DeSantis’ order to deactivate National SJP in Florida

Palestine Legal issued the following statement regarding DeSantis’ order to deactivate National SJP in Florida:

On Tuesday, October 24, the chancellor of the State University System of Florida, Ray Rodrigues, released a memorandum directing public universities in Florida to “deactivate” chapters of National Students for Justice in Palestine on their campuses. The memo is filled with erroneous factual and legal claims that seek to distract from, distort and silence the message of student activists across the United States the same way Israeli propaganda has sought to distract public attention from ongoing Israeli war crimes.

Florida, particularly under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, has been actively undermining education, freedom of speech, and social justice movements, including by banning anti-racist courses and trying to criminalize protests. It is not surprising that this egregious move to silence the student movement for Palestinian rights is being pursued under DeSantis. 

The call to ban Students for Justice in Palestine chapters in Florida–or anywhere across the country–is unconstitutional. It’s a violation of the First Amendment as affirmed by the Supreme Court in Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169 (1972). 

The Florida memo seeks to justify this unconstitutional ban by claiming that language referring to “resistance” and the statement that “Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement” somehow makes National Students for Justice in Palestine or the independent student groups that share its name guilty of “support for terrorism” under the law. The claim relies on the broad and vague “material support for terrorism” regime, which criminalizes even nonviolent coordination with designated terrorist organizations. Under this regime, which has only survived constitutional challenge because of pervasive fearmongering and Islamophobia within our legal system, independent protests and organizing in support of Palestinian rights do not constitute “material support for terrorism.” 

This is a blatant attack on students’ First Amendment rights, and it will be challenged in court.