Coinciding with similar protests across the country, a few dozen students at the University of North Florida held a walkout Wednesday to demonstrate their support of Palestine. A small group of counter-protesters was also there, standing on the sidewalk close by, to show support for Israel and Jewish students.
Organized by UNF’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, the pro-Palestine group marched from the northern end of campus to the Green. They yelled chants, touted various homemade “Free Palestine” signs and listened to speakers.
The opposing group stood on the sidewalk, further back from the protest, holding signs of their own.
Pro-Palestine speakers discussed everything from apartheid in history to America’s support of Israel. One said that Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters learned from the Israeli government about policing strategies which contributed to, in their eyes, over-policing here.
Recently, Sheriff Waters traveled to Israel to learn from their law enforcement how to combat antisemitic hate crimes, Action News Jax reported.
Though there was no physical altercation between the two groups, the pro-Israel group would occasionally start a chant, but pro-Palestine students drowned them out.
One of the pro-Palestine speakers told the crowd, “Judaism is not the problem, Zionism is. It’s rooted in white supremacy.” A student with the pro-Israel group told Spinnaker, “Did you hear the part where they said Judaism is white supremacy?”
Click through the photos below to see more scenes from the protest.
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