Student protesters making a better world

Much has been written about the ruthless individualism in America, the fragility of American youth, and the conservative shift in the country’s politics. But the recent anti-war encampments at universities across the United States tell a fresh story of a different America.

It appears that the spirit of civil resistance that brought the Vietnam War to an end has reawakened in college students all over the country.

The students are calling for an end to the massacre of civilians in Gaza and the US military aid that enables it.

I am truly in awe of these student protesters. They have understood that the core purpose of education is to prepare them for an intellectual life in which they are able to analyse the world for the purpose of changing it.

It does not surprise me that there are Jewish students among these protesters. One of the strongest values in Judaism is the love for education and questioning. And it is through questioning and inquiry that these students have come to demand that their institutions divest from businesses that profit from the war in Gaza.

During a recent Passover speech, one of the most distinguished Jewish scholars of our time, Naomi Klein, spoke about the betrayal of the Jewish value of questioning and the false idol of Zionism.

“Zionism is a false idol that has betrayed every Jewish value, including the value we place on questioning ... the love we have as a people for text and for education.

“Today, this false idol justifies the bombing of every university in Gaza; the destruction of countless schools, of archives, of printing presses; the killing of hundreds of academics, of journalists, of poets – this is what Palestinians call scholasticide, the killing of the means of education.”

What the campus protesters are demanding is for their universities, not to be beholden to their donors, to act from a moral and principled position and to stop profiting from a war that has led to mass killings of civilians in Gaza and complete decimation of educational institutions there.

And to achieve their goal, they are throwing their voices and even their bodies behind an anti-war movement that is spreading all over America.

The sacrifices they are willing to make are significant. There is a real risk of detention and suspension, as well as the possibility of being battered by the cops and counter-protestors.

I have been to most of the proPalestinian protests in New Zealand.

Last week, I went to the one in London. Have I had to make any sacrifices? No. Have I faced any danger? No.

In fact, going to the protests have been a source of solace to me - an antidote to the daily despair I feel by watching the horrific visuals coming out of Gaza.

These students are better than most of us. They are the ones that make our world a better place. I salute them for their sense of morality, intellect and resilience, and for creating “the biggest student movement of the 21st century”.

It took years of quiet, peaceful protests before the1960s anti-Vietnam protests gathered serious momentum. What is different about these campus protests is the speed with which they have escalated and spread across the country.

Those of us who have been attending pro-Palestinian marches know full well that they are not hate marches, that many Jews regularly attend them and feel welcomed and included.

I know from previous experience of attending different rallies, that there are always fringe elements who come to make trouble, and that there are individuals or small groups whose views don’t align with the views of the majority attending the protests.

This does not justify labelling the proPalestinian marches as anti-Semitic or pro-terrorists. Attempts to smear those who take part in these protests point to the moral bankruptcy and desperation of the pro-war camp who are running out of excuses to justify the mass killing of children and the indiscriminate bombing of the starved and entrapped population of Gaza.

A few days ago, a dramatic video compilation of the US crackdown on protesters across America was posted on the social media account of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.

Authoritarian regimes benefit from pointing out the violent policing of protests in the West. It helps them justify their own brutal crackdown on dissent.

It’s hard to tell how long the current pro-Palestinian encampments will last. There are talks of UK universities bracing for “Gaza solidarity encampments” too. Whatever happens, it is clear that violent policing of these marches will only make a difficult situation even more complicated.

Protests, as inconvenient and uncomfortable to some as they might be, are the price of living in a democracy.

I end with the opening lines of a piercing poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

“To sin by silence, when we should protest, makes cowards out of men.”

Donna Miles is an Iranian-Kiwi columnist and writer based in Christchurch, and a regular opinion contributor.