Gainesville shows solidarity with Gaza

GAINESVILLE, Fla.--Some 60 people answered a call on June 7 to protest the Israeli assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla a week before.

Local organizations and community members, including Students for Justice in Palestine, Islam on Campus, Gainesville SDS, the National Lawyers Guild, the International Socialist Organization and Amnesty International turned out their members in what is typically a very slow period for activism in Gainesville.

Protesters gather at S.W. 34th Street and Williston Road, chanted and collected signatures on prepared letters that were addressed to Rep. Cliff Stearns demanding that he denounce the actions of May 31 and push to hold Israel accountable.

Protesters then marched to Stearns' office to deliver the letters. He was conveniently absent that day, and his aid told us that she had no statement to deliver and tried to hand us off to Stearns' press office. In the absence of an official statement from Stearns. we invited the aid to hear our statements, which she did.

We sat in a semi-circle outside of his office while protesters each took their turn denouncing Israel's actions and calling on Stearns to do the same.