Students don't become criminals when they protest
Issue #589 The Choice, Thursday, May 2, 2024
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So this was only a matter of time.
We have been hearing - loudly -from college and university students who oppose the horrific treatment of Palestinians in Gaza ever since last October when Hamas brutally murdered 1,500 Israelis and employed inexcusable acts of violence to basically spark a war, which they have done.
No one in their right mind is saying it was OK what Hamas did. That is not what the students are saying nor does it accurately represent the overall sentiment of the campus protests that have now dramatically escalated and are taking place on college campuses across the country. To be sure there are outside agitators, and even some students, who have chosen to use these protests as a misguided opportunity to make anti-Jewish statements. That is not excusable, but it was to be expected because someone almost always tries to hijack political protests for their own ends.
I saw that up close and personal when, as president of the Black Student Union at Colorado College in the late ‘70s, I led our organization as we joined with MECHA, the Mexican and Chicano Student Association, to lead a student march to downtown Colorado Springs for a protest against David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan who were coming to town to set up their headquarters. By the time we made it downtown, a group of older folk were already tagging along and egging us on, saying they were with us. I won’t name the group here, but as the anti-Klan speeches began, and members of the Klan began to yell and scream their harassment and racist slurs, members of this ‘support’ group brought out bats and chains and went to work on the harassers, and next thing you know our peaceful protest had turned into a near-riot - and we were blamed for it.
So I know how that can happen, and how the original intent of a protest can be lost due to outside noise over which you have little to no control. But based on everything I have read and seen (because like most of you, I have not been to any of the actual protests so I need to qualify what I say), my strong belief is that these young people aren’t protesting to demonstrate how much they hate Jews. Or even how much they hate Israel. They are demonstrating specifically against the Israeli government’s response to the tragic events of October 7, and against President Joe Biden’s seemingly unwavering support of that government which is now responsible for the deaths of nearly 35,000 Gazans, most of them women and children. Many of those Gazans who haven’t been killed are close to starvation and have nowhere to live because their homes have been destroyed and Israel has been doing its level best to prevent any sort of humanitarian aid from entering.
So yeah, the kids are kinda upset about that. They said they were upset a while ago, but when it looked like the story was fading from the headlines (because, of course, Trump), they decided to let us know that they were serious - and that they weren’t through. They want something done, and they want something done now. Because isn’t it always the young who possess the conscience - and the bravery - for the rest of us? It was certainly that way during the civil rights movement.
And for those of us like myself who strongly support the re-election of President Biden and Kamala Harris, because we know the hell that awaits if he loses, we need to maybe remember what it was like for us when we were younger and the idealism we had. And rather than scolding them or shaking our heads about why can’t they understand what’s at stake, we need to consider that maybe they do understand the stakes. Yes, it’s terrifying what will happen if Trump wins, because for one thing a Trump presidency will never allow for any sort of student protest and what happened at Kent State will look like a field trip in comparison.
But (I believe) from their point of view, how can they be asked to stay silent for just over six more months until the election is over to express their anger over such a bloody tragedy that only gets worse by the day? Because Israel is slaughtering and starving Palestinians now and has been mistreating them and forcing them to live in an apartheid state of existence for decades. Which is why the South African government brought Israel up on charges of genocide before the United Nations in January of this year. South Africa knows a little something about apartheid. They know it when they see it.
So yes, the kids are pissed off. And they refuse to be silent. And they refuse to accommodate the schedule of the November election for the sake of political convenience. Because if they didn’t refuse to be silent and they did agree to accommodate the wishes of the more cautious progressive types among us who see Trump and only Trump, then it wouldn’t be an effective protest, would it? We may not like it, but we have to admit it and we have to realize that these young people know enough to realize that you have to strike when you have the leverage. And that will not be seven months from now.
Keep this quote in mind from Dr. Martin Luther King’s critically important book “Why We Can’t Wait” about the essential, urgent and imperative nature of socially conscious protest movements :
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Maybe it is the rest of us who should re-examine our approach and listen to what the students are saying.
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Well said, Keith. It is always the right time to do what's right. I think that's Dr. King, too. I'm one of those annoyed by the timing of the protests --- but I'm confident that we can defend the lives of people in Gaza and beat Trump too! We have to do both!