By Andrew Hay
(Reuters) – The university system in Florida, in collaboration with Governor , has issued an order to disband a pro-Palestinian student organization, becoming the first state in the U.S. to officially outlaw the group. This organization’s national leadership expressed support for Hamas’ recent attack on Israel.
The State University System of Florida has declared that chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) must be dismantled as part of their efforts to crackdown on campus demonstrations that provide support to terrorist groups, a move driven by the Republican-led state administration.
“Given the National SJP’s endorsement of terrorism, the student chapters must be deactivated in consultation with Governor DeSantis,” stated Ray Rodrigues, the system’s Chancellor, in a memo addressed to university leaders.
According to Rodrigues, SJP is active in at least two universities in Florida, namely the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and Florida State University in Tallahassee, as indicated by their Instagram pages. The National SJP has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Tensions between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students have escalated at various U.S. universities following Hamas’ attack on October 7th, in addition to Israel’s subsequent siege and bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Certain administrators at U.S. universities have criticized the National SJP after it hailed Hamas’ attack as “a historic victory for the Palestinian resistance” and called for a “day of resistance” on October 12th, organizing demonstrations across over 200 colleges in the U.S. and Canada.
DeSantis, a candidate for the White House, has consistently taken a strong stance against Palestinians, even suggesting that basic necessities like water and utilities be denied to civilians in Gaza until Hamas releases its hostages from the recent attack.
The university system in Florida justified its ban on SJP based on a “toolkit” distributed by the national organization to its chapters, which referred to Hamas’ attack as “the resistance” and asserted that “Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement.”
In his memo, Rodrigues highlighted that the National SJP identified itself as part of Hamas’ attack, and highlighted that Florida law deems it a felony to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.
(Reporting By Andrew Hay)
