Bid to Oust Florida State University Student Senate President With History of Antisemitic Statements Fails
A no-confidence vote to remove the new Florida State University Student Senate president due to past antisemitic statements he had made failed to gain a necessary two-thirds majority on Wednesday night, though the final tally revealed a majority in favor of removal.
Ahmad Daraldik — who is Palestinian-American — recently replaced a previous president of the Student Senate who was expelled for criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement.
It was later discovered that Daraldik had made numerous offensive comments online such as “stupid Jew” and “f**k Israel.”
In addition, a web page belonging to Daraldik openly minimizes the Holocaust, calling it simply an “atrocity” and comparing Israel unfavorably to Nazi Germany.
The vote on removing Daraldik took place at the end of a Zoom meeting. The vote tally was concealed from the participants, but it was claimed that the motion did not garner a two-thirds majority.
Carly Schlafler — director of communications for the Israel on Campus Coalition — told The Algemeiner, “Jewish and pro-Israel students are disappointed by this outcome, which reflects an apparent double standard” — a reference to the removal of the previous president.
“During the five-hour Zoom meeting, Jewish and pro-Israel students spoke passionately about how Ahmad’s postings made them feel unsafe and marginalized, and about their desire for the Student Senate to make this right by electing a more inclusive leader,” she said.