Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state university system have instructed campuses to deactivate chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, citing the state’s ban on providing support to foreign terrorists.
Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the State University System of Florida, cited the National Students for Justice in Palestine’s “day of resistance” toolkit, which praised the bloody Oct. 7 massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas attackers as a “historic win for the Palestinian resistance.”
“These chapters exist under the headship of the National Students for Justice in Palestine, who distributed a tool kit identifying themselves as part of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” Mr. Rodrigues said in the Tuesday memo to university presidents.
“Based on the National SJP’s support of terrorism, in consultation with Gov. DeSantis, the student chapters must be deactivated,” he said.
The five-page SJP toolkit included a template graphic of a paraglider, a reference to the Hamas paragliders that launched the surprise attack on Israeli concertgoers, and said that “[w]e as Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement.”
Under Florida law, it is a felony to “knowingly provide material support” to a designated foreign terrorist organization. The State Department designated Hamas, which controls Gaza, as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
“Here, National SJP has affirmatively identified it is a part of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood — a terrorist led attack,” said Mr. Rodrigues.
Two universities within the state system have active SJP chapters: the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, the governor’s office said.
Mr. Rodrigues warned that school officials could face “adverse employment actions and suspensions.”
“The State University System will continue working with the Executive Office of the Governor and SUS’s Board of Governors to ensure we are all using all tools at our disposal to crack down on campus demonstrations that delve beyond protected First Amendment speech into harmful support for terrorist groups,” Mr. Rodrigues said.
BREAKING: @RonDeSantis directs Florida universities to terminate student chapters that have expressed support for Hamas terrorism https://t.co/xOQn2Tzig0
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 24, 2023
The National SJP, which counts more than 250 campus chapters, did not respond publicly Tuesday to the Florida announcement.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression pushed back, insisting that the “government cannot force public colleges to derecognize Students for Justice in Palestine chapters.”
“There’s no indication from the chancellor’s letter that any action from Florida’s Students for Justice in Palestine groups went beyond expression fully protected by the First Amendment,” the foundation said Wednesday.
The organization called the directive a “dangerous” and “unconstitutional” threat to free speech.
“If it goes unchallenged, no one’s political beliefs will be safe from government suppression,” the foundation said.
Leading universities have been accused of condoning antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, which sparked celebrations by pro-Palestinian students and groups on college campuses nationwide.
More than 1,400 Israelis, including women, children and older adults, and 31 Americans were killed in the brutal assault from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which prompted Israel to declare war.
“Gov. DeSantis, our state university system and the Florida College System have condemned these attacks,” Mr. Rodrigues said.
Mr. DeSantis, a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, launched Operation Israel Rescue after the attack to fly Americans stranded in Israel to Tampa International Airport. Nearly 700 Americans have been flown home on four separate flights.
The state has also sent 85 pallets of donated supplies to Tel Aviv.
The state Legislature called a special session starting Nov. 6 to consider the governor’s proposal to toughen its sanctions on Iran “to ensure Florida does not do business with companies aligned with Iran that could in turn fund Hamas and other terrorist groups.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.