2 arrested, others pepper-sprayed at mass rally in Orlando calling for a ceasefire in Gaza

About 1,200 people gathered at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando on Saturday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza in a massive rally that ended with the arrest of two people.

In a mostly peaceful gathering, protesters marched from the northeast lawn, making it the largest in recent memory. Many demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and wore keffiyehs.

Shouts echoed through the park calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where at least 35,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces after a Hamas attack in Tel Aviv on October 7.

The arrests came after protesters returned to the lawn. A line of Orlando police officers pushed through the crowd as a woman spoke to the gathering with a megaphone. Protesters were warned against using it at the start of the march, but this confrontation was quelled by the group’s marshals leading the crowd.

“As Floridians, we are united here as we stand with the millions who stand for Palestine,” the woman said before police arrived to interrupt her speech. Two people appeared to block police from reaching the woman and knocked over several others before police pepper-sprayed the crowd and dispersed them.

Tensions had briefly flared minutes earlier when protesters walking along the western end of the park suddenly moved toward Rosalind Avenue before being turned away. As the two detainees were forced into police cars, the crowd repeatedly chanted “Let them go!” as volunteer paramedics attended to those affected by the gas.

Shortly after the rally ended, an Orlando Police Department spokesman confirmed the arrests and said assault charges would be filed against a police officer. Their names have not been published.

“The Orlando Police Department is committed to ensuring the safety of everyone peacefully gathering in the city of Orlando, while ensuring the safety of residents and businesses,” OPD said in a written statement.

Saturday’s march comes days before the 76th Nakba Day on May 15. The day commemorates the period in 1948 known in Arabic as the “Catastrophe” when Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their land in the early founding of Israel, which celebrates its independence on the same day. Saturday also marked the anniversary of the murder of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli soldiers.

“We honor our martyrs,” said Rasha Mubarak of the Florida Palestine Network to cheers from Abu Akleh.

The calls for a ceasefire come amid a sustained onslaught by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, where it is preparing for an expanded offensive in Rafah since at least October 7, when 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas and allied insurgents in Tel Aviv.

Since then, nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, which is likely an undercount. Many in the international community accuse Israel of genocide. This week, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution making Palestine the 194th member state, a long-held goal of the Palestinian authorities. Nine countries, including the United States and Israel, voted against the resolution.

Since October 7, thousands of demonstrations around the world have called for a ceasefire in Gaza as the public turns against Israel’s handling of the war with Hamas. In the United States, students at dozens of universities have set up camps calling on the government to divest from companies and money that benefit Israel.

At the University of Central Florida, students organized day-long picnics that doubled as rallies throughout the week, calling on the university to reconsider its relationships with companies like Lockheed Martin and to sever Tel Aviv University’s ties with Israel. UCF told FOX 35 that students’ demands for divestment are “inconsistent with the guidelines of the law for political or social reasons.”

Meanwhile, students are trying to restore the university’s SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine Chapter) as orders from state officials to “deactivate” the chapters at state universities have not been enforced due to legal challenges.

Beyond the UCF, pro-Palestinian advocates have repeatedly pushed the city of Orlando to pass a ceasefire resolution, although it has not yet formally considered it.

Last weekend, Mubarak, the organizer of the Florida Palestine Network, was arrested and barred from attending a Florida Democratic Party gala after he harassed U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. At the gala, where Fetterman was the keynote speaker, Mubarak said: “Fetterman, you don’t care about people,” “Your legacy is genocide,” “Liberate Palestine,” and “Shame on you, shame on the FDP.”

Mubarak was released hours later.