(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . FSU student group pushes back against university after pro-Palestine rally; demands changes [1] ['Christian Casale', 'More From Author', '- December'] Date: 2023-12-04 Florida State University’s Students for a Democratic Society plans three demands Monday at the FSU campus, as the group continues concerns over academic freedom and expression, the student code of conduct and the overall Israel-Hamas war. The demands are listed in a Monday news release as: President Richard McCullough rewrite the shameful letter to FSU students that only mentioned Israeli students’ grief and trauma; the university cut all ties with Boeing which builds the weapons used on innocent Palestinians, and FSU ends its support of Zionist organizations like Hillel & Chabad and their birthright programs to Israel. “In short, we are asking FSU to cut all ties with the genocidal Israeli government and to provide support for Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students in the wake of rising Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism around the country.” Meanwhile, FSU has accused the student activist group of violating the student code of conduct at a November protest, FSU SDS said in a press release. On Nov. 10, FSU SDS planned to speak at the public comment of an FSU Board of Trustees meeting to protest President McCullough’s public statements on the Israel-Hamas war and the school’s connection to Boeing. However, university officials soon asked them to leave, according to the group’s news release. FSU spokesperson Amy Farnum-Patronis on Nov. 10 said the trustees’ meeting started earlier than expected due to quick committee meetings, so the protesters did not arrive in time for public comment, according to the Florida Phoenix. SDS then held a protest outside of the meeting Nov. 10, decrying the university administration for what they said was complicity in genocide against Gazans by Israel. “FSU accused us of noncompliance with law enforcement, obstructing university operations, and refusing to leave the meeting when directed,” FSU SDS said in a statement Monday. “All three accusations are false— this is a clear attempt to silence our members and, by extension, stifle student activism on FSU’s campus.” An FSU spokesperson said Monday morning the university did not yet have any comment. The SDS group is scheduled to take place at the Westcott Fountain on FSU’s campus at 3 p.m. “The attacks on FSU SDS do not come in a vacuum. Across the country, university administrators and politicians have threatened students’ First Amendment right to protest,” FSU SDS said in their statement, acknowledging the attempts by Gov. Ron DeSantis and state education officials to shut down Pro-Palestinian groups at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida. The press conference is co-sponsored by local activist groups such as the Tallahassee Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Tallahassee Food Not Bombs. Monday’s press conference would follow a vigil for Palestinians killed since the beginning of the conflict the FSU SDS held on Friday. Speakers of various FSU student groups, including the Muslim Student Union and the Florida Palestine Network accused FSU administrators, especially President McCullough, of not caring about its Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian student population, and instead reserving all their support and grief for Israel and pro-Zionist groups while the group was flanked by several campus police officers. Students also called for a permanent ceasefire, greater public understanding of the Palestinian cause and the dissolution of the state of Israel. They also alternated reading thousands of names of Gazans killed by Israeli forces since the conflict began. More than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israel Defense Forces retaliated for the 10/7 terrorist attack for Hamas, according to the Gazan Health Ministry. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/12/04/fsu-student-group-pushes-back-against-university-after-pro-palestine-rally-demands-changes/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/