Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has banned the anti-Israel college student organization 'Students for Justice in Palestine' (SJP) in light of support for the Hamas terrorist organization from within the group following the massacre of over 1,400 Israelis on October 7.
The State University System of Florida announced the ban in light of SJP's "harmful support for terrorist groups.”
University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues wrote to college administrations that "based on the National SJP’s support of terrorism, in consultation with Governor DeSantis, the student chapters must be deactivated."
The letter cited the response of the SJP national leadership to the Hamas massacre, which was to distribute "a toolkit which refers to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood as "the resistance" and unequivocally states: "Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement.""
The order applies to two universities with SJP chapters, the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and Florida State University in Tallahassee.
In the aftermath of the Hamas massacre on the morning of Simchat Torah, SJP published a statement calling the massacre a "historic win" and endorsing "armed confrontation with the oppressors." SJP further called for "dismantling Zionism" and the "complete liberation" of all land under Israeli control, effectively calling for the complete destruction of the State of Israel.
A number of SJP chapters throughout the US have published messages explicitly supporting Hamas' massacre, including the chapters at George Mason University, Hunter College, and University of California at Berkeley, according to the Anti-Defamation League.