Pro-Palestinian Protesters Rally at UF to Condemn Israeli Violence and Petition for Divestment

Last Monday, close to 100 Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students, staff, and faculty at the University of Florida staged a walkout from their classes and offices. They marched to Tigert Hall, where they presented a petition to Interim President Kent Fuchs and the UF administration, calling for an end to the university's complicity in international law violations and urging divestment from companies benefiting from the genocide in Gaza.

According to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the petition, which has collected over 300 signatures, is a response to UF’s discriminatory actions against Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and pro-Palestinian allies. This includes the arrest of nine individuals at the “Liberation Zone” established in the Plaza of the Americas last April, which was occupied for 30 consecutive days, as reported by the UF Divest Coalition (UFDC) on Instagram.

The demonstration, organized by SJP, UFDC and Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (FSJP), commemorated the first anniversary of the Palestinian resistance movement’s prison break and uprising on October 7, 2023.

Participants gathered in Turlington Plaza to denounce the Israeli and U.S.-led genocide in Gaza, where over 41,788 Palestinians have been killed in the past year through direct attacks—airstrikes, shelling and shootings—and indirect causes, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The ministry, which partially collapsed in November, has struggled to consistently provide updated figures, particularly for deaths resulting from disease, famine, dehydration and untreated chronic illnesses caused by the siege of the Gaza Strip.

From November 10th to the 21st, the Gaza Ministry of Health could not release official death tolls as they lost communications with hospitals in Northern Gaza, according to the Associated Press. This has happened multiple times following internet and communications blackouts.

A conservative estimate published by The Lancet suggests that the total number of deaths may have exceeded 186,000 as of June 19, 2024.

After amassing a crowd in Turlington, SJP organizers led the protestors to Tigert Hall, where their chants highlighted the loss of life in Gaza, called for a free Palestine and demanded financial transparency. Upon arrival, SJP organizers were barred from entering the building, with law enforcement guarding the locked doors. After more than 10 minutes of waiting, Heather Middaugh, the front office receptionist for the Office of the President, met with three students outside to receive their demands.

“It’s going directly to his office. We made sure they knew what our demands were, and we expect a response,” said Ella Cohen, an SJP member.

The demands in the petition echo those previously made during the Liberation Zone protest, calling for divestment from weapons manufacturers and dropping all charges against student protesters. Event organizers noted that concerned students also sent a letter to Interim President Fuchs in September seeking protections for Palestinians on campus, but no response has been received, raising doubts about the university’s ability to create a safe and inclusive environment for all students.

Nader Dagher, a graduate student, expressed frustration with the administration's inaction: “We tried the quietest way to communicate with this administration, but they haven’t responded. This shows how nervous they are because they know this is morally wrong and shameful for an academic institution.”

The university’s uneven response to student concerns was underscored in a recent article by The Alligator, which noted that members of the UF Jewish Student Union had been granted meetings with both President Fuchs and the Dean of Student Life to discuss their concerns. This disparity has led students to question whether UF is adequately addressing the diverse needs of its student body.

“While UF consistently reaffirms its commitment to protecting Jewish students, this promise has only been extended to those supporting Zionism. Palestinian and pro-Palestinian Jewish students have been targeted, and we demand accountability from the university for their actions here and in Gaza,” said Noor Jabr, a UFDC representative, criticizing what she called the administration’s selective attention to students' wellbeing.

Jabr added that the pro-Palestinian groups not only demand protections for Palestinian students but are also calling on UF to disclose its investment portfolio, terminate partnerships with defense contractors and address misinformation stemming from a lack of Middle Eastern studies courses. They argue that UF's ties to companies like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, which supply the Israeli military, contribute to the violence in Gaza and the West Bank, while students remain unaware of where their tuition is going.

The rally at Tigert concluded with speeches by Laila Fakhoury, a former SJP president and descendant of Nakba survivors, alongside two other UF students who recently lost family members in Israeli attacks on Syria and Lebanon. One student, Tuline, who provided only her first name, urged peers to “stop being desensitized to the wars and the deaths in the Middle East."

After the group returned to Turlington Plaza, counter-protesters carrying Israeli flags approached from the nearby UF Chabad tent and the Plaza of the Americas, where UF Hillel was holding a memorial for Israeli hostages. They positioned themselves in front of the crowd, photographing and verbally confronting walkout participants and organizers in an attempt to intimidate them while SJP members turned away.

One individual mockingly wrapped a keffiyeh around his head and raised the Israeli flag, photographing himself in front of the protest.

At least two other counter-protesters specifically entered the group: one took videos of each attendee's face, while the other stood by, offering a pro-Palestinian protester to engage in a physical confrontation, which the protester declined.

The tense situation was further escalated by a Christian protestor wearing a "Weed Smoking Is a Sin" T-shirt, who also confronted the group.

In a statement to WUFT, Jagger Leach, former president of UF’s Jewish Student Union, claimed that the Palestinian protesters had intimidated those at the memorial simply by walking by, despite the direct provocation from pro-Israel counter-protesters throughout the day.

SJP members expressed disappointment with the UF administration for welcoming individuals who "support terrorism and genocide," but affirmed that they are unthreatened by their presence. "Generally, counter-protestors tire out and leave long before our demonstrations end as they do not have anything real to fight for," said Muntaha Islam, an occupational therapy doctorate student at UF.

Although SJP had planned additional events for a “Week of Resistance,” including an apartheid wall display and a “Know Their Names” memorial for lives lost in Gaza, these activities were postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Milton.