Miami – Ron DeSantis’s administration has implicated a pro-Palestinian student organization in terrorism and is urging state universities to ban the group from campuses due to its alleged support for Hamas militants.
As the Israeli attacks on Gaza have escalated, some college students have shown solidarity with Palestinians, which has garnered criticism from certain Jewish academics and potential employers. However, Florida is going a step further by declaring that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) supports a “terrorist organization.” State university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues wrote to university presidents on Tuesday, following Governor Ron DeSantis’s request, instructing them to disband SJP chapters after the national group stated that “Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement.”
Rodrigues stated in the letter, “It is a felony under Florida law to ‘knowingly provide material support… to a designated foreign terrorist organization.'” Hamas was designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department in 1997.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, pro-Palestinian rallies were held at institutions of higher learning across the United States, including the University of Miami and FIU.
Governor DeSantis has strengthened his pro-Israel position since the Hamas attacks on October 7 in southern Israel, which sparked worldwide pro- and anti-Israel demonstrations and prompted Israel to retaliate with airstrikes. DeSantis has sent planes to Israel to provide supplies and facilitate the return of Floridians wishing to come back. He is also backing a special legislative session to impose new sanctions on Iran, a supporter of Hamas, and to express support for Israel. However, no government has presented evidence linking Iran directly to the attacks.
For decades, Students for Justice in Palestine has been present on U.S. campuses, organizing frequent protests advocating for the liberation of Palestinians and boycotts against Israel. The loosely connected network claims to have over 200 chapters nationwide. Palestine Legal, an organization that offers legal support to pro-Palestinian groups, sees the ban on SJP as part of Governor DeSantis’s broader efforts to suppress freedom of speech on campuses.
SJP has played a key role in the campus movement known as BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions), which calls for the boycott, divestment, and sanction of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians. The national group did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a free speech group, deemed Florida’s directive unconstitutional and dangerous, arguing that the government lacks the legal authority to force colleges to ban SJP chapters. They stated, “If it goes unchallenged, no one’s political beliefs will be safe from government suppression.”
The ban was imposed after the only Jewish Republican in the state Legislature switched his support in the presidential election from DeSantis to former President Donald Trump. Rep. Randy Fine, who has advised DeSantis on Israel and Jewish policy, revealed that he had urged the administration to take action against the student group but received no response until he publicly explained his decision to switch endorsements. Fine said, “It shouldn’t have taken me endorsing Trump to make it happen. I was begging them for two weeks and was just getting the Heisman at every turn,” referring to a college football trophy.
The governor’s office, however, stated that the ban had been in the works for over a week and was unrelated to Representative Fine. DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern dismissed Fine’s claims as political grandstanding, asserting that “Randy Fine is not the center of our universe.”
Students for Justice in Palestine, along with several other groups, called for a national student walkout at college campuses on Wednesday to demand an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza and to protest U.S. financial support for Israel. Walkouts were planned at various campuses, including the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the University of California, Los Angeles.
