Students for Justice in Palestine, The Early History
On October 24, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the shutting down of Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at universities across the state using support of terrorism claims. Florida’s action was followed on November 10th, 2023, by the Columbia University president’s suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace chapters on campus for violating campus student policy. Since the events of October 7th and Israel’s war on Gaza, Students for Justice in Palestine has faced a steady stream of articles, negative media coverage, and constant political attacks directed at the group and their successful campus activism for Palestine.
The ongoing Israeli national and international Islamophobic assault on SJP is precisely because of its success in forging a multi-ethnic, multi-faith, and intersectional coalition across college campuses. Sinisterly, the Israeli Government, pro-Israel advocates in the US (ADL, AJC, ZOA, AIPAC, Stand With US, and others), and media talking heads have utilized a combination of Islamophobic tropes and outright fabrication to demand the shutdown of the organization across the country. Israel’s malicious, bullying and McCarthyism-style strategy centers on demonizing SJP, JVP, AMP, and others because, to be frank about it, they no longer can defend the records of Zionism, Apartheid Israel, settler…
