When the current campus protests started, I supported them. Silently. From a distance. I agreed (and still do) that Gaza needs and deserves support, that Netanyahu has gone way too far in his desire to eliminate Hamas, that the slaughter in Gaza has become not just warfare but virtual genocide. I thought then, and still think, that Pres. Biden has not been nearly forceful enough in his reaction to Natanyahu’s actions.
But that was several weeks ago. Since then the protests have devolved into vandalism, antisemitism, violence against police, and more. Blocking sidewalks, blocking access to campus buildings, intimidating Jewish students, keeping other students from going about their normal business. All unacceptable.
Peaceful demonstrations, law-abiding encampments in approved locations. These are fine. But the protesters have no right to interfere with those students who would rather study than protest, who are entitled to free access to their classrooms, dorms, cafeterias, libraries. And most of all, the seniors who have earned the right — and paid for the right — to earn a degree, attend a commencement, and receive their diplomas.
I’m angry that the protesters, in many cases, are taking or have already taken this honor, this recognition, away from their fellow students — many of whom were also deprived of their high school commencements by the pandemic. Shame on the protesters. All of them. This didn’t have to happen. This shouldn’t have happened.
And no, these protests are not like the Viet Nam protests. Back then the draft was in effect. Not only did students think it was an unjust war, but they were also being drafted to fight and die in it. Theirs was justifiable, understandable protest. The current protests are about someone else’s war, a war that doesn’t directly involve these students. If they disagree with what their schools are doing, they are free to leave (if they don’t get expelled first). They are not free to wreak havoc, break laws, and disrupt the majority.
And yes, I have a vested interest in all this. My granddaughter graduates from high school in ten days and will be attending college in New York City in the fall.
As if I hadn’t already been worried enough.
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Featured image: The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University on April 24. (Photo: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
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I’m someone who protested the Vietnam War, so I feel some alliance with these students. I agree that blocking the entrance to the schools and anti-semitism is not warranted and is wrong. But I disagree that killing civilians in Gaza is not our problem. To me, it’s a moral issue: when the murder of children and women, presumably innocent victims, is accepted, we all suffer.
Oh I didn’t mean that Gaza is not our problem. It’s the civilized world’s problem. I just meant the protesting students are not directly involved like those being drafted back during the Vietnam protests. (I was out of school by then, but my husband and brother were draft age and we marched in some of those protests.) I am very much opposed to what’s happening in Gaza and very upset that President Biden hasn’t levied some heavy penalties against Netanyahu. What’s been happening in Gaza for years is criminal and I’ve written a lot about it in the past.
I agree with your sentiments, Susan. I would make a further point. The protesters’ goal of divestiture in arms for Israel is misguided. The arms industry, a.k.a. the military-industrial complex, also produces materiel for our own defense at a time when our own supplies are running low, not ti mention the need to support Ukraine with munitions. A better goal would be to stop or diminish arms shipments to Israel, something the Biden administration is already doing.
I’ve read several explanations of why the demands for divestiture are naive and impractical if not impossible. I agree with you that Biden should tell Netanyahu to stop the slaughter in Gaza and negotiate a two-state solution or we’ll stop sending sending the arms and money he’s using there. I resent being made a party to Netanyahu’s madness.
I just heard that Biden has halted bomb shipments to Israel in an effort to head off the attack on Rafa. ‘Bout time.
I wonder if the campus protests helped convince Biden to stop the bomb shipments …
This issue – “supporting Palestine” – has outgrown its origins, mightily.
Protesting about it has become The Thing of The Moment.
There are amongst students those who seek A Cause, a way to be different – just as there are among the people in general. These last cling to a truly dreadful man simply because he represents DIFFERENCE; while the students do the same.
Neither group is actually thinking about what it professes to champion.
Think? Them? That’ll be the day. Thinking requires effort. Worse, it might even require change.