Photos: Ahead of Biden’s visit to Tampa, USF students continue to call for an end to US military aid to Israel | Tampa

Last Thursday, about a dozen students at the University of South Florida in Tampa continued to voice their support for a movement that, in part, asks the school to divest from all corporations and defense contractors, which activists say are behind the indiscriminate bombings of support the Israeli government.

During the demonstration and march, students also called for an end to all U.S. aid to Israel and waved signs reading “Hands off Iran,” referring to President Joe Biden’s response to a recent attack on Israel by Iran.

“Our allies and partners have issued or will issue additional sanctions and measures to limit Iran’s destabilizing military programs,” Biden — who is headed to an undisclosed location in Tampa this week for campaign events — said in a statement which was issued five days after the attack. “During my administration, the United States has imposed sanctions on more than 600 individuals and entities – including Iran and its allies, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Kataib Hezbollah. And we will continue to do that.”

Biden’s statement and last week’s student demonstration come nearly 200 days after Hamas, a terrorist group that has long controlled Haza, launched an attack that killed about 1,200 people. Since the October 7 attack, the Israeli government has been embroiled in a war that has killed more than 34,000 people, including nearly 15,000 children, according to Al-Jazeera as of April 22.

In January, NPR reported that “the International Court of Justice has found that it is ‘plausible’ that Israel has committed acts in violation of the Genocide Convention.”

The convention, which codified genocide as an independent crime in 1948, classifies genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such:

• Killing members of the group;
• Causing serious physical or mental harm to members of the group;
• The intentional imposition of living conditions on the group intended to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
• Forcibly transferring children from the group to another group.

Local activist groups have called for a “Tampa Doesn’t Welcome Genocide Joe” protest on the day of President Biden’s visit to Tampa.

At USF last week, pro-Palestinian protesters were joined by a smaller group of individuals, including one holding a flag with the Lion of Judah on it. Ethan Brooks, wearing a jersey from the school’s “Chabad At USF” group, posted recruiting videos from the event. Another student – ​​USF senior Jacob Kamp, who wore the “Stop Anti-Semitism” shirt – told Bay News 9 that he supports anyone who shouts “Free Palestine” but draws the line at chants like “from the river to the sea’ and ‘Intifada’. .”

Photo by Dave Decker

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were joined by a smaller group of individuals during a protest at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida on April 18, 2024.

“Those are very anti-Semitic terms,” he told the station, adding that he has called on USF President Rhea Law to make a statement that there is “zero tolerance for anti-Semitism at USF.”

Students on the pro-Palestinian side have also tried to get Law’s attention, but have also condemned anti-Semitism. On the same day as their march, the USF Divest Coalition and Students For Socialism @ USF hosted a “Countering Anti-Semitism & Teaching Tolerance” event.

“For thousands of years, the Jewish people have faced sadistic attempts at extermination, and yet they have shown incredible resilience, hope and determination. Never again must we witness the atrocities they faced and never again must Palestinians and their right to exist be so threatened,” said a message before the event.

Jacob Cherry, a USF sophomore who was part of the call to end aid to Israel, told BN9 that no one in his coalition is against the Jewish people that day.

“The real Jewish Semitism that we’ve seen emerging for years comes from the far right, from things from the alt-right, from Qanonand and all these strange conspiracies that the far right has supported. Cherry told BN9. “That’s the anti-Semitism that people should really be concerned about.”