Jacksonville, FL – On Wednesday, March 4, students at the University of North Florida gathered to protest U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, which has killed over 1000 people.

The protest, which was organized by Jacksonville Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), drew over a dozen students and received support from many more passing by. Chants of “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air, U.S. out of everywhere!” echoed off nearby buildings, making the protest audible across half the campus.

SDS member Kevin Brosan led the protest, “This is the average excuse from the U.S.; that the hearts of our government and politicians are so full of love that they bomb countries overseas, claiming that they care about their people. But we have seen in this very country, in our very streets, that they don’t care about the lives of the people.”

Lorelai Dodge of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) told the crowd, “The people want these wars to end, but neither party will end them as long as political power remains in the hands of the war profiteering class. The only way to change that is with a movement to put political power into the hands of working and oppressed people.”

All speakers emphasized that whatever the official U.S. and Israeli narrative about Iran may be, it is not the job of the United States to interfere in the affairs of other countries. They argued that the brutal bombings of Iran were a violation of the rights and sovereignty of the Iranian people.

The protest attracted some hostility from conservative students. Multiple agitators tried to rush the crowd, and others harassed protesters from the sidelines, but protest security volunteers kept the opposition contained.

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