A vote of no confidence against Florida State University (FSU) Student Senate President Ahmad Daraldik failed on the evening of June 17.
The final tally of the vote, which took place on a Zoom conference call, was not disclosed.
FSU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) celebrated the failed no-confidence vote.
“We are proud to announce Ahmad Daraldik has kept his seat as Senate President!” the group tweeted. “Things are changing. Now it’s not only international law on our side but public opinion too.”
Thank you so much for the outpouring of support. We are proud to announce Ahmad Daraldik has kept his seat as Senate President!
Things are changing. Now it’s not only international law on our side but public opinion too. 🇵🇸 #ImWithAhmad
— FSU SJP (@FSU4Palestine) June 18, 2020
StandWithUs CEO and co-founder Roz Rothstein condemned the failed no-confidence vote.
“The senate voted against removing their president based on blatantly false claims,” she said. “It was repeatedly stated that all of his anti-Semitic statements occurred many years ago, when in fact he equated Israelis with Nazis in a video posted literally this month. The lies promoted by those tripping all over themselves to defend him are almost as bad as his many anti-Semitic posts and comments.”
Daraldik, who is a Palestinian-American, had been under fire for his past social media posts stating “f— Israel” and “stupid Jew.” He also appeared to have a website comparing Israel to Nazi Germany. He explained in a video that his “f— Israel” post was after he had a bad experience at an Israeli checkpoint when he was visiting the West Bank.
The previous student senate president, Jack Denton, was ousted on June 5 after he said in a private GroupMe chat that the Black Lives Matter movement and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) supported policies that went against Catholic theology. The vote tally against Denton was revealed to be 86% in favor of removing him.
