FSU SJP Attempts to Distance Itself from Accusations of Anti-Semitism

Florida State University’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter attempted to distance itself from anti-Semitism after a May 30 report by the pro-Israel watchdog Canary Mission highlighted social media posts from people who were involved in the chapter.

FSU SJP posted a June 1 statement to social media that read, “We, the FSU chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, entirely condemn and denounce the racist, anti-Black, and anti-Semitic statements made by some of the individuals who were previous students and members of our SJP chapter.”

The statement then referenced the Canary Mission report, noting that a lot of the social media posts highlighted in the report “are legitimate criticisms of Israeli governmental policies and practices, even though they are presented as anti-Semitic.”

“Our movement is communal and collective; any racist and anti-Semitic comments that come out of individuals are not only a threat to the group they are targeting, but they are a threat to our movement’s struggle for peace and justice in the Middle East and all around the world,” the organization said.

FSU SJP official statement on the recent anti-Semitic & racist posts made by previous SJP members found by Canary Mission @floridastate pic.twitter.com/DL8qSoBQke

— FSU SJP (@FSU4Palestine) June 1, 2018

Canary Mission noted in a statement that the June 1 statement did not mention any examples of tweets that they condemned, but prior tweets from FSU SJP condemned three students who had tweeted, “Where do black Jews sit?… IN THE BACK OF THE OVEN”, “Facebook and Yahood [Jews]– the cause of all the worlds problems”, and another said she wanted to “f–– up a Zionist.”

Canary Mission pointed out that FSU SJP did not condemn any of the posts highlighted in Canary Mission’s report “that called for intifada and violence against Jews.”

“By separating anti-Semitism from terrorism committed against Jews, the group has once again revealed SJP as an organization that is fundamentally anti-peace and pro-violence,” Canary Mission said.