George Mason University – Censorship of Students for Justice in Palestine

Summary

In 2024, George Mason University (GMU) adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “working definition” of antisemitism as part of its non‑discrimination policy. The definition included illustrative examples relating to Israel and Zionism, and the university stated it was intended to help identify antisemitic harassment while protecting Jewish students and complying with federal civil‑rights obligations.

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at GMU is a student organization that advocates for Palestinian rights and raises awareness about issues affecting Palestinians through campus events, activism, and educational campaigns. The organization had previously been suspended as a student group, one of its leaders expelled, and three individuals trespassed from campus until November 2028 following a university police investigation into acts of vandalism in August 2024. The GMU Police Department pursued the investigation to the extent allowed by law, including a home search of two SJP leaders in November 2024; the Commonwealth’s Attorney later declined to file charges. SJP has since been reinstated as a registered student organization, and university officials recently met with SJP leaders to reiterate the institution’s zero-tolerance enforcement approach.

On August 24, 2025, SJP posted a two‑minute video on Instagram describing the famine in Gaza, calling Israel a “genocidal Zionist state,” referring to the United States as “Turtle Island,” and expressing the view that the Palestinian struggle for liberation had not wavered and that there was a moral obligation to support it. The video, narrated by a student wearing a traditional Palestinian scarf (keffiyeh), also described SJP’s experiences with “surveillance and repression” as tools used by Israel and in the “belly of the beast.”

On September 2, 2025, the video was removed by SJP at the university’s insistence, citing GMU’s non-discrimination policy. Vice President of University Life Rose Pascarell had emailed the group demanding removal because the content “violates the IHRA definition of antisemitism.” On September 5, the university provided an analysis from the Office of Access, Community, and Compliance stating that the video violated the IHRA definition due to four phrases: “genocidal Zionist state of Israel,” “belly of the beast,” “Turtle Island,” and “full liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.”

On October 29, 2025, GMU sent a formal notice reinforcing its policy, stating that the video had raised “safety fears and alarm” among members of the university community and noting that its content aligned with illustrative examples of antisemitism under the IHRA definition. Later that day, advocacy organization Palestine Legal sent a letter to GMU on behalf of SJP, arguing that the university’s actions constituted viewpoint‑based censorship in violation of the First Amendment and created a hostile environment for Palestinian students and allies.

The dispute occurred within a broader federal context. Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, the Trump administration launched investigations and a task force to address antisemitism at colleges and universities, warning that institutions could face sanctions or loss of federal funding under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act if they failed to prevent “antisemitic” harassment.