threats in the weeks since the Instagram post.

“Duke administration has recently declared our chapter of SJP frozen,” she said. “What happened? We posted a flyer, Zionists didn’t like it, and Student Affairs froze us. ... Zionist social media accounts pressured Duke, alleging the image was antisemitic. Without following any type of due process, Student Affairs froze our organization and demanded we remove the post.”

“The restriction of activity prohibits our members from sponsoring, cosponsoring, performing, and attending any activities,” she said. “Instead of working toward justice for Palestine, we are being forced to navigate a system, stripped of the rules and procedures as they apply to other groups.”

“We demand an immediate removal of this freeze,” the student said. “We demand that Duke restore our ability to sponsor events. We reclaim our freedom of speech, and demand that Duke ends this censorship.”

Duke said it is unable to comment on the specific facts of the incident, but that the disciplinary outcome is an interim solution while the school reviews SJP’s conduct.

“When concerns are raised about the actions of a recognized student organization, the review process allows for interim non-disciplinary measures to be taken while the organization’s conduct is reviewed,” a Duke spokesperson told The N&O. “Interim measures taken pending a determination of a case are not a finding of responsibility, nor indication of a future finding of responsibility.”

“Interim measures vary, and Duke cannot comment on specific conduct matters,” the spokesperson continued.

Critics of the post say it’s antisemitic

For groups dedicated to fighting prejudice against Jewish people and advocating for Israel, such as StopAntisemitism, the Instagram post amounted to antisemitism.

“StopAntisemitism strongly condemns Duke’s SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) for using imagery of pigs holding Jewish Stars of David to promote a meeting defaming Zionism,” the organization posted on X. “Attempts to reframe or justify such messaging do not change its nature that anti-Zionism and antisemitism are directly intertwined.”

Efforts to reach Jewish Life at Duke were not successful.

Omid Safi is a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Duke. He said Duke’s actions fit into a national trend of universities clamping down on student advocacy for Palestinians.

President Donald Trump has made it a priority in his administration to crack down on perceived antisemitism on college campuses, a quest that has at certain points resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for elite colleges.

In Safi’s view, criticism of Israel does not equate to antisemitism.

“Antisemitism is real. Hatred and violence against Jewish people is historically real, and is a present day reality, and it has to be opposed, full stop, period,” Safi said. At the same time, though, “we might have criticisms of the Chinese government’s policies — that doesn’t make us somehow racist towards the Chinese. But then we’re told that, uniquely, to criticize the policies of the Israeli government is to be antisemitic, and that is a non sequitur.”

In this landscape, Safi sees an increasingly important role for Middle Eastern studies and universities in general, to equip students with the historical context and political literacy to be able to navigate fraught discussions like these.

“We need to make sure that the students are equipped with the nuance and subtlety that is needed to analyze this kind of rhetoric, so that on one hand, they can see the history of antisemitic cartoons going back 100 years,” Safi said. “How do we not tap into that, but rather stand for something that is for dignity and justice?”

“This is not a Duke issue,” Safi said. “This is an American issue.”

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