A year after Oct. 7, world politics have changed completely. Everyone remembers where they were that morning; many celebrated, but many more cried. Over 1,200 innocent Israelis being killed led to massive vigils, but even bigger protests and rallies. Relationships between countries changed, and relationships between friends changed. The world was never and would never be the same after that October morning.
I remember returning from my Fall internship to a changed UF campus. I remember on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Students for Justice in Palestine protested on campus with a massive rally calling for the elimination of the United States and Israel. Instead of feeling anger for the people who were brave enough to call for the destruction of my country, I felt sad for them and UF. Sadly, students who were smart enough to get into UF could not understand fundamental human rights or even know why it was wrong to protest on Holocaust Remembrance Day. It's embarrassing that UF and the city of Gainesville allowed it to happen.
Going onto the Spring, I noticed posters of Israeli hostages on campus being torn down. Even pictures of innocent children would not survive a day outside UF’s campus. This is from the environment SJP has created on our campus; it’s not one of caring or human rights, but rather one of hostility and antisemitism. The destruction of Hamas on innocent civilians was impossible for those in SJP to process. Instead of accepting what happened, they decided to deny the truth and throw away the evidence of what had been done to real-life Israeli victims of Hamas.
When comparing the rallies and protests in the Spring, I watched the Israeli and Jewish organizations throw a peace and unity rally in the Plaza of Americas. It was an environment for progress to bring innocent hostages home. But when I think back to the SJP protests, all I remember is not being able to study for finals and chants screaming about destruction to America and bringing back the intifada.
The protests in the Spring showed the stupidity of the Palestinian movement. Eight students were arrested, and their lives were ruined for a movement based on lies. The truth is that these students ruined their lives for a territory that would kill them if they ever stepped foot across the border. The truth is many SJP members agree with what Israel stands for. Israel is pro-human rights, pro-women, pro-gay rights and for freedom of religion. It shows a mental disconnect within their movement; they chose to ignore the truth and let their hate for Jews ruin their future.
So, what comes next for UF and conflicts in the Middle East? The truth is the Palestinian movement will only grow more extreme; as long as Israel exists, the movement will not stop. With the Israel movement, this is a new generation of Jews. They refuse to be victims of genocide and antisemitism, and they deserve to be able to be safe on campus. After seeing the massive protests yesterday after the first anniversary of Oct. 7, I believe that SJP and any other Palestinian organization deserve to be shut down at UF. We would not tolerate KKK or Nazi rallies on our campus and especially not on days of mourning for a terror attack against a minority group. Making Oct. 7 — a day when 1,200 innocent lives were killed, women were raped and babies were kidnapped — a day for the Palestinian cause is disgusting in all aspects.
Lucas Sprung is a UF political science and international relations junior.
