Will Mleczko

On March 18, 2024, Mleczko and 17 other anti-Israel activists at the University of South Florida (USF) reportedly began a hunger strike of “indefinite” length during Israel’s war against Hamas.

Activists demanded that USF divest from companies doing business with Israel to stop what they claimed was a “genocide” happening in Gaza. Companies targeted included “Northrup Grumman Corp., Boeing and others,” which the activists said “are supplying Israel’s war effort.” USF officials responded that the school invests with fund managers and not with specific companies.

The entire hunger strike overlapped with two and a half weeks of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast daily from sunrise to sunset.

Mleczko explained [slide 2] why he was fasting in an earlier Instagram post from USF Hunger Strike for Palestine. He wrote: “I am hunger striking in solidarity of [sic] the Palestinian cause and for USF to completely divest from weapons manufacturers and friends of the genocidal Israeli state…[USF’s] own students will be the ones starving…We will not break our strike until our demands are met.”

On March 18, 2024, the day the hunger strike began, Mleczko spoke [01:01:26] at a USF Board of Trustees meeting, where he said: “Your…investments are already political when you invest in a genocide.”

Mleczko continued [01:01:58] addressing the board: “There’s immense blood on your hands…there’s complicity on your hands…We all know you don’t give a f**k about students here at USF!”

Also on March 18, 2024, WUSF, the university’s National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate, reported: “SFS President Will Mleczko said it was ‘all or nothing’ — the strike wouldn't end until all of the demands were met.”

Anti-Israel activists planned additional protests during their hunger strike, including a “March for Gaza” and several “sit-in” and “die-in” events on campus.

On April 3, 2024, USF Hunger Strike for Palestine, the group Mleczko was engaged in activism with, changed [slide 5] its name to USF Divest Coalition.

On the same day, USF Divest Coalition called off the student hunger strike, writing on Instagram: “While our demands were not met, we are merely beginning our fight for divestment at USF…We will ensure our community is not complicit in genocide, and divestment is inevitable. Solidarity forever, and to a free Palestine .”

USF Divest Coalition also wrote [slides 2-3] on the Instagram post: “...Due to multiple hospitalizations [and] fatal health warnings…we are encouraging all hunger strikers to finally break their strike…Within the next month alone we will be…Helping organize 4 more hunger strikes on campuses both nationally and overseas…”

On March 19, 2024, also during Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists after the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, USF Divest Coalition posted [slide 1] on Instagram a video of Mleczko leading anti-Israel chants during a protest on the USF campus.

Mleczko led protesters in chanting: “USF, we see you! You’re complicit in genocide, too! [USF president] Rhea Law, we see you! You’re complicit in genocide, too!”

At the same protest, participants also chanted [slide 2]: “Gaza, Gaza, lead the way, Palestine is here to stay!” and [slide 3]: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” is a chant used [00:02:47] to call for the elimination of the State of Israel. It has also been employed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal to call for the replacement of Israel with an Islamic state. In April 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the chant as antisemitic.

On February 2, 2024, SFS posted a photo [slide 1] of Mleczko on Instagram holding a sign that read: “UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA FUNDS GENOCIDE.”

On January 26, 2024, WUSF published an article about students from USF protesting and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The article reported Mleczko as saying: “‘There's a very large community that is very publicly pro-Palestinian, (and) unapologetic about it…We've seen, sometimes, a couple thousand people meeting up for marches every weekend, as well as doing disruptions and staging demonstrations.’”

The article also reported that at a January 25, 2024 anti-Israel rally at USF, “Students marched across campus…where they covered their hands in red dye, which Mleczko said was to replicate the blood of Palestinians in Gaza.”

On Saturday, October 7, 2023, approximately 2,900 heavily armed Hamas terrorists breached Israel’s border with Gaza. They executed numerous war crimes on civilians, including mass murder, beheadings of children, rape of men and women, torture, kidnappings and mutilation.

Hamas broadcast videos of their butchery on social media, often to victims’ accounts for families to see. Israel retaliated with a war called “Swords of Iron.” As of November 10, 2023, approximately 1,200 Israelis, the vast majority of them civilians, were murdered during the attacks. Hamas kidnapped 242 Israelis, including at least 30 children. At least 3,500 people were wounded, many severely.

A terrorist detained by Israel admitted he raped an Israeli woman when he broke into a kibbutz house during the October 7, 2023 attack. In March 2024, a former hostage of Hamas publicly stated she was sexually abused and tortured while in captivity.

For more information on the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by pro-terror activist Omar Barghouti in 2005 to turn “Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.” Barghouti has also called for Israel's destruction and the BDS movement demands would result in that same goal.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been infiltrating university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments propose resolutions to boycott or divestment from Israel or Israeli-affiliated entities. BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents and pro-terror activism on campus.

Anti-Israel BDS Hunger Strike during a Hamas War

Hatred of Israel during a Hamas War

BDS

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