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A group made up of University of Florida faculty and staff is running a political-education series that includes a class built around the writings of two figures tied to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
The six-part series, organized by UF Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine, includes a session titled “Breaking the Iron Wall: How Have Palestinian Revolutionaries Understood Zionism?” The class centers on Ghassan Kanafani, a founding PFLP official and political bureau member, and Walid Daqqa, who was convicted of commanding the PFLP-affiliated group responsible for abducting and killing 19-year-old Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam.
The underlying course description describes Kanafani and Daqqa as “Palestinian revolutionaries” and says participants will study their writings to develop an analysis of Zionism capable of “guiding political action against it.”
The program is organized by UF FSJP, not by the university itself.
UF FSJP initially advertised the broader program as a free six-session series running from September 14 through November 23, with sessions originally planned for UF’s Marston Science Library. The group later said the university would not allow the “Understanding Zionism” discussions to be held on campus.
A flyer for the Kanafani-Daqqa session lists Curia on the Drag, a private Gainesville venue, as its location.
Curriculum Mirrors Activist Course
The UF program closely mirrors a political-education course launched in New York in 2025 by The People’s Forum under the same title, “Understanding Zionism: A 6-Part Study for the Palestine Movement.”
The original course describes itself as intended for organizers and people who support the Palestinian movement and says its purpose is to deepen their understanding of Zionism while expanding their engagement in the movement for Palestinian liberation.
Its instructors included organizers from The People’s Forum and the Palestinian Youth Movement. The Kanafani and Daqqa session specifically lists the Palestinian Youth Movement as its organizer.
The Gainesville series follows the same framework. UF FSJP described its program as political education intended to deepen participants’ understanding of Zionism while expanding their engagement in the Palestinian liberation movement.
The UF group’s public page also directs students to get involved with the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
A Founding PFLP Figure
Kanafani was a prominent Palestinian writer, but he also held senior positions inside the PFLP. A Palestinian historical biography states that Kanafani took part in founding the PFLP in December 1967, was elected to its political bureau, became its official spokesman and oversaw its media activities.
He later edited al-Hadaf, the PFLP’s publication, until his death in Beirut in 1972.The United States designated the PFLP as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997.
Walid Daqqa and the Tamam Killing
Daqqa was convicted in 1987 of commanding the group responsible for the 1984 abduction and murder of Moshe Tamam, a 19-year-old Israeli soldier who was kidnapped while traveling home on leave.
Tamam was on leave from the military when he was abducted while waiting for a ride near Netanya. He was bound, blindfolded, and held for two days before being taken to an olive grove near Mevo Dotan and killed.
According to testimony documented by Israeli media, Daqqa and his collaborators tortured Tamam before his death, gouging out his eyes and castrating him. The cell originally planned to smuggle Tamam to Syria as a hostage but killed him when the transfer became too difficult.
Daqqa died in Israeli custody in April 2024 while serving a 37-year sentence.
The course nevertheless presents Kanafani and Daqqa together as two “Palestinian revolutionaries” whose writings can inform contemporary political activity against Zionism.
The course nevertheless presents Kanafani and Daqqa together as two “Palestinian revolutionaries” whose writings participants are asked to examine as part of developing a contemporary political analysis of Zionism.
Documented Members and Related Faculty
UF FSJP does not publish a complete public membership roster, but several members can be identified through university records and reporting.
In a statement circulated through the UF Faculty Senate, Marilyn Wende, an assistant professor in Health Education and Behavior, and Michelle Nolan, an associate university librarian, explicitly identified themselves as “members of Faculty for Justice in Palestine - University of Florida.”
Nolan works at Marston Science Library, the location originally advertised for the series. There is no public evidence that Nolan personally reserved the space or is teaching the course.
UF media-production lecturer Iman Zawahry was separately identified by Fresh Take Florida and WUSF as a Faculty for Justice in Palestine member. The 2024 report said she provided food and advice to pro-Palestinian demonstrators and participated in protests following arrests at UF.
Separately, UF English professor Malini Johar Schueller has longstanding ties to the university’s student Palestine activism. UF identifies her as the faculty adviser to Students for Justice in Palestine and says she teaches Palestinian literature and film as well as comparative settler colonialism. Her university CV says she has advised SJP since 2014.
Schueller has also been involved in the academic boycott movement and previously helped organize a 2024 Israel-Palestine symposium with Wende. That event was moved off campus after UF withdrew permission for the planned use of university facilities.
Publicly available material does not identify which faculty or staff member is leading the current Kanafani and Daqqa session.
What is documented is the curriculum itself: a political-education program organized by a University of Florida faculty-and-staff group that presents a founding PFLP official and a man convicted of commanding a PFLP-affiliated kidnapping and killing group as “Palestinian revolutionaries,” and asks participants to study their ideas as a guide to contemporary political action against Zionism.