Salt Lake City, UT – Nearly a dozen student activists gathered outside the University of Utah’s career fair on September 24 to protest military recruiters present on campus.

They carried signs reading “U.S. military off campus!” and “U.S. military backs genocide, students stand with Palestine!” The action was part of Utah SDS’s campaign for divestment from Israel and war profiteers.

Activists educated students entering the Student Union about the military’s strategic support for the genocide in Gaza as well as the military’s predatory recruiting tactics, which lure in low-income youth with the promise of free education and healthcare. “There’s no honor in joining a genocidal military,” said Gabriel Casados of Utah SDS, “not to mention that 22 veterans die per day from suicide.”

The protest got support from passing students, who took pictures, and maintained unity in the face of pro-war and pro-genocide hecklers. The hecklers quickly dispersed as the students chanted, “U of Utah! We’re at your door! We won’t fight an imperialist war!” and “Money for student needs, not for genocide and greed!”

Speakers called attention to the presence of U.S. military advisors in Israel, the redeployment of military assets to the Middle East to defend Israeli genocide, and the missile strikes on Yemen in January of this year. Chants of “Yemen, Yemen, stand your ground! Turn another ship around!” filled the University Union lawn. Speakers also condemned intensified recent Israeli attacks on the Lebanese people.

Even after two low-level university bureaucrats ordered Utah SDS to move away from the career fair, the chanting, speaking and education finished as planned, protesting campus military recruitment for the full hour. Utah SDS called for a sustained campaign for Palestine and invited the crowd to attend their rally for divestment on October 3, 12 p.m. in front of the University Union.

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