Ron DeSantis defends call to ban pro-Palestinian groups from Florida colleges

The Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has amplified and defended his call to ban pro-Palestinian groups from colleges in the state, rejecting claims by 2024 rival Vivek Ramaswamy that such restrictions were a “shameful political ploy” and “utter hypocrisy” that amounted to a violation of free speech rights.

“This is not cancel culture,” DeSantis hit back in a interview on NBC’s Meet the Press before locking Palestinian rights supporters in with supporters of Hamas. DeSantis went on to claim that pro-Palestinian groups on state campuses had “themselves said in the aftermath of the Hamas attack that they don’t just stand in solidarity, that they are part of this Hamas movement”.

Last week, the DeSantis ordered two state universities to deactivate chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, as they had purportedly violated state laws prohibiting antisemitism.

On Sunday, he again justified the measures.

“You have a right to go out and demonstrate, but you can’t provide material support to terrorism. They’ve linked themselves to Hamas … it’s not a first amendment issue. That’s a material support to terrorism issue,” he said.

“Once you hitched your wagon to a group like Hamas, that takes you out of the realm of normal activity, and that’s something that we’re going to take action against. So we believe we’re totally justified within the law,” he continued.

DeSantis’s comments come against a backdrop of increasing visible public protests in the US, including on college campuses and in a pattern of civil disruptions. The protests are efforts against the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, and a three-week military campaign to destroy Hamas believed to be holding 230 Israeli hostages after a cross-border attack that killed more than 1,300.

As of Sunday, more than 8,000 people, including women and children, have been killed by Israeli forces in escalating retaliatory strikes across Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials.

Last week, the University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) accused DeSantis of trying to undermine free speech rights by moving to “deactivate” its chapters, calling the move “disgraceful”.

“Governor DeSantis continues to disrespect American values such as freedom of speech to extend his political power,” a statement to the Tampa Bay Times read.

“To bend the law in this manner shows the utmost disrespect not only to any pro-Palestinian organization, but also to anyone who truly cares for political freedom and freedom of speech.”

That came after the chancellor of Florida’s university system, Ray Rodrigues, said that DeSantis directed the University of Florida and the University of South Florida to disband two campus chapters of the pro-Palestinian student group.

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Rodrigues wrote to the universities that a “toolkit” released by SJP described the 7 October attack on Israel as “the resistance” and “unequivocally states: ‘Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement’”.

The letter contended that the national SJP organization has “affirmatively identified” that it was part of the attack.

He also claimed the group is violating state law. “It is a felony under Florida law to ‘knowingly provide material support … to a designated foreign terrorist organization’ … Here, National SJP has affirmatively identified it is part of the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood – a terrorist-led attack.”

DeSantis also responded to criticism that he supported moves against Palestinian rights group but, unlike Florida senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, had failed to voice sufficient opposition to neo-Nazi protests in the state.

A recent op-ed by Randy Fine, the only Jewish Republican in the Florida state legislature, claimed that DeSantis said “almost nothing” and failed to act after neo-Nazis assaulted a rabbi and hung signs saying “Gas the Jews” over a highway overpass 18 months ago.

DeSantis accused Fine of “just trying to create a name for himself”, telling NBC “that’s all nonsense … and don’t give somebody 15 minutes of fame just because they’re letting you try to do a preferred narrative just to hit me. It’s nonsense.”

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