In light of the fact that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) provides “material support” to Hamas, “a designated foreign terrorist group,” Governor Ron DeSantis has now issued an order mandating that all colleges and universities in Florida’s university system “deactivate” SJP chapters on their respective campuses.
Rodrigues referred to a “toolkit” that was distributed by the national SJP body, which praised the crimes committed by Hamas during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood (also known as “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”) and demanded that student members participate in the worldwide “resistance” campaign.
“Based on the National SJP’s support of terrorism, in consultation with Governor DeSantis, the student chapters must be deactivated. It is a felony under Florida law to ‘knowingly provide material support . . . to a designated foreign terrorist organization,’” Chancellor Ray Rodrigues wrote in a letter.
The document praised Hamas for its invasion of Israel and included cartoon visuals showing paragliders used by Hamas. These graphics were intended for use by American chapters.
According to a letter sent out by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Friday, SJP groups could be found on a large number of American college campuses endorsing an attack carried out by a Palestinian terrorist group.
It is possible that their actions would violate state and federal laws that prohibit providing support to international terrorist organizations.
An SJP chapter at the University of Virginia, which was cited as an example in the letter from the ADL, issued an official statement saying, “We stand in solidarity with Palestinian resistance fighters,” one day after the massacre.
The statement read: “We stand in solidarity with Palestinian resistance fighters.”
Together with Palestine Legal, the student organization has issued a statement condemning the order and declaring that the Student Justice Project will contest the action in court.
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