Turlington Plaza became a center for protest as University of Florida students, faculty and Gainesville residents gathered one year after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
A crowd of around 30 protestors began a march from Turlington Plaza to Tigert Hall, demanding an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The protest began at noon Monday and called for students and faculty to walk out of classes to show solidarity for the Palestinian people.
The protest began in Turlington Plaza, where a year ago, a stampede injured 30 students at a prayer vigil for the 1,200 people killed and about 250 others taken hostage by Hamas militants.
Students for Justice in Palestine, a student-run organization, organized the protest as the first in a series of events. Future events, including a memorial for the more than 41,600 Palestinian people killed were postponed due to Hurricane Milton.
It was also the organization’s first major protest on campus in fall 2024 since six UF students and three other protesters were arrested on campus on April 29.
The crowd began to march to Tigert Hall to deliver a petition to Interim President Kent Fuchs asking that he disclose the university’s financial investments in weapon manufacturers that support the Israeli government.
Student speakers gathered at the steps of Tigert Hall to chant as three students went inside to deliver the envelope with their formal petition.
The petition also demanded the university administration drop the charges for the student protesters arrested on campus.
Aron Ali-McClory, 21, a fourth-year anthropology and political science student at the University of Florida, was among the crowd of protestors.
Ali-McClory has gotten more involved with protests once he joined Students for Justice in Palestine and the university’s chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America, an organization that supports socialist policies and political reform on campus and in Gainesville.
Since Oct. 7, he said he’s noticed campus become more tense, especially during Monday’s protest. He described it as a dark time.
Ali-McClory said he is protesting for a democratic Palestinian territory “where the people have sovereignty over themselves,” he said. He wants to see an end to U.S. involvement in the conflict.
Ela Cohen, the media liaison for the UF Divest Coalition, a student-run organization demanding that the university divest from Israel, is expecting a response from the university administration.
If there is no action by the university, Cohen said the protests will continue “We’ll just try and be louder,” he said.
Cohen’s commitment doesn’t come without difficulty. As the protest continued, tensions rose as counter-protestors arrived with evangelical posters, a Trump flag and Israeli flags. But the safety of pro-Palestinian protestors remained a priority.
“We’re out here protesting, but we also want to make sure that we’re keeping each other safe,” Cohen said.
George Theobald, a first-year arts and business administration student at UF, also waved a Palestinian flag in front of the crowd in Turlington Plaza.
Theobald said he expected a lower turnout at the protest but was glad to see so many people show up.
Amir Bilal, 22, a third-year sociology student at UF, said he decided to attend his first protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people on Monday. While he wishes for an end to the suffering of Palestinians, he wants to stay mindful of the victims on both sides of the conflict.
“I feel that I wanted to make my voice heard,” Bilal said.
In the face of counter-protestors and police waiting around Tigert Hall and Turlington Plaza, Bilal said he felt fear in the air. “You gotta watch what you say, watch what you do because there’s a lot of crazy people out there that will hurt you for what you say,” he said.
As the crowd returned to Turlington Plaza, other protests began to erupt. The plaza grew crowded as students turned into bystanders, watching as a man held up a sign that read “Hell Awaits.”
Another counter-protestor rode around Turlington on an electric scooter holding a Trump flag. Other students arrived with Israeli flags as they stationed themselves in front of the pro-Palestinian crowd.
At the Plaza of the Americas, Jewish organizations, including UF Hillel and the Chabad UF Jewish Student and Community Center, set up tents and Israeli flags to offer support to Jewish students mourning the hostages and the lives lost on Oct. 7.
Jagger Leach, 22, former president of the University of Florida’s Jewish Student Union, spent his afternoon in the plaza to show other Jewish students that they have a community at the University of Florida.
Because the university has a Jewish student population of about 6,500, Leach said he saw tabling as an opportunity to show students they have a support system on campus.
Members of Stand With Us, an organization dedicated to countering antisemitism, were also stationed at Plaza of the Americas handing out pamphlets against hate speech.
“Hate speech is not OK for any group, for Jews for Muslims,” Leach said. “All of those things are not things that we as a people approve of.”
The crowd protesting in solidarity with Palestinian people passed by Plaza of the Americas as they chanted on their way to Tigert Hall. “There’s no coincidence they came through here,” Leach said. “I believe it’s meant as an intimidation tactic.”
Leach said that what Jewish people want is to live in a unified land without violence. “A lot of these groups on campus are not saying that same mission. Hopefully, and one day, we’ll have peace with everybody.”
WUFT reporter Sydney Johnson also contributed to this report.