The administration of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking the extraordinary step of ordering state universities to ban a pro-Palestinian student group from campus, saying the group illegally supports Hamas militants who attacked Israel earlier this month molecular.
As Israel’s assault on Gaza intensifies, some college students have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, leading to swift condemnation from some Jewish academics and even some prospective employers. But Florida State went further, saying Students for Justice in Palestine was supporting a “terrorist group.”
State University System Chancellor Ray Rodriguez Write a letter to the university president On Tuesday, at the urging of Gov. Ron DeSantis, they were directed to dissolve SJP chapters. He cited the national organization’s statement that “exiled Palestinian students are part of this movement, not in solidarity with it.”
“Under Florida law, it is a felony to ‘knowingly provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization…'” Rodriguez said in the letter.
In 1997, the U.S. State Department classified Hamas as a terrorist organization. The European Union and other Western countries also regard it as a terrorist organization.
Hamas won the 2006 parliamentary elections and violently seized control of the Gaza Strip from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority in 2007. The Palestinian Authority, dominated by the rival Fatah movement, governs the semi-autonomous region of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
DeSantis, who is running for president, has stepped up his pro-Israel stance since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel that led to pro- and anti-Israel demonstrations around the world and prompted Israel to respond with airstrikes. . The governor has sent planes to Israel to deliver supplies and return Floridians there who want to return.
He also backed a special legislative session to impose new sanctions on Iran for backing Hamas and expressed support for Israel. So far, no government has provided evidence that Iran was directly involved in the attack.
Students for Justice in Palestine has been on U.S. campuses for decades, holding regular protests calling for Palestinian liberation and a boycott of Israel. The loosely connected network says it has more than 200 chapters across the United States.
Palestine Law Group, which provides legal support to pro-Palestinian groups, said the ban on SJP is part of DeSantis’ broader efforts to suppress free speech on campuses.
“Florida, especially under Governor Ron DeSantis, has been actively undermining education, free speech, and social justice movements, including banning anti-racist classes and seeking to criminalize protest. DeSantis This shocking move by the leadership to suppress the student movement for Palestinian rights is not surprising,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday.
Under DeSantis, Florida has restricted how schools discuss race, banned state universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and taken Other behaviors Critics say it restricts free speech on campus.
SJP has played a central role in the campus movement known as BDS, which calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. The national organization did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The free speech group the Foundation for Personal Rights and Expression called Florida’s directive unconstitutional and dangerous and said the government has no legal authority to force universities to ban SJP chapters.
“Anyone’s political beliefs, if left unchallenged, are subject to government repression,” the group said in a statement.
The ban comes after the lone Jewish Republican in the state Legislature switched his support in the presidential election from DeSantis to former President Donald Trump, saying DeSantis would not back it up with action His pro-Israel rhetoric.
Rep. Randy Fine, who has advised DeSantis on Israel and Jewish policy, said he had called on the administration to take action against the student group but not until he published a strongly worded op-ed explaining his decision to change his support Only then did the government take action.
“I shouldn’t have supported Trump to make this happen. I begged them for two weeks to get the Heisman Trophy every time,” Fine said, referring to a depiction of a player on college football’s trophy with his arms extended. Fend off opponents.
However, the governor’s office said the ban has been in place for more than a week.
“The actions taken by the administration have nothing to do with Congressman Fine. Any suggestion otherwise is nothing more than political grandstanding. Randy Fine is not the center of our universe,” DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said via email.
Students for Justice in Palestine and several other groups on Wednesday called for student strikes across the country on college campuses to demand an end to Israel’s attacks on Gaza and for an end to U.S. financial support for Israel. Strikes are planned on campuses from the University of Massachusetts Amherst to UCLA.
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Binkley reported from Washington, D.C.
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