College President Demands Review of SJP Status on Campus

Vassar’s SJP sort of apologizes for anti-Israel, Nazi cartoon

College president demands review of pro-Palestinian group’s status on campus; organization says incident was a mistake

BY AMANDA BORSCHEL-DAN   May 16, 2014  The Times of Israel

Nazi propaganda poster used by

Vassar’s chapter of Students for

Justice in Palestine.

Vassar College was the battleground this week for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and pro-Israel advocates in a war waged through social media — and media stunts.

The small liberal arts college 75 miles (120 km) outside New York city has fewer than 2,500 students, but according to its website, hosts some 1,500 clubs and activities. Among them are a Hillel house recently gone rogue as an Open Hillel chapter demanding an open discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle, the more militant Students for Justice in Palestine, and the Vassar Conservative-Libertarian Union (VCLU).

 Set in an idyllic oasis in Poughkeepsie, the college has long been a hotbed of radical liberal thinkers. For some former students, however, the radical has crossed the line into irrational in SJP’s recent use of Nazi propaganda to illustrate the alleged pervasiveness of Zionism in the halls of power.

SJP’s Tumblr account recently published a Nazi propaganda poster by Norwegian artist Harald Damsleth captioned “Liberators” in which a many limbed monster decorated with the US flag, holding a money bag grasped by a long-nosed banker, and wearing a Star of David as a loin cloth, stomps on houses of the innocent.

Vassar President Catherine Hill released an email Wednesday stating that SJP’s status as a campus organization is called into question.