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TAMPA, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 13: Supporters for Palestinians protest Israeli troops entering the Gaza Strip during the march called International Day Of Action For Gaza on October 13, 2023 in downtown Tampa, Florida. On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched the largest surprise attack from Gaza in a generation, sending thousands of missiles and an unknown number of fighters by land, who shot and kidnapped Israelis in communities near the Gaza border. The attack prompted retaliatory strikes on Gaza and a declaration of war by the Israeli prime minister.
The University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (UF SJP), a pro-Palestinian student group in Florida, accused Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of violating student's free speech rights following the deactivation order on Thursday.
UF SJP filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Gainesville and called on the court to block movements in the US, attempting to silence a pro-Palestinian group amid the foul repercussions of the Israel-Hamas war on American campuses.
Pro-Palestinian Student Group Accuses DeSantis of Free Speech Rights Violation
Raymond Rodrigues, the chancellor of Florida's university system, issued a deactivation order that targeted the UF SJP. However, Rodrigues said DeSantis consulted and instructed him to dismantle the student group.
Rodrigues said his decision and the actions of the national entity of SJP were based on the accusations of engaging in support of terrorism. But the Florida group responded that the charges have nothing to do with the national body and its controversial statements.
According to the lawsuit, UF SJP argued that it was fully autonomous and had no financial or other ties with the national body.
A spokesperson for UF SJP said, "The aim of the lawsuit was to counter any official attempt to silence them or others like us. As students on a public college campus, we have every right to engage in human rights advocacy and promote public awareness and activism for a just and reasonable solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict."
The furor about free speech was introduced during the 2024 presidential race. DeSantis said at last week's Republican presidential debate in Miami that they had deactivated them and they would not use tax dollars to fund jihad.
DeSantis aimed at the "Day of Resistance toolkit" when the National SJP group released a comment that praised the attack as a historic win for the Palestinian resistance. The toolkit included another statement, saying that Palestinian students in exile were part of the movement, not in solidarity with the action.
Rodrigues reported that by providing the toolkit National SJP has provided material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which acts as a felony under Florida law.
However, the lawsuit argued that UF SJP insisted that the actions of the national group were unfairly tarnishing the group. The complaint claimed they were not involved in or consulted about the toolkit.
On the other hand, the response of the group to the recent Hamas attack was to mourn the loss of innocent Palestinian and Israeli civilian life.
Suspension of SJP in Universities
Meanwhile, Columbia University in New York suspended its branch of SJP until the end of its term, along with the Jewish Voice for Peace. Columbia authorities said the group had performed unauthorized events that included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.
George Washington University in Washington DC also suspended a campus chapter of SJP due to the projected slogans on the library wall.
The debate in Florida started on October 24 when Rodrigues issued a deactivation order to the leaders of all public colleges in Florida.
The Florida group was founded in 2009 as a human rights advocacy organization with the mission of providing a just and reasonable solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict.
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