Peach Tree Times

Ahead of their Day of Resistance rallies across the country, the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) issued a "toolkit" document that refers to Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Hamas’ brutal terrorist attack in Israel that left over 1200 dead, as "the resistance," and it further stated that student activities are part of the movement and not just in solidarity. While the document has led some schools to move to deactivate the group, the SJP currently operates on the campuses of the University of Georgia and has been regularly holding rallies and walkouts.

SJP's toolkit document refers frequently to Hamas as "the resistance" and frames Israel as "the Zionist enemy" and "a violent settler state." According to National SJP, Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is part of the Palestinian people's "struggle for complete liberation and return." The toolkit proclaims that "National liberation is near— glory to our resistance, to our martyrs, and to our steadfast people," and emphasizes that "We as Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement."

According to the American Jewish Coalition, the death toll from Hamas' Operation Al-Aqsa Flood currently stands at 1210, and of the 240 taken hostage, about 137 are believed to remain in Gaza. The report also notes that hostages have been treated very badly under Hamas captivity and shares an account of two teenage boys who were branded with a motorcycle exhaust pipe so that they could be identified if they escaped.

On Oct. 12, as part of the national "Day of Resistance" that the toolkit was created for, the University of Georgia's chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine organized a protest for students "who support the freedom and self-determination of the Palestinian people” and accused Israel of murdering Palestinians, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Red&Black reported that during a march on UGA's campus on Nov. 10, the UGA chapter of the SJP reportedly organized "from the river to the sea" chants and protested outside the office of UGA President Jere Morehead for his condemnation of Hamas' attack on Israeli civilians.

A recent survey of college students across the US found that 86% supported the "from the river to the sea" chant, but only 47% were able to name the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. A Jerusalem Post article noted that two-thirds of the surveyed students went from supporting the chant to rejecting it after being presented with a handful of "basic facts about the Middle East."

In an Oct. 10 statement, UGA President Morehead expressed that he was "outraged and deeply saddened by the terrorist acts perpetrated against innocent civilians in Israel." Morehead further acknowledged that it was "a dark and difficult moment," especially for Jewish members of the UGA community.

According to a report from the Florida Record, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues of the University of Florida system took steps to deactivate the SJP chapters at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida in light of the SJP toolkit and its "support of terrorism." A lawsuit was filed against the university seeking to block the shutdown of the groups.