On April 14, a small group of students and faculty scattered across Privett Plaza in anticipation for a rally against the terror inflicted by the U.S. and Israel in the Middle East. According to the Council on Foreign Affairs, the sustained military strikes coordinated between the U.S. and Israel began Feb. 28. Students continue to organize against the violence perpetrated across the globe, and it is evident that the rally’s student organizers sought to contribute to a broader resistance movement. According to an anonymous student organizer:
“We want to show everyone on and off campus that there are student organizations like Supporting Immigrants and Refugees Club (SIRC), Palestinian Student Association (PSA), and Muslim Student Association (MSA) at USF who refuse to stay quiet and will continue to organize to denounce the federal government’s actions, provide opportunities for the student body to join our activism efforts, and ask the university to stop investing in companies that are enabling and supporting genocide.”
According to the New York Times, The United States and Iran currently remain at an impasse regarding the Strait of Hormuz, with President Donald Trump vowing to continue the U.S. Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports. Moreover, following a temporary ceasefire, Vice President JD Vance is expected to arrive in Pakistan April 21 for a second round of negotiations with Iran. These negotiations follow a month of conflict, with up to 3.2 million Iranians and 830,000 Lebanese displaced in this short time frame, according to NPR.
Prior to the event, the rally was described on a joint Instagram post by SIRC, PSA and MSA as an opportunity to “share space, honor the tragedies and the lives lost in this war and reflect on what is happening through speeches, community and protest.”
Ani De Lira Lopez, a senior history major and member of PSA, described the motivations behind the rally as, “If now is not the time to act, when is? We are all complicit with our tax dollars and our university tuition. The least we can do is make space for Lebanese, Iranian and Palestinian stories and rage right now.”
At the rally, students and faculty spoke on the urgency of the topic, with Professor Stephen Zunes, a professor of U.S. Middle Eastern policy, participating as a speaker. In his speech, Zunes examined the dichotomy between imperialism and violence, aptly describing: “It’s not about the nuclear program, it’s a matter of U.S. hegemony.” Following the rally, Zunes described his motivations for participating in the rally. “Given that the U.S./Israeli war on Iran is illegal, unnecessary and predictably disastrous, I felt it important to be there. I reminded the students that antiwar sentiment predominates in the U.S. today and that they are not alone.”
In between speeches, students cheered for the liberation of Palestinians with commonly used slogans such as “From the river to the sea. . . Palestine will be Free!” The crowd’s chants resonated across Privett Plaza as student organizers distributed flyers from SIRC detailing the realities faced by civilians caught in these conflicts, with further information on how students could engage in activism beyond the rally.
Jayden Joeckel, a senior politics student and member of PSA, said, “I think the intended goal of any rally is for the school to fold on all of our demands immediately. The work will continue, rallies will continue and we will continue to reevaluate our strategies until whole divestment is met on this campus and all campuses.”
