Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state college system have instructed campuses to deactivate chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, citing the state’s ban on offering assist to international 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 bloodbath 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 toolkit identifying themselves as part of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” Mr. Rodrigues stated within the Tuesday memo to college presidents.
“Based on the National SJP’s support of terrorism, in consultation with Governor DeSantis, the student chapters must be deactivated,” he stated.
The five-page SJP toolkit included a template graphic of a paraglider, a reference to the Hamas paragliders that launched the shock assault on Israeli concert-goers, and stated that “[w]e as Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement.”
Under Florida regulation, it’s a felony to “knowingly provide material support” to a chosen international terrorist group. The State Department designated Hamas, which controls Gaza, as a international terrorist group in 1997.
“Here, National SJP has affirmatively identified it is a part of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood — a terrorist led attack,” stated Mr. Rodrigues.
He stated that two universities throughout the state system have lively SJP chapters, though he didn’t title the campuses, and warned that faculty officers may 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 stated.
BREAKING: @RonDeSantis directs Florida universities to terminate pupil chapters which have expressed assist for Hamas terrorism https://t.co/xOQn2Tzig0
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 24, 2023
The National SJP, which counts greater than 250 campus chapters, didn’t reply publicly Tuesday to the Florida announcement.
Leading universities have been accused of condoning antisemitism within the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist assault, which sparked celebrations by pro-Palestinian college students and teams on school campuses nationwide.
More than 1,400 Israelis, together with girls, youngsters and the aged, and 31 Americans had been killed within the brutal assault from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which prompted Israel to declare struggle.
“Governor DeSantis, our State University System and the Florida College System have condemned these attacks,” Mr. Rodrigues stated.
Mr. DeSantis, a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, launched Operation Israel Rescue after the assault to fly Americans stranded in Israel to Tampa International Airport. So far practically 700 Americans have been flown dwelling on 4 separate flights.
The state has additionally despatched 85 pallets of donated provides to Tel Aviv.
The state Legislature referred to as a particular session beginning Nov. 6 to think about 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.”
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com