Counter-protestors watched as the University of North Florida’s Students for a Democratic Society chapter hosted their first on-campus protest of the 2025 Spring semester on Jan. 29.
SDS’s political stances include supporting LGBTQ+ rights and Palestine and opposing Donald Trump’s new initiatives, the war in Gaza and other issues, according to SDS officer Calvin Pell.
Individuals who appeared to be pro-Israel counter-protestors stood outside the library in front of the SDS protesters. One counter-protestor, Zami Novak, said he wouldn’t call their actions counter-protesting.
“I think [the] goal was to just show people at the university that there are students that support Israel,” said Novak.
“They’re just kind of annoying and they don’t really do anything to hamper us or dissuade us,” said Pell.
According to Novak, the Jewish Chabad at UNF was not involved with the pro-Israel counter-protesters.
The goal of the protest was to make SDS and their ideologies visible to the UNF community, according to Pell.
“The entire point of protesting is to make ourselves visible,” said SDS officer Calvin Pell, “We obviously had a bit of an audience, which is how this thing works.”
“We have a duty to fight for our freedom, we have a duty to win! We must love and support one another, we have nothing to lose but our chains,” is one of the many slogans that SDS protestors chanted.
Context
The war in Gaza started on Oct. 7, 2024, when Hamas attacked Israel, as reported by the Associated Press. The attack resulted in 1,200 dead in Israel, with 250 hostages taken by the terrorist organization. Local health officials have said that Israel’s counter-attack left over 46,000 Palestinians dead. Mediators said Israel and Hamas have reached a temporary ceasefire after fighting for over 15 months, according to the Associated Press.
SDS has protested the war in Gaza before. A pro-Palestine encampment organized by SDS resulted in the detainment of 16 protestors on May 2, 2024. The protestors were detained for violating a newly imposed 10 p.m. curfew, which the university never publicly announced. That night, the Thomas G. Carpenter Library was open 24 hours for finals week and residence halls were still open.
Five months later, the UNF Board of Trustees passed freedom of expression amendments that altered rules for people protesting on campus. The amendments outlined acts prohibited during First Amendment demonstrations. The amendments defined disruptive activities as erecting tents and canopies without permission, interfering with university ceremonies, possessing signs exceeding a size of 24″ and 36’’, along with other behaviors and actions.
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