US students rising for Gaza is a case of humanity at its finest
The mass protests at dozens of US universities cannot be reduced to a stifling and misleading conversation about antisemitism. Thousands of American students across the country are not protesting, risking their own futures and even their safety, because of some pathological hate for the Jewish people.
They are doing so in complete rejection of, and justifiable outrage over, the mass killing being carried out by the state of Israel against defenseless Palestinians in Gaza. They are angry because the bloodbath in the Gaza Strip, starting on Oct. 7, is fully funded and backed by the US government.
These mass protests began at the University of Columbia on April 17, before spreading all round the US, from New York to Texas and from North Carolina to California.
The protests are being compared, in terms of their nature and intensity, to the antiwar demonstrations in the US against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s. While this comparison is apt, it is critical to note the ethnic diversity and social inclusiveness in the current protests. On many campuses, Arab, Muslim, Jewish, Black, Native American and white students are standing shoulder to shoulder with their Palestinian peers in a unified stance against the war.
None of them are motivated by the fear that they could be drafted to fight in Gaza, as was the case for many American students during the Vietnam War era. Instead, they are united around a clear set of priorities: ending the war, ending US support of Israel, ending their universities’ direct investment in Israel, and the recognition of their right to protest. This is not idealism but humanity at its finest.
Despite mass arrests, starting in Columbia, and the direct violence against peaceful protesters everywhere, the movement has only grown stronger.
On the other side, US politicians, starting with President Joe Biden, have accused the protesters of antisemitism without engaging with any of their reasonable, globally supported demands. Once again, the Democratic and Republican establishments have stood together in blind support for Israel. The US mainstream media has contributed to the confusion and misinformation regarding the reasons behind the protests.
The Wall Street Journal has allowed writers such as Steven Stalinsky to smear young justice activists for daring to criticize Israel’s horrendous genocide in Gaza. “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and others are grooming activists in the US and across the West,” he alleged, once more taking a critical conversation about American support of genocide in bizarre and unsubstantiated directions. US establishment writers may wish to continue to fool themselves and their readers, but the truth is that neither Hezbollah nor Hamas has “recruiters” active in Ivy League universities.
All such distractions are meant to avoid the undeniable shift in American society; one that promises a long-term paradigm shift in popular views of Israel and Palestine. For years prior to the current war, Americans have been changing their opinions on Israel and their country’s so-called special relationship with Tel Aviv. A statement asserting that “sympathies in the Middle East now lie more with the Palestinians than the Israelis” would have been unthinkable in the past. But it is the new normal and the latest opinion polls regarding the subject, along with Biden’s dwindling approval ratings, continue to attest to this fact.
The older generation of American politicians, who have built and sustained careers based on their unconditional support for Israel, are overwhelmed. Their language is confused and riddled with falsehoods. Yet, they are willing to go as far as defaming a whole generation of their own people — the future leaders of America — to satisfy the demands of the Israeli government.
In a televised statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week described the protesters as “antisemitic mobs” that “have taken over leading universities,” alleging that the peaceful protesters are calling “for the annihilation of Israel.” His words should have outraged all Americans, regardless of their politics and ideology. Instead, many US politicians began parroting Netanyahu’s words. But political opportunism will generate a blowback effect, not just in the distant future but in the coming weeks and months, especially in the run-up to the November elections.
Millions of Americans are clearly fed up: with war and with their government’s allegiance to a foreign country, to militarism, to police violence, to unprecedented restrictions on freedom of speech and more.
Young Americans, who are not beholden to the self-interests or historical and spiritual illusions of previous generations, are declaring that enough is enough. They are doing more than chanting, they are rising in unison, demanding answers, moral and legal accountability and an immediate end to the war.
Now that the US government has taken no action — and in fact continues to feed the Israeli war machine in its onslaught against millions of Palestinians — these brave students are acting themselves. This is certainly an awe-inspiring, watershed moment in the history of the US.