As Pro-Palestinian protests rage across the country's college campuses, I find it hard to not say anything about the hypocrisy of so many of the people in power. For the most part the demonstrations have been peaceful. Yet many students and faculty member have been arrested. There are calls from many politicians to send in the National Guards and arrest and kick the students involved out of school. There have been businesses which fired employees for supporting the Palestinians. There have been powerful law firms which have said they won't hired those students involved in the protests when they graduate. Wealthy donors have threatened to take back donations to schools if they continue to allow the protests. Is there really free speech in our country?
Josh Hawley, Senator from Missouri, is one of those people who advocated the National Guards be deployed to stop the protesters. This is the same guy who went to Hong Kong to root on the so called democracy seeking students. Never mind those protesters burned people and subways, built bombs and stormed and took over government buildings. Yes, sort of like the January 6 insurrection in our country. Hawley was also photographed giving the insurrectionists a power fist to encourage them. So Hawley encourages people protesting violently and trying to overthrow governments but is against people who are protesting peacefully. This is a great example of hypocrisy of those in our government.
Welcome back to the internet, Angry!
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is why do we need to have to be on one side or the other. I have been critical of Israel bombing Gaza in the name of destroying Hamas. I see Jewish people who want to take over Gaza and destroy the Palestinians. I see Palestinians who want to kill Jewish people. Can we all not get along?
My concern is some of these protests are labeled as Pro-Palestinian or Anti-Israel. Why couldn't Jewish and Palestinian people come together and protest the genocide and destruction of homes?
I'd feel better if these protests were of a peaceful nature but there are always bad apples that want to cause destruction and violence (whether these are protesters or police). I was shocked to see arrests at UCLA but it seems like at Berkeley, there haven't been any so far.
The president of Columbia added fuel to the flames when she threatened that protesters would be arrested. Once that match was lit, there was no going back. Now she is threatening suspending students who are caught protesting.
You are right about the hypocrisy but I guess a lot of it has to do with Israel being an ally whereas Palestine isn't. So these politicians have to turn a blind eye to what Netanyahu is doing. I am sure once Trump is elected, it'll give Israel the green light for more atrocities.
My good friend was at a UM honors ceremony last month for his daughter when protesters stormed the auditorium and disrupted the ceremony. He, his wife and some of the people in attendance, felt scared that they might be hurt by these protesters. I get what these protesters were doing but I don't know if doing so in a ceremony would get people to side with you.
I feel like I'm rambling but all I want is peace but I don't see it happening unless cooler heads prevail.
-LBOAYM
From what I have seen, the protests had been peaceful until the police started arresting people. I saw women students and professors being tackled by male police officers. So it doesn't look like our free speech ideal is working so well. For those like Hawley who calls for the National Guard, I don't think they remember Kent State. I hope something like that will never happen on our campuses again.
ReplyDeleteI am sure the president of Columbia is calling in the police and threatening suspension of protesting students is because wealthy donors are demanding that she stops the protest or they will withhold their donations. Money talks, that is why we support Israel and give Saudi Arabia passes while we condemn Russia, North Korea and Iran for human rights abuses.
Texas governor signed a bill in 2019 making free speech a law in colleges. This is due to conservatives complaining that they get shouted down in college campuses. But now they are calling for the arrest of the protesters as is being done in U. of Texas. I guess it is free speech for me but not for you!
It's amazing that these protests have become so violent. Does it surprise me? No. But I can see it happening in certain campuses but was a little surprised to see it at UCLA.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Money talks and this is a no-win situation for Biden. But what happens now that the protests become larger? The longer Israel keeps its offensive going, the worse it is for Biden. The question is if the protests in Israel will effect Netanyahu.
Looks like Columbia cracked down on the students. I wonder if this will escalate.
-LBOAYM
I came across this timeline on AP. I thought it was interesting that the daughter of Representative Omar was there. Also I did not know that John Chu was to be the speaker at USC's commencement ceremony. I'm surprised that USC canceled it. I wonder if there was pressure from people who donate money. I feel bad for the graduates since they probably were seniors in high school when Covid hit and probably missed graduation then.
Deletehttps://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-campus-protests-timeline-f7cd3abe635f8afa4532b7bed9212b56
-LBOAYM
Now that the encampments at ucla have been dismantled, I must say that something is wrong with the police actions here. The original protesters in the camps were peaceful. They were so peaceful that the ucla police chief did not feel the need to have a big police presence. Then the counter protesters came and attacked the encampment. It took three hours for the LAPD to gather enough force to help the ucla police. It was lucky that not many people were injured. Then the next day, the a big police force tore down the encampment. Some arrests were made of the protesters but so far none of the attackers been arrested. So the counter protesters were successful because they attacked and it was the protesters who got removed!
ReplyDeleteYesterday, by the way, was the anniversary of Kent State. None of the national guards who fired were jailed. I hope there will never be a repeat of this.