Students compare Hamas to MLK and Nelson Mandela

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Activists from Students for a Democratic Society and the Tallahassee Community Action Committee hosted a pro-Hamas march and rally on Florida State University’s campus Monday.

The groups referred to Hamas as “freedom fighters” and compared them to civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr.

“They called MLK a terrorist. They called Nelson Mandela a terrorist,” one student said. “The Palestinian resistance are not terrorist. They are freedom fighters.”

The activists used several chants including “viva viva Palestina” and “hey hey, ho ho, Israel has got to go.”

Several people spoke out against the state of Israel in short speeches.

Tallahassee Community Action Committee’s Communications Director Regina Joseph said that while “billions and billions” of U.S. dollars go to support Israel, there are people in Tallahassee who are starving.

“We need to overthrow this imperialist and capitalist system that makes us believe that our Palestinian siblings are the enemy,” Jospeh said. “When we know that that is not the case. We know that Palestinian people have fought for black liberation. We know the Palestinian people have fought for the cause here in America.”

The activists demanded that Florida State’s President Richard McCullough condemned Israel’s response to Hamas’ attacks on Israeli citizens.

McCullough and the school produced a statement on Oct. 10, calling on all students to “unequivocally condemn the violent and antisemitic attacks” of Hamas.

“Florida State University stands staunchly in support of the Israeli people and all those affected by these terrible atrocities,” the statement read.

McCullough also participated in a vigil, organized by the Jewish Student Union, in memory of Israeli lives that have been lost due to the attacks.

Victor Cardenas from Students for a Democratic Society said that Israel is an “ethno-state” for seeking a “homeland for the Jews.”

“There actions have shown that they are willing to achieve that ethno-state through ethnic cleaning of the Palestinian people,” Cardenas said. “It is heartbreaking to hear how many people are dying every single day from their homes being bombed, to their hospitals being destroyed to their schools being bombed. How could we call this a just society?”

“The university needs to take a strong stance against fascism,” he added. “Richard McCullough is a coward for bending to the will of what the rest of the world agrees is normal. This is not normal. Genocide is not normal. He is a coward just like our incompetent Gov. Ron DeSantis and the rest of our ill-fated and spineless politicians.”

A pro-Israel counterprotest formed in response to the two organizations’ march and rally.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, a Jewish lawmaker in the state, called out the protest on social media before it took place.

Fine said the protest “is illegal” under HB 741, which he said DeSantis signed as “fanfare,” rather than actual legislation that is enforced.

The governor has said his record to protect the Jewish people is “second to none.”

DeSantis and State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues ordered universities to dismantle various student chapters that have been aligned with support for “Hamas terrorism” after deadly attacks on Jews in Israel, according to a letter obtained by Florida’s Voice.

Rodrigues wrote to university presidents that at least two chapters under the body known as as “National Students for Justice in Palestine” must be immediately terminated.

Florida’s Voice had previously interviewed activists from Students for a Democratic Society, who helped hold a protest at Cascades park on Oct. 18 and another campus rally on Oct. 11.

Students for a Democratic Society President Joel Nunez called Hamas’ attacks a “justified response” to the ongoing Israeli occupation.

“At the end of the day, all of the violence in Israel is a direct result of the occupation,” Nunez said. “Negotiations haven’t worked and Israel continues to depress Palestine. It is a justified response to want to fight back against them.”

Additionally, both groups attended a Tallahassee City Commission meeting on Oct. 25, demanding the local government produce a resolution condemning Israel’s “apartheid” regime.