Bill recognizing ‘Judea and Samaria’ instead of ‘West Bank’ in textbooks heads to House floor

A bipartisan proposal to replace state and public school references to the West Bank with the more historic “Judea and Samaria” is poised for a full House vote after surmounting its last committee hurdle on a mostly party-line vote.

Members of the House State Affairs Committee voted 20-4 for the measure (HB 31), which would affect government documents, school instructional materials and library collections adopted on or after July 1.

The bill’s co-prime sponsor, Port Orange Republican Rep. Chase Tramont, made clear that the changes would come at no additional cost, as they’d be implemented as existing materials are replaced over time.

As he did in a prior committee stop, Tramont acknowledged sensitivities around the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, but argued political correctness shouldn’t trump historical accuracy.

“This bill does not redraw borders. It does not deny a statehood. It doesn’t dictate foreign policy,” he said.

“This is addressing state documents and proper education and historical accuracy, period. Words matter … and this bill is going to correct the words.”

Disagreement over what to call the land known broadly today as the West Bank, and who has a claim to it, has persisted for decades. But debate of the issue exploded across the world after Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds of others on Oct. 7, 2023, leading to a conflict that has since resulted in more than 70,000 reported deaths in Gaza, which sits on the opposite side of Israel from the West Bank.

For the first time in either chamber, public testimony about HB 31 and its companion (SB 1106) by Inverness Republican Sen. Ralph Massullo was split evenly between supporters and opponents of the legislation, the latter of whom included representatives from Emgage Action Florida and Florida For All.

Discussion on the dais was similarly divided, with Democratic members of the panel questioning the reasoning behind the bill and whether it would do more harm than good.

Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, who is running for Orlando Mayor, portrayed HB 31 as rushed. She noted that federal lawmakers have yet to pass legislation relabeling the region and cited feedback from friends of all backgrounds with ties to the land — Arabs, Jews and Christians — and the consensus is the same: “Folks don’t want to be erased.”

“It’s so painful and so heavy, but at the same time, the trauma is connected,” she said. “Everyone feels the same, and I really wish there was a path forward to figure out, if we had more time, how do you craft something that reflects that.”

Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat who announced last week that she’s running for the U.S. Senate, said HB 31 elicited feelings she had in late 2023, when she drew sharp backlash from her House peers for filing a failed resolution supporting a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas less than a month after the Oct. 7 attack.

Nixon stressed that she believes hate in any form, including attacks on Jewish and Palestinian communities, is wrong. But by overwriting a land reference associated with Palestinians, she said, HB 31 could “demonize a certain community.”

Further, she said, the Legislature should focus less on nomenclature issues with limited bearing on everyday Floridians’ lives and more on addressing cost-of-living problems most state residents face.

Miami Beach Republican Rep. Fabián Basabe, whose district is home to many Jewish residents, later responded to Nixon’s assertion.

“We can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said. “These are all serious conversations to be had, (and) we shouldn’t bring the emotional provocation of other avenues into this.”

Lake Worth Beach Rep. Debra Tendrich, HB 31’s other co-prime sponsor and the only Democrat to vote for the bill Tuesday, said the term “West Bank” was coined by Jordan after the establishment of modern-day Israel in an effort “to erase the Jewish connection from this land.”

“Changing the name to the West Bank (turned) the world’s focus away from it being (part of) Jewish history, to make it sound like just another piece of territory,” she said. “Since this bill’s been filed, I’ve had so many meaningful conversations where we can now find common ground, and that’s what this is about.”

Eskamani, Nixon and Reps. Ashley Gantt of Miami and RaShon Young of Orlando voted against HB 31, which now awaits scheduling for a second reading on the House floor.

SB 1106 advanced through its first committee hearing Monday on a 16-1 vote. It will next go to the Senate Judiciary Committee, its second-to-last stop before being up for a full vote by the chamber.