Tallahassee, FL – On October 9, Tallahassee Students for a Democratic Society, in collaboration with other local community organizers, held a press conference to condemn Florida State University for platforming an Israeli soldier, Yair Ansbacher. Ansbacher, a Zionist propagandist, was given an opportunity to express his genocidal beliefs while pro-Palestine student activists are repressed.

Florida State University’s administration has attempted to silence those speaking out for Palestine by barring SDS from meeting on campus and arresting and banning five protesters. In 2020, FSU removed Ahmad Daraldik from his position as student government president, simply for being Palestinian and expressing support for his land and people.

To that, Tally SDS member Tavyan Dorsey states, “FSU removes people who have been duly elected through the election process and bans people from campus for using their First Amendment rights. Please tell me how FSU has been ranked the number three university in the country for freedom of expression? If they're number three I don't even wanna know how low the bar is!”

In light of the recent passing of the one-year anniversary of October 7, FSU allowed a war criminal from the apartheid state of Israel, and the Tallahassee students and community members took a stand. SDS was supported in this action by members of local chapters of Florida Student Power, Community Action Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Dissenters. Many people gathered on behalf of Palestine outside of a bookstore to rally, raising signs and demanding justice.

The conference was livestreamed, opening with chanting for a free Palestine and testimonials from some of the students arrested in April during a solidarity encampment. One of the five arrestees, Aedan Bennett, stated, “This is a case of FSU silencing dissent so that they can paradoxically maintain their image as a top three campus for free speech. Free and fair for who?”

Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Katy Kurzweil assured the crowd that their actions were having an impact, stating, “When things like this happen, it just proves to us that we are doing something right. That we are getting the attention of our enemies.”

The statements from the arrestees and others reminded onlookers that FSU only allows Zionists and fascists to speak freely. In an act of defiance, responding to the efforts of the FSU administration to silence its community, the community amplified themselves. Speakers described the ongoing genocide perpetrated by the state of Israel, highlighting the strength of Palestine.

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