UF President Ben Sasse’s statement on Hamas attacks on Israel
Staff report
UF President Ben Sasse has sent an email to Jewish alumni of the university, expressing his support for Israel and his condemnation of the Hamas attacks as “evil.”
Dear Jewish Gator Alums,
Many of you have reached out about the vigil at UF [Monday night]. I was overwhelmed to see a thousand Gators standing with Israel. You can find my remarks here.
The chaos at the event was an unfortunate end to a beautiful gathering, but I wanted to let you know that there was no attack on campus and the injuries that have been reported seem to be relatively minor. From what we can gather, a student passed out and, when a fellow student called for 911, other students – understandably on edge – fled.
While we all wish the night had ended differently, we are tremendously proud of the students who came to stand with Israel. I hope Rabbi Jonah and Rabbi Berl reschedule the vigil, and I hope the community reconvenes.
Like you, I am tremendously grateful for our students. The University of Florida is home to the largest number of Jewish students at any university in this country. We are honored by and committed to that legacy. Our Jewish students and alumni around the world have been devastated by Hamas’ terrorism.
I will not tiptoe around this simple fact: What Hamas did is evil and there is no defense for terrorism. This shouldn’t be hard. Sadly, too many people in elite academia have been so weakened by their moral confusion that, when they see videos of raped women, hear of a beheaded baby, or learn of a grandmother murdered in her home, the first reaction of some is to “provide context” and try to blame the raped women, beheaded baby, or the murdered grandmother. In other grotesque cases, they express simple support for the terrorists.
This thinking isn’t just wrong, it’s sickening. It’s dehumanizing. It is beneath people called to educate our next generation of Americans. I am thankful to say I haven’t seen examples of that here at UF, either from our faculty or our student body.
As for us, our educational mission here begins with the recognition and explicit acknowledgment of human dignity – the same human dignity that Hamas’ terrorists openly scorn. Every single human life matters. We are committed to that truth. We will tell that truth.
In the coming days, it is possible that anti-Israel protests will come to UF’s campus. I have told our police chief and administration that this university always has two foundational commitments: We will protect our students and we will protect speech. This is always true: Our Constitution protects the rights of people to make abject idiots of themselves.
But I also want to be clear about this: We will protect our Jewish students from violence. If anti-Israel protests come, we will absolutely be ready to act if anyone dares to escalate beyond peaceful protest. Speech is protected – violence and vandalism are not.
I’m grateful to have heard from so many of you. Like I said at the vigil last night: When evil raises its head, as it has in recent days, it is up to men and women of conscience and courage to draw strength from truth and commit ourselves to the work of building something better – to the work of pursuing justice and pursuing peace. That is what we aim to do through education, compassion, and truth here at the University of Florida.
Sincerely,
Ben
Thank you President Sasse for this clear and accurate declaration of what we’ve witnessed the last few days. I applaud your clear-eyed leadership in this world of weakness, truth-bending, history rewriting, and gas lighting.
As a Gator alumnus, I encourage you to convey a direct statement to all students, faculty, and staff of the university that reinforces your remarks to the Jewish community. I implore you to speak truth and clarify our shared understanding of humanity vs barbarism.
Yes, it’s nice to see someone in academia speak unequivocally for the side of truth.
Most native Floridians have Jewish friends and acquaintances even if they aren’t Jewish themselves. And, of course, everyone is concerned about the possibility of a larger war breaking out.
Agree, hamas are evil people.
Universities stand for human progress. They just have to agree on what that means, overcome identity tribalism and get over history regrets.
Thank you for the support and for having the moral compass to call out evil when it hits you in the face
Good Job Ben.
Thank you Ben for speaking out against terrorism and in defense of our Jewish community to remain safe from growing antisemitism
Finally! A UF president with a backbone.
At least one college president has the courage to tell the truth. The rest of these cowards are doomed to failure. How can we show the other schools the way forward? Close your check books and stop donating to the other schools that don’t stand up and say this was wrong. They will quickly make some changes or perish because cash is king to these universities.
Was never a big fan of the Gators, I went to FSU but I would be proud to let my child attend this university.
Thank you, you are a leader and a brave man
Ben pls. Treat the hamas terriostgroup as the horrible people they are. They are worst than the clue klux clan and should be treated like the clan and the natizes. Now if you hear students promitig hamas take appropiate action!! Do not pussie foot around.
i wonder when the city & county govt come out in favor of hamas?
I know this one: Never.
Of course there is no defense for terrorism. But terrorism doesn’t occur in a vacuum. And the context for the terrorism is almost 60 years of a brutal Occupation against the Palestinians. And it is that Occupation that feeds the terrorism just as the terrorism feeds the continuation of the Occupation.
There are two traps that lie waiting for those who seek to understand the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The first trap is the binary thinking trap that says that there are two disjoint groups: innocent victims and oppressors. The second trap is the tribalism trap where loyalty to one side will cause one to excuse the atrocities practiced by one’s own side. This second trap will either cause people to blindly support either Israel or the Palestinians. And regardless of the side that one picks to support, one becomes vulnerable to the binary thinking trap too and will thus conclude that those on the side they choose to support are innocent victims only while the other side are oppressors.
There are others whowill pick the lesser of two evils side. But does it matter if the Occupation is less evil than the terrorist attacks if they feed off of one another? Don’t we realize that we cannot eliminate the terrorist attacks without eliminating the Occupation and vice-versa unless one commits moral suicide?
Despite practicing a “democracy” here, we in the US tend to have an authoritarian mindset. That is especially true among us religiously conservative Christians. But it is also true for conservatives from other religions. And because we religious conservatives have a penchant for authoritarianism, we prefer to see hierarchies everywhere we look even when it is morally wrong to do so. And so many people in America have already chosen to support Israel as having a place of supremacy over the Palestinians. And because we think that Israel is a democracy, it has earned such a privileged place.
But that is the problem. That hierarchy is based on an assumption by one side as being superior to the other. And thus those who are privileged and feel superior to the other group do not have to recognize the other group as being equal. And that is what the Palestinians have been fighting against since the formation of Israel as a nation. None of that justifies Palestinian terrorism that some Palestinians practice. But the recognition of the pursuit of hierarchy based on the assumption of one group’s perceived supremacy can help us see why the other group does what it does.
So many words ignoring evil. What a stupid comment.
Guest,
My comment mentions atrocities and includes terrorist attacks as being part of those atrocities. The third paragraph of my comment explicitly mentions evil and states that terrorist attacks are evil. So I am not sure why you would say that I am ignoring evil.
Curt, you tried to say that only if “the Occupation” is eliminated can “the terrorist attacks” be eliminated. That’s providing an excuse for them not only to exist, but to continue, as if “the Occupation” causes them.
Does your “and vice versa” take that away? No. It also provides an excuse for “the Occupation” to continue, as if “the terrorist attacks” cause it.
This is a form of ignoring evil, by giving an excuse for it to have been done, and continue to be done, on the parts of both sides. You think evil can be caused, i.e., people forced to do it. This is the Nuremburg trials excuse, attempted by the war crimes defendants who said they were forced to do it. Or, to remove the analogy, it’s a rationalization of evil, whether you apply it to one side, both sides, or any side.
Larry,
There is no excuse for the terrorism. Just like there is no excuse for abusing a person. But neither terrorism nor abuse exist in a vacuum. There are factors that cause people to abuse others just as there are factors that cause people to commit terrorism. The principle of universality shows that those factors are not excuses.
If the Occupation existed to quell terrorism, you would have a point. But it doesn’t exist for that purpose. Thus the vice-versa holds. The Occupation is there, in part, to annex more and more land and to seize control of resources like water. The existence of terrorism makes the claim that the Occupation is necessary more credible to a lot of people.
In his speech against the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King Jr. stated that there 3 evils in our society that are inextricably bound together. They were racism, materialism, which he later replaced with economic exploitation, and militarism. He stated that we can’t get rid of one without getting rid of the other 2.
Under a different dynamic, we can’t get rid of the Occupation without getting rid of terrorism and vice-versa.
Finally, because of how horrific the Hamas attacks are, it is easy to see how evil they are. But the Occupation is also significantly evil. And since both the Occupation and the terrorist attacks feed each other, comparing them in terms of how evil they are is irrelevant.
Idiotic
Gaza has not been occupied since 2005
And the blockade was a response to Hamas bringing in supplies to create the missiles they use against Israel
Hamas was voted in and have had 18 years to create a just and safe society for the Gazan population
They have not because that is not their goal – it’s actually the complete destruction of Israel (their words)
Try again to explain your nonsense moral equivalence
RA,
So there is no Occupation of the West Bank, no checkpoints to go through, no restrictions on the people there, no confiscation of land, or any other problems? After all, Hamas is in Gaza.
The settlement portion of the Occupation ended in Gaza because of the financial burden of supporting it. And once that happened, there was an acceleration of land confiscation in the West Bank.
Are you saying that there would be no monitoring or even a partial blockade of Gaza if Hamas was gone? The Israeli gov’t’s policies toward the Palestinians in general do not support your claim.
Hamas is evil. So is the Occupation and the blockade of Gaza is really a part of that Occupation. Innocent civilians are killed or imprisoned without charges on a regular basis. Essentials for life are not available on a consistent basis.That the latest Hamas atrocities against innocent civilians are more evil than the blockade is irrelevant because the blockade portion of the Occupation, settlements are not needed for there to be an Occupation btw, feeds the atrocities committed by Hamas just as those atrocities make the need for the blockade portion of the Occupation appear to be necessary.
I understand the reluctance among some to look at the Occupation as being evil. After all, look at the reluctance of many of us Americans to admit that we have climate change and systemic racism here. Those Americans also deny that our nation is significantly, but not only, based on white supremacy.
When I see the “thumbs down” on your post, it shows that many have already prescribed to exactly what you just described. It seems many believe if a person is pro Palestine or anti-war that they are also antisemitic. We should all know better than lumping groups of people into categories and committing atrocities against them. It shocks me to see the irony of what is going on here.
Finally, a President of a University who has a lot of brains. Not the the Harvard, Yales, etc. Thank you President Sasse. You give me some hope.
Well stated!
Zionism is not Judaism. Zionist tactics of Palestinian land-theft have created an increasing wave of antisemitism.
Iran has the largest population of Jews in the middle-east next to Israel because Judaism is respected and protected. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met Anti-Zionist Jewish Rabbis from Neturei Karta International on Sep 20, 2023 in NY where President Raisi made it clear that Iran’s concern has everything to do with Zionist policies of Israel.