College of Charleston students protest Israeli soldier on campus

Charleston, SC – On October 22, the College of Charleston (CofC) chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) staged a protest against the so-called “Combat on College” event, at which an IDF soldier was scheduled to speak.

The protest was held in the Cistern Yard in front of Randolph Hall, the college’s central administrative building. It was timed to coincide with the university-sanctioned and Hillel-sponsored Israeli propaganda operation taking place just blocks away at the College’s Jewish Studies Center.

With support from the CofC student body, members of Free Palestine Charleston and other members of the Elbit Out of South Carolina (EOSC) coalition, CofC SDS rallied 75 concerned students, faculty and community members to speak out in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Despite an extensive Charleston Police Department presence, observed to extend well beyond the site of the protest and characterized by attendees as “excessive” and a “scare tactic,” enthusiasm for the cause was high.

CofC SDS members and allies chanted slogans of solidarity, held signs and flags high, and delivered remarks about the importance of speaking out for Palestine despite the escalating legal and extralegal measures that have been imposed to chill such speech.

Attacks on free speech include a state budget proviso signed into law by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster in July which included a bill defining antisemitism for consideration at public colleges and universities. The proviso defines antisemitisms in part as “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” and “blaming Israel for all inter-religious or political tensions,” which critics call an infringement upon First Amendment rights. CofC administration warned SDS leadership of this proviso before the action.

SDS member Sasha Bozanic gave the first speech of the evening, declaring, “The student body of the College of Charleston will not stand for the whitewashing of genocide; we will not become a front in Israel’s propaganda war.” They concluded by citing a slogan that has become ubiquitous in the global movement in support of Palestine, “Despite the best efforts of the IDF, aided by the Biden and Trump administrations, one day, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!’”

Later in the evening, members of Free Palestine Charleston and the EOSC issued calls to action on behalf of their organizations, voicing their approval for the student movement and urging their fellow demonstrators to stay involved in the struggle to end Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, including by joining the ongoing picket campaign against Elbit Systems’ manufacturing site in Ladson, South Carolina.

“You’re on the right side,” one attendee said. “Be proud of where you are. Continue your fight. This is a moral issue of our time.”

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