Jewish Journal
Aaron Bandler
July 17, 2020
The city commission for the Miami-Dade County city Aventura adopted a resolution on July 16 urging Florida State University (FSU) to remove Student Senate President Ahmad Daraldik from his position.
The resolution highlights Daraldik’s social media post using the words “stupid jew” and a website apparently belonging to him comparing Israel with Nazi Germany.
“The City denounces the anti-Semitic social media posts made by the Florida State University Senate President and the City encourages citizens to stand up against anti-Semitism in all its forms, and to speak out against anti-Semitism through peaceful speech and action,” the resolution states.
It added that the city “strongly urges the Florida State University President [John Thrasher] to demonstrate Florida State University’s intolerance for such anti-Semitic social media posts by taking action, including the condemnation of the social media posts, and removal of the Florida State University Senate President.”
Aventura Vice Mayor Howard Weinberg said in a statement that he’s going to encouraging each city in Miami-Dade County to pass similar resolutions.
“We’re not going to be silent,” Weinberg said. “We’re not going to be complicit when we’re dealing with this kind of hateful anti-Semitism, especially on the campus of one of our great state universities.”
He also addressed Daraldik’s reported attempt to stop two members of the Florida Jewish Legislative Caucus from speaking during a July 15 student senate meeting.
“This student senate president wasn’t going to even allow them to speak, not even give them the courtesy to speak as state representatives,” Weinberg said. “It was the most outrageous thing and most undemocratic thing I’ve seen in a long time.”
FSU Student Government Association President Jonathan Levin ultimately overruled Daraldik and let the two legislators speak.
Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, said in a statement to the Journal, “It’s encouraging to see elected officials condemning anti-Semitism at FSU and urging the university to take action and we hope other communities in Florida will follow suit. It’s not acceptable that someone with a long history of antisemitism remains in a position of power over Jewish students.”
A vote of no confidence against Daraldik in the student senate failed on June 18.
FSU did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
Read the article here.
