Over the past few weeks, the Florida Legislature has taken an unexpected turn: prioritizing foreign political interests over the urgent needs of Floridians. At a moment when residents are struggling more than ever, facing a severe shortage of affordable housing, limited access to Medicaid, and the relentless rise in grocery prices, lawmakers in Tallahassee have chosen instead to advance HB 31 and SB 1106. These bills would require all Florida state government documents to replace the term “West Bank” with “Judea and Samaria.”

This bipartisan push is more than a simple change of terminology. It effectively erases the lived identity of tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans across Florida, many of whom have deep family ties to the West Bank. For them, this is not an abstract geopolitical debate; it is a direct attempt to overwrite their heritage in the public record of the state they call home.

Adam Abutaa is organizing manager of Emgage Florida. (courtesy, Adam Abutaa)

The legislation has been moving swiftly. In January, it passed all of its House committees with overwhelming support and cleared the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee unanimously. The speed and ease with which this bill is advancing stands in stark contrast to the gridlock that often greets legislation aimed at improving the daily lives of Floridians.

At its core, this bill is a mandate on language, and by extension, on narrative. Public and charter schools will be required to ensure that any instructional materials adopted after July 1, 2026, “may not use the term ‘West Bank’ to refer to Judea and Samaria.” For Palestinian Floridians, this raises troubling questions. Will students be penalized for using the term “West Bank” in assignments? Will teachers feel pressured to present only one political narrative while dismissing or delegitimizing another? It is entirely foreseeable that some administrators or educators could interpret this law as a directive to exclude the Palestinian perspective from the classroom altogether.

At a moment when anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian rhetoric is surging across the country, legislation like this does more than distract from Florida’s real challenges. It actively deepens the hostility many communities are already facing. Just a few months ago, a far‑right group disrupted the early morning prayer services of the NSU Muslim Student Association on Hollywood Beach, shouting hateful anti-Muslim slurs. The same group appeared at the University of South Florida, again targeting students during their morning prayers. After this incident, these men showed up at a vigil honoring Sayfollah Mussalet, a Palestinian American killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank last year, where they brought the same vitriol to a space meant for mourning and solidarity.

Our legislators have shown no urgency in condemning the rising tide of hate directed at Muslim and Palestinian communities, yet they have moved swiftly to advance a bill that renames the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria” in the name of combating antisemitism. As bill sponsor Rep. Chase Tramont, R-Port Orange, put it, “I think we should teach facts — not politically charged propaganda.” But the actions or Tramont and other supporters of the legislation tell a different story. They have chosen to elevate one narrative as truth while dismissing, ignoring and effectively erasing another.

This selective morality does nothing to make Floridians safer, better educated or more economically secure. Instead, it imports a deeply contentious foreign political dispute into our state statutes and classrooms, manufacturing new divisions in a state already grappling with enough of its own.

Adam Abutaa, of Pompano Beach, is organizing manager of Emgage Florida.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2026/02/08/changing-the-name-of-the-west-bank-erases-history-opinion/