Although the group has been suspended for their demonstrations at MacEwan, they say their movement will not stop.

SAMU officially suspended the Palestine Student Alliance (PSA) in May after handing out multiple warnings for violating the student group code of conduct due to disruptive activities and social media posts. 

The group is now prohibited from hosting meetings or events, and its executive members are not allowed to hold executive positions in any other student groups until their suspension is lifted in 2026. 

“I think it was something we all expected,” said Nour Salhi. “So it wasn’t a shock to anybody, but there was obviously a profound disappointment and anger that SAMU would rather bend to MacEwan than to actually advocate and support students, which is what it’s meant to do.” 

“Personally, I think that, for one this cause, we’ve said before time and time again — it’s bigger than SAMU, it’s bigger than MacEwan, and it’s bigger than us,”

— Hasna Yahia, MacEwan student & PSA member

In February, members of the PSA were told they were “not permitted to promote unapproved events or other non-permitted activities—in particular ones indicated to be high risk.” SAMU conferred with an external legal third-party for advice on how to proceed with the PSA.

However, as an official SAMU student group, the PSA agreed to operate under SAMU’s student groups code of conduct and the student group handbook, which are quite restrictive in order to protect SAMU and groups. For example, the code of conduct states that groups should not do anything to harm the reputation of the group, SAMU, or MacEwan. As a student group, the PSA was eligible for operational and event grant funding from SAMU.

While the group maintained a relatively civil relationship with SAMU, Salhi noted that “a lot of our members had actually drained themselves quite a bit this past year, just trying to maintain that relationship.” 

“We went into several meetings where we had to have these discussions, basically pleading for SAMU to understand why the right to protest, especially during a genocide, is essential for students, and why policy cannot supersede our ability to demonstrate and our ability to speak up when, quite literally, as we learn, as we walk the halls, as we have these meetings, there are bombs dropping in Gaza,” she said. 

The PSA was under SAMU’s scrutiny, and MacEwan administration also conducted investigations on individual members of the group. MacEwan further escalated its response to the protests when it surveilled protestors, increased security, and called the police during the board of governors meeting in March. 

SAMU remained silent immediately after the incident and released an official statement almost two weeks later to condemn the incident. 

“The Students’ Association of MacEwan University (SAMU) is alarmed by reports of police presence and intimidation during a peaceful student protest at the March meeting of the university’s Board of Governors,” the statement read. “The deployment of law enforcement in response to nonviolent student action and absent any genuine threat to safety is unacceptable and deeply concerning.” 

Abraar Alsilwadi, the president of the PSA, said that before the group was officially formed, she and others went through the “proper channels,” like sending open letters for students and faculty to sign and emails to the administration. 

“We went through these proper channels, and the escalation that went about was only a direct result of not having any other choice, and as a result of them literally rejecting us, not listening to us, not engaging with us, not replying to our emails or messages, none of that,” said Alsilwadi. 

The group also mentioned that many MacEwan students have been directly affected by the conflict in Gaza. 

Alsilwadi recalls when her friend, who is a student at MacEwan, broke down crying after finding out her aunt was killed in Gaza in the middle of class. 

“What do I even say to this person, to my friend who literally, like her aunt, got killed?” she recalled. 

However, according to PSA member Hasna Yahia, the suspension will not stop the group. 

“Personally, I think that, for one this cause, we’ve said time and time again – it’s bigger than SAMU, it’s bigger than MacEwan, and it’s bigger than us.” said Yahia. 

Salhi and the others echoed her comment. 

“So whatever little restraint we kind of had from being a student group is kind of gone, but in terms of personally, I’ve already been targeted by the institution, and I continue to be, and this is something that is very real to me.  I’m aware that I might not make it to graduation. That’s just something I have to sit with, and I have had to ask myself, is that something I’m willing to do, is that something I’m willing to experience, you know, not even like not walking the stage, but not even getting a degree?” 

The Griff reached out to SAMU for comment. SAMU general manager, Darryl Kostash, in an email response, wrote “for students’ privacy reasons, SAMU does not share information publicly regarding disciplinary measures against individual student groups or individual students.”