The Senate chambers were a bit more crowded than usual Tuesday night when about 30 students stuffed into rows and crowded the aisles to discuss an upcoming resolution regarding a report on last winter's Gaza conflict.
The resolution, which will be heard by the Student Senate in the upcoming weeks, supports the state of Israel and denounces the Goldstone report, a UN report accusing Israel and Hamas of war crimes during Israel's conflict with Palestine.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution Tuesday night that denounced the Goldstone report because of its bias.
A resolution is a piece of legislation that states the opinion of the Senate or the House, but does not take any action.
Husam Wahdan, the president of Students for Justice in Palestine, said he opposed the resolution because it did not represent an issue that affected UF students.
He questioned the ability of Senators to represent the interests of UF's 50,000 students on an international issue.
"It puzzles me that such a resolution has even been proposed," Wahdan said.
However, Rafael Yaniz, the president of Gators for Israel and one of the resolution's authors, disagreed. He said the Goldstone report would have an impact on UF's about 7,300 Jewish students. The debate lasted about an hour.
Orange and Blue Party Sen. Jonathan Ossip, who represents the Murphree Area, encouraged senators to read the House and Senate bills about the Goldstone report mentioned in the Student Senate resolution before voting.
Later on in the meeting, Orange and Blue Party senators and Progress Party senators introduced a bill that would replace "I Voted" stickers with an "I Voted" rubber stamp.
Author of the bill Kevin Seymour said the stamp would make elections more economical.
He said it would save about $200 in the initial election it was used and then $400 every semester after that.
Unite Party Sen. Josh Roberts, who represents the college of agriculture, questioned how the bill would help improve the election process. He said stickers are a matter of American pride.
The bill did not pass.
