Florida’s tough-minded governor, Ron DeSantis, and his state’s university system have slapped the first U.S. ban on a radical pro-Palestinian student group, accusing it of providing “harmful support to terrorist groups.”
The Florida State University System announced that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), whose national leadership supported Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel, had to be dismantled as part of a statewide “crackdown.”
“Based on the National JEP’s support for terrorism, in consultation with Governor DeSantis, student chapters must be deactivated,” system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues wrote in a letter to university leaders.
The group is active at at least two Florida universities, Rodrigues said.
The University of North Florida in Jacksonville and Florida State University in Tallahassee have chapters based on Instagram sites.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has ordered the state’s university system to crack down on a group of pro-Palestinian students. AP Chancellor Ray Rodrigues sent a memo Tuesday announcing the ban on Students for Justice in Palestine.
The Florida university system wrote in its memo that the SJP ban is based on a “toolkit” its national organization gave to university chapters that referred to the Hamas attack as “the resistance”; the group stated that “Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement,” not just “in solidarity” with it.
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel.
“It is a felony under Florida law to ‘knowingly provide material support… to a designated foreign terrorist organization,’” the memo states in justifying the ban.
Officials at some universities criticized the National SJP after it praised the Hamas attack as “a historic victory for the Palestinian resistance” and called for a “day of resistance” on October 12 with demonstrations by its sections at more than 200 universities in the United States. United States and Canada. .
Tensions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students have led to harassment and clashes at universities, AFP via Getty Images
DeSantis, a 2024 presidential candidate, has taken a tough stance against the Palestinians, suggesting that civilians in Gaza be denied water and public services until Hamas releases the more than 200 hostages it took during its attack, which left about 1,400. Dead Israelis.
He also said that if he were elected president, he would cancel student visas and deport people who support Hamas.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn