First off, I support putting pressure on Israel to cease fire in Gaza, IMO that is a just cause. That would be primarily for the purpose of providing food and medical aid to Gazans. I have no doubt that Hamas will take advantage of a cease fire for their evil purposes so it can’t be a total cease fire and withdrawal from Gaza, but the current situation is harming far more people than can be justified. I expect Israel to continue to hunt down and kill members of Hamas. So a cease fire will have conditions. And any future chance for a future of peace in the region desperately needs an end to escalation of hostilities there.
Second, a major motivating factor behind the protests spreading across college campuses is springtime. College students will go outside and protest anything given a popular motivation. Trying to crack down on such protests is counter-productive. That just provides further motivation as the protestors feel that their right to free speech is under attack. We are talking about young stupid people surging with hormones. They don’t understand that given a choice of liver and onions or lutefisk to eat that chanting “We want a cheesesteak!” is not going to result in a cheesesteak for dinner. The rest of us need to remember that we were once young and stupid too and didn’t know how conceive of productive, realistic compromises that provide solutions. But someone still has to apply the pressure to change the menu to include better choices, otherwise it’s too easy to complacently to sit and hope it gets better.
Now I also realize that there are external factors at play. Antisemitic and pro-terrorist influences are at play here. We the adults have allowed severe pollution of public discourse with ‘fake news’. It’s no surprise that it’s more difficult than ever for American youth to work out the nitty gritty details of political issues. The anti-war movement in the 60s included radical groups that didn’t represent the American public at large or in the anti-war movement itself. However, tarring the whole effort with the bad intentions of a minority isn’t going to work any better than arresting protestors.
I ‘support’ the pro-Palestinian protests to some degree as well, but for another reason: I think it’s finally forced both sides of the “free-speech” debate to face up to their hypocrisy:
The conservatives who previously agitated for years about how free speech belongs on college campuses, are now hypocritically cracking down on free speech by pro-Palestine protestors.
The liberals who previously tried to muzzle free speech on campuses, are now getting a taste of what it’s like to not be allowed to have free speech on campus.
And lastly, this war is finally forcing people to stop conflating “anti-Israel-policies” with “anti-Semitism,” an ever-popular tactic.
I don’t support their cause, but I do support their exposing college admins as just another bunch of craven make-line-go-up-no-matter-what capitalist sociopaths.
But this is odd- to demand that Yale divest the portion of its endowment invested in the stocks of military contractors, which make the weapons Israel is currently using in its war with Hamas in Gaza.
Umm, arent those the same companies that make the weapons we send to protect democracy in Ukraine and Taiwan??
There are multiple motivations behind the individuals in these protests. Some haven’t thought deeply enough about what they’re doing/protesting/demanding. Others might actually be hoping to influence things to their own ends, which might not be at all in our best interests.
It’s complicated. People tend to want simple answers and clear causes but that’s not reality.
I support their right to protest. I think university administrators calling in the police to arrest anyone not being violent are wrong in what they are doing.
On the other hand, I don’t support their cause, because as pointed out, including in your own OP, as well as by Broomstick, it’s a complicated issue.
IMHO complicated issues are poorly served by protests. Sure, it’s easy to say something like “I support getting Israeli forces to stop killing innocent Palestinians”. But that’s obviously not a simple thing given the entire picture. So on the whole, no I don’t support the protesters actual cause, which comes across to me as them taking sides with the Palestinians because the Palestinians are the underdogs. Maybe they’re doing a poor job in communicating what they want, but that’s the point the comes across to me from what I’ve read about the protests.
True, the two are not the same- I despise Netanyahu- that crook. But much like the “concerned” people over trans athletes there is a lot of bigotry in those protests too. By no means all or even a majority, but still it’s there.
I fully support the Palestinian people against the genocide and ethnic cleansing they have been suffering from at the hands of Israel. We need to cut off all aid and military support of Israel immediately, with major sanctions if they don’t adhere to a lasting ceasefire.
I am really proud of college students all over the country, and fully support them as well. They deserve to be heard and their freedom of speech and assembly upheld. And they are certainly not stupid, brainwashed, funded by outside sources, or antisemitic. All these false accusations just do nothing but try to diminish the cause we are fighting for, which is the point of these insults. I’ve protested and marched side by side with many students and they are intelligent and well-informed.
We fund a lot of the Israeli military and send them money and weapons for “defense” that are now being used in an offensive manner. Universities, as well as others, invest in Israeli businesses and industries.
We can’t stop the Israeli government or the IDF directly, but we can stop supporting them which will, due to the level of US support, most definitely have an impact.
That is one (among many) reasons for the protests, to try to wield US influence to pressure the Israeli government to conduct things in a different manner.
Yes, there’s a certain thing in the US culture that really likes to root for the scrappy, oppressed underdog. The problem is when the “scrappy, oppressed underdog” are awful, nasty people. That’s another factor at work.
Yes, there are communication problems. That’s in part because there are multiple motivations and positions. It’s also because a lot of people involved are inexperienced young adults who lack the years of experience in communicating to the public that PR professionals and politicians have.
Please.
While the majority of protestors are well-meaning people there are minority elements that are one or several or all of the above. We’re seeing bad behavior on both sides of this issue, as always happens with these situations. And I emphasize on both sides. Or all sides might be better but this doesn’t divide as neatly into two sides as some would like.
They don’t depend on investments from these schools. The investment portfolios of these major schools should be examined, as should their accumulation of funds that aren’t education related. It’s going to have some influence on their institutional status in the future.
It is very complicated. For one thing the protestors have no clearly defined cause.
I don’t believe for a moment that there are 10,000 serious members of Hamas and 2 million totally innocent Palestinians. There will be a gradation of terrorist support radiating form a hardcore terrorist base out to truly innocent people in the widespread population. That still means over 1 million innocent people at a minimum are forced into even worse conditions than they’ve endured in the past. I do believe we should be using our influence with Israel to change this situation. The Israeli position is that the war is justified by the horrific attack by Hamas last year. Their attack on Hamas is a just cause also. But even just causes have to be tempered by just realities.
I am happy to see that the protestors right to free speech is being highly considered even by those who disagree with their cause. That’s the most important part to consider here, there may be even greater causes that we need the students of America to stand up for in the future.
Yeah. I have friends who are college students and care passionately about the protests. They are good people. Most of the protestors are good people, even if they may overestimate the value of protesting on an American college campus. But anti-Israeli protests attract antisemites. And for that matter, pro-Israeli activities attract racist assholes who hate brown people. So on the fringes of the protests, we get to see some pretty ugly activities, both antisemitic and generically bigoted.
US, UK urge Hamas to accept Israeli truce proposal in war on Gaza
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says the proposal includes a 40-day truce and the release of captives.
Published On 29 Apr 202429 Apr 2024
The United States and the United Kingdom have urged Hamas to accept an Israeli proposal for a truce in the Gaza war and the release of some captives held in the besieged territory.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Monday that the Israeli proposal delivered to Hamas includes a 40-day truce in the Gaza war and the release of “potentially thousands” of Palestinian prisoners in return for the release of some Israeli captives.….Speaking on Monday at a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Cameron described the offer as “generous”.
But to be honest i do not think Hamas will accept the deal, I do not think they want peace.
Netanyahu has said that deal or no deal, it’s still on in Rafah:
Personally I’d be surprised if this doesn’t easily double the amount of civilian casualties. I’d love to be wrong.
In the meantime, as regards protesters, I’m certainly supportive of their right to speak on subjects they are passionate about, even if it makes others uncomfortable. But I would hope that these protesters can also recognize when they are achieving diminishing returns. How many Palestinians were saved today by students in the US and Canada throwing their academic careers away?