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MU denies MSJP inclusion in annual Homecoming parade

Zuhnia Kozbar holds a Palestinian flag while listening to speakers after a walkout and demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday, April 29, 2024 at MU Campus in Columbia. The flag contains an emblem of the Al-Aqsa mosque and reads “Palestine is all Jerusalem."
Ellie Frysztak
/
Missourian
Zuhnia Kozbar holds a Palestinian flag while listening to speakers after a walkout and demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on Monday, April 29, 2024 at MU Campus in Columbia. The flag contains an emblem of the Al-Aqsa mosque and reads “Palestine is all Jerusalem”.

MU student group Mizzou Students for Justice in Palestine has been denied participation in this year’s Homecoming parade.

This organization submitted an application to take part in MU’s Homecoming parade on Aug. 3, but the university took until Oct. 16 to reject it.

MSJP board members were under the impression that they would be taking part in the parade since they attended mandatory planning meetings. The rejection email followed the next day.

In the email publicly posted to Instagram, MU President Mun Choi references community disturbances caused by Students for Justice in Palestine, an international group with hundreds of chapters. However, MSPJ members say they do not have any ties to that organization.

MU Director of News and Information Christopher Ave says Choi’s decision was made to create a safe environment.

“The university did an analysis of other events involving SJP and similar groups, and found that at several events, there were incidents that were disturbing and that might threaten safety,” he said.

Choi’s email also references an incident which occurred on MU’s campus earlier this month, where the president of MSJP and a community member got into a verbal altercation. In an interview with KBIA, MSJP secretary Dina Al Bahhash said, “There were just some words spoken that shouldn’t have been. It was just bad words.”

However, in a later Instagram post, MSJP said that there was no “concerning activity” and things remained civil.

In the original email, Choi asked MSJP to set up a time with him to discuss their exclusion from the parade, but the group said he failed to attend this meeting. The organization said they didn’t get a chance to talk to him face-to-face while they were being questioned on their intentions for participating.

Al Bahhash said the ban feels unfair.

“It really makes me angry, honestly, because we try to do good with the university. We talk to them about any events that we’re doing,” she said. “They’re always afraid, and they always work as if they’re looking out for our safety. If he was really looking out for our safety, then I think he would have showed up to the original meeting.”

She said that their only intention at the Homecoming parade was to share Palestinian culture with the community. They had purchased treats to hand out and choreographed a traditional folk dance called Dabke.

Choi offered a different location for MSJP to set up during the parade, but the organization said they do not plan to take him up on the offer.

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