Gaza protests part of a long history of campus activism
Israel’s attacks on Gaza have horrified people around the globe, generating a massive outpouring of support for the victims and the Palestinian cause.
There’s certainly been an uptick in support for the pre-existing boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) movement that seeks to end international support for Israel, and pressure it to comply with international law.
On university campuses, including some in Canada, the reaction has been reminiscent of the previous generation’s battles against apartheid in South Africa, with echoes of the 1960s’ protest movements.
The war launched in response to Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israeli civilians that killed more than 1,100 people has been decidedly devastating to the beleaguered Palestinians in the occupied territory that is Gaza. Hamas, labeled a terrorist organization, is the ostensible target. Innocents, including children, overwhelmingly make up the victims.
That’s been the case in every such attack, though the scale of today’s events has resonated. Almost 35,000 people in Gaza have been killed, including more than 14,500 children and 8,400 women. More than 78,000 people have been injured, and another 8,000 are missing.
Much like South African apartheid, Israel continues to violate the rights of Palestinians in the lands it occupies illegally, backed by the U.S.
The decades of intransigence have been met in recent years however, with a growing shift in support for the Palestinians, who have won the battle for international hearts. The politicians and those who profit from arms deals are another matter, however.
After years and years of summits and bad-faith bargaining by all sides, little seems to change when it comes to the Arab-Israeli struggle.
Stripped of the jingoism, all the adventures smack of imperialism: control of strategic areas – especially important during the Cold War – and of a strategic resource, oil.
For all the fuss, the reality is that what happens there – who lives, who dies, who does what – matters no more to us than what happens in Africa and other Third World countries. In short, we don’t give a damn.
Well, perhaps not until now, given the protests on college campuses, particularly in the US. In this country, we’ve seen students calling for divestment and the end to Canadian support for Israel, with protests at the likes of the University of Toronto, McMaster and McGill University.
Those protests are part of a larger student protest movement that has gained international attention. The students are demanding that their universities listen to their concerns and take action.
For all the military adventurism in the Middle East, only the naive and partisan believe the goal has ever been democracy and freeing people from tyranny. There’s nothing noble in anything we’ve done there.
As it stands, we’re doing more harm than good. That’s especially true of the Americans, who have advanced the cause of radical Islamists. Experts predicts more of the region will fall under the sway of
Islamist revolutionaries, who’ve been made stronger by American bungling in the region.
Actions in Gaza in recent months are an example of things to come. Intervention and occupation by the West and its proxy state has made extremists more popular with the native populations, exactly the opposite of what needs to happen for things to get better.
Attitudes are shifting, however, making occupation more perilous on the international stage. Public opinion is largely pro-Palestinian. Vocally so, in fact, which helps explain the encampments at a variety of university campuses.
Student protests in Canada have a rich history dating back to the early 20th century, with students mobilizing around a wide range of issues, including educational reform, social justice, and political change.
Student activism in Canada gained momentum in the early 20th century, with protests focusing on issues such as university governance, academic freedom, and student rights. One notable example is the student strike at the University of Toronto in 1895, which protested against compulsory chapel attendance and other restrictive university policies.
The 1960s and 1970s saw a surge in student activism in Canada, fueled by broader social and political action such as the civil rights movement, anti-war protests, and the rise of countercultural movements. Students protested against issues such as the Vietnam War, racial discrimination, and the authoritarian policies of university administrations. In the 1980s, the divestment approach marked student protests against apartheid, a route reflected in today’s approach to Israel over its history of occupation and the attacks on civilians in Gaza. While supporters of Israel chafe at the comparison to the former South African regime, critics continue to draw parallels.
The Canadian Federation of Students, for instance, last week issued a statement drawing on just that imagery.
“The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) affirms its solidarity with Palestinian people in their ongoing fight against settler-colonialism, apartheid, occupation, and genocide. For 75 years, Palestinians have been subject to extreme systemic violence due to the ongoing Zionist occupation through a process of settler-colonialism, and ethnic cleansing,” the organization said in a statement released May 2.
“Historically, the student movement has played an imperative role at dismantling oppression and seeking change worldwide, and Palestine is no exception: from coast to coast, students continue to call for an immediate stop to the bombing of Gaza, an immediate end to the siege, and a free and liberated Palestine. We uplift the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and resistance, and remain rooted in the understanding that colonized people have the right to resist the processes of settler-colonialism they are experiencing, from Turtle Island to Palestine.”
Canadian students have long been active in protesting against global injustices and expressing
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