Duke Suspends Students for Justice in Palestine Chapter Over Antisemitic Flyer

Duke University recently suspended recognition and froze funding for its campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine after complaints that a promotional flyer for a chapter event used imagery many described as antisemitic — a depiction of pigs bearing Stars of David tied to the group's meeting notice. University officials cited the flyer and the resulting outcry as the reason for revoking the chapter’s official status; social media reports indicate the students who created the flyer did not receive individual disciplinary sanctions. The move follows public condemnation and heightened scrutiny from alumni and campus groups demanding a formal response to what they called dehumanizing imagery.

The decision comes amid a broader pattern at U.S. campuses: since 2023 several universities, including Brandeis, Columbia, George Washington, the University of Texas at Dallas and American University, have taken disciplinary steps against SJP chapters for incidents judged to cross institutional policies on hate speech or antisemitism. That context matters at Duke, where roughly 13% of undergraduates — about 810 students — identify as Jewish, making campus climate decisions on antisemitism particularly salient for a sizable student population. Observers also noted the flyer’s imagery echoes a long-standing medieval antisemitic trope that depicted Jews with pigs, a historical pattern of dehumanization that many found especially inflammatory.

Public reaction was intensified and amplified on social media, where accounts such as @JessicaCostescu posted the flyer and traced its origins to a 1970s Black Panther newspaper image, prompting further condemnation from organizations like @StopAntisemites and supporters who hailed the suspension as necessary. Commentary on social platforms contrasted Duke’s action with other institutions’ responses — some praising Duke and others pointing to perceived inconsistencies at schools that did not act — and underscored a shift in how these incidents come to light: grassroots reporting and viral posts often trigger rapid institutional responses and wider media coverage. Mainstream reporting on campus controversies involving SJP has moved from isolated accounts of individual posts to pattern-driven coverage that connects incidents across campuses, a change accelerated both by social-media exposés and by outlets that have tracked multiple suspensions in recent months, with conservative and local media among the early amplifiers in this case.