Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, July 31, political repression reached a new low at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as all five student organizations in the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition were suspended for alleged “threatening and antisemitic” remarks on social media. The students responded with a march on August 5.

The Popular University for Palestine Coalition includes the UW-Milwaukee chapters of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Muslim Student Association (MSA), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Un-PAC and Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA). According to the UWM administration, these student groups were deemed a threat to safety on campus. In reality, however, the only threat they posed is to the U.S. war machine and the pro-Israel status quo.

Overall, the student activists are unmoved by the administration’s threats and vow to continue their struggle. Highlighting the political nature of these attacks, Ben Cusack from SDS said, “To think that the administration has remained apolitical through their decisions with the UWM4Pali Coalition is absurd.”

Indeed, the “emergency” suspension came after a coordinated outcry from local Zionist groups towards a UWM4Pali Instagram story post. The student-led coalition stated that “Any organization or entity that supports Israel is not welcome at UWM.” The coalition further included Hillel and the Milwaukee Jewish Federation as part of this statement, as they’ve publicly denounced the coalition since the encampment agreement was reached this past May. Members of the local Hillel chapter also recently took a trip to the apartheid state where they met with the spokesperson of the Israeli occupation forces.

To say the decision to suspend the student organizations is backward is an understatement. Cusack further added, “They have constantly valued the voices of these organizations and donors who fund the apartheid Zionist state of Israel, rather than the voices of their students and broader Milwaukee community. As an active member within the coalition, I know the power the students hold in demanding accountability and transparency. Simply put, student voices cannot and will not go unheard even under times of institutional repression.”

The student organizations defiantly responded with a march and rally at the UWM Foundation office, on Monday, August 5. The UWM Foundation controls all investments for UWM and has refused to disclose where the money is going despite widespread community support for the coalition’s demands. In recently released emails, donors like the former Northwestern Mutual CEO Edward Zore were found to have emailed UWM Chancellor Mark Mone condemning the student coalition historic Gaza encampment that took place in May. One of Zore’s emails said, “If UWM gives in to any of these bullshit demands, you will get no more dollars from the Zores.” However, the student power still reverberates through the UWM campus– university administrators shut down the campus early in fears of the impending student-led march on August 5.

When asked for his thoughts on the recent suspension, Waleed Nassar, an SJP board member, answered, “UWM’s decision to suspend the coalition is nothing short of a thinly-veiled assault on our First Amendment rights. It is now clear to us that the administration would rather take orders from external organizations that have a financial hold on UWM, than listen to the vast majority of its students.”

Universities are the ideological arm of the ruling class, and with repression against student activists on the rise, universities are going mask off and can no longer fake where their allegiance lies.

Ameen Atta of MSA did not hold back in his condemnation of the suspensions, stating, “UWM’s decision to suspend student organizations is not only an infringement of our rights, but a shameful bow down to outside pressures that have constantly attempted to silence us.”

That the blatant violation of rights is directly connected to the political and financial ties the university seeks to uphold as was expressed by all representatives of the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition.

Nonetheless, the students attested that their movement has only grown, with Atta saying, “Unfortunately for those groups, the coalition as well as its respective member organizations as a whole have only grown in number. With every attempt to silence us, more and more students are seeing right through the hypocrisy and joining us in pursuit of justice and freedom for the people of Palestine.”

University administrators will continue making the grave mistake of repressing its students for going against the U.S. State Department line, but the UWM Popular University for Palestine Coalition has asserted that the students united, will never be defeated!

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