Legislation that would replace government references to the West Bank with the more historic “Judea and Samaria” advanced through its first Senate stop with unanimous support — and far less resistance than its House counterpart endured last week.
The bill (SB 1106) would also mandate that public school instructional materials and library collections adopted on or after July 1 use “Judea and Samaria” and prohibit the use of “West Bank.”
Inverness Republican Sen. Ralph Massullo said it is more accurate to “refer to the land liberated by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War as ‘Judea’ to the south of Jerusalem and ‘Samaria’ to the north.”
Asked by Orlando Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis what “compelling state interest” the bill addresses, Massullo said, “We want our students to know the truth and facts so when they go out into the world, they have the equipment that they can make critical thinking decisions.”
“We won’t see antisemitism as much,” he continued. “We won’t have protesting about freeing between the river and the sea without proper understanding of the geography, the history and the actual ownership of those territories.”
Bracy Davis then inquired about whether Massullo had been asked by constituents to sponsor SB 1106. He said Florida has one of the largest Jewish populations in the world, and some had indeed reached out to him.
“There’s almost 900,000 Jewish people that live within our state,” said Massullo, who is Christian. “I haven’t heard from all of them, but I have heard from some, and they’re in favor of this particular piece of legislation.”
Two members of the public appeared at the Monday meeting in opposition to SB 1106. None appeared in favor of the measure.
Adam Abutaa, Organizing Director for Muslim American advocacy group Emgage Action, warned against Florida “inserting itself into one of the most sensitive geographical conflicts in the world, something far outside the role of the state Legislature.”
“The unintended consequences are serious. Thousands of Floridians and Americans have ‘West Bank’ listed as their place of birth on their U.S. passports,” he said. “SB 1106 would effectively tell them that the state of Florida refuses to acknowledge the identity printed on their own federal documents.”
Abutaa argued SB 1106 “mandates political language” that would make the thousands of Palestinian Americans in Florida “feel more targeted and unwelcome” while also putting Florida “in direct conflict with federal naming standards.”
Massullo, in response, said Florida would continue to recognize federal documents, but that there are bills now “floating” in Congress to effectuate the same changes SB 1106 contemplates.
“This bill doesn’t have anything to do with discrimination of Palestine or any other particular people,” he said. “It recognizes the Jewish people in the land that they have liberated.”
The debate over what to call the land and who has a claim to it has persisted for decades. But it exploded across the world after Hamas terrorists murdered more than 1,200 and kidnapped hundreds of Israelis 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.
Last Wednesday, members of the House Government Operations Subcommittee voted for a lower-chamber version of the bill (HB 31) by Lake Worth Beach Democratic Rep. Debra Tendrich and Port Orange Republican Rep. Chase Tramont.
The measure advanced 16-1 after public testimony featuring about four times as many speakers expressing opposition than support.
SB 1106 will next go to the Senate Judiciary Committee, its penultimate stop in the chamber, while HB 31 has one last stop in the House State Affairs Committee before reaching a floor vote.
