Among many things, use of the word “#Zionist” sets off alarms for the many different people who hear it. Is it pure #antisemitism? Or is it an attack on the Israeli govt, whose snr leaders have expressed concern that the #ICC will issue arrest warrants for them? Is it an assault on the right of #Israel to exist? Or is it a demand that it not continue to exist w/in its current contours & constructs w/the #Palestinian people?
For some college presidents, there seems to be a belief that by ripping away the tents & clearing the courtyards, they are also expunging any #hate & hurt from their campus — as if #antisemitism lives in these makeshift shelters & not in the heart. They demand that the protests be polite, convenient & perfect, or in the words of Princeton’s president, that the protests adhere to “time, place & manner” regulations.
They call police to make arrests. They suspend students & declare them trespassers on their own campus. But the very meaning of a protest is to disrupt the status quo, to bring thoughtless momentum to a halt, to underscore precisely how imperfect the world really is.
On college campuses, the tents represent one of many truths. In addition to the savagery of #Hamas on #Oct7, along w/the cruel holding of #hostages, alongside the shames of #antisemitism & #Islamaphobia, Palestinian #civilians are being killed by the thousands.
>> They call police to make arrests. They suspend students & declare them trespassers on their own campus. But the very meaning of a protest is to disrupt the status quo
College is a place to get education, not a place to engage in protests about geopolitics. To protest, go to a public space, but even there, you have to adhere to “time, place, & manner” regulations. What’s so hard to understand?
Notice how I made my point without using charged words like #zionism and #antisemitism
Since these protests began I've revisited some of the history of Civil Disobedience, and Non-Violence. These are hard things to practice, in a time (and a country) like ours. In an instant-everything society, we are primed to expect immediate results. Without these, we get Angry. Latent anger gives Troublemakers an easier path to co-opt our best efforts.
Meanwhile, none of us, here in the U.S., is actually contributing to end the 76-year struggle in Israel & surrounds.😐
[In the space of your statement, here, about character limits, I'd just like to take the self-serving opportunity to "amen" you. I often draw insults for the quality of my own wordy, often-awkward posts. At least I can trust that one other person faces the same challenge.]