Several campuses have been virtually shut down by protests demanding Israel leave the Gaza Strip. While I think Israel has gone too far in its response to the Hamas attack of October 7th, it was in fact Hamas who started this conflict. I realize Hamas has their grievances against Israel, but Hamas' ultimate goal is the destruction of Israel, and the Israelis aren't about to let that happen. And likewise Israel's goal is the destruction of Hamas. Israel won't let up, Hamas won't surrender, and the Palestinian people are caught in the middle and are being wiped out. How will it end?
Peace isn't the absence of conflict; it's the presence of justice, and since 1949 the Palestinians have seen none at all.
Here's the problem with the campus protests. None of them will have an impact on Israel's strategy. Every college/university/corporation could divest from Israel and Israel will keep on leveling Gaza. This is an existential battle for them. This is the hill that they will die on. They don't care about any of the nonsense happening on college campuses. As an ally, we look even dumber.
It's now indisputably apparent that the free exercise of Constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech, freedom to peaceably assemble, freedom to petition our government for redress of grievances, protection from unreasonable search and seizure, and right to due process and equal protection under the law are not rights per se, but mere dispensations which can be abrogated at will at the behest of Israel and AIPAC.
Israel is a barbaric ethno-state founded entirely upon apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, and lavishly subsidized by the U.S. to the tune of four billion four hundred eighteen million five hundred eighty thousand dollars annually (plus 1.5-2 billion dollars annually in charitable donations; did you know that the IDF is a 501(c)(3)?) That's $300 billion since it's inception; the largest beneficiary of American largess in history despite comprising only .1% of the global population. Israel has 253 combat aircraft (including the largest fleet of F-16's outside the U.S., and 36 F-35's), 170 helicopters, 2,200 tanks, 56,290 APC/ACVs, 12,050 pieces of artillery...and around 90 nuclear weapons and the fissionable material to rapidly make about 200 more. By contrast, Gaza is the world's largest concentration camp with over 2.2 million people imprisoned upon 17 square miles of land. Gaza has no air defenses, no aircraft, and no armor; no blanket veto in the U.N. from a permanent member of the Security Council and no carte blanche from the President of the United States (who just gave them another billion dollars in armaments). Their only defense is their glorified home-made bottle rockets and 1950's vintage small arms. More than 200,000 Palestinian dead. What Israel's doing isn't defense; it's genocide, and if you're indifferent to that, you're complicit in their crimes against humanity. Some folks have decided that they simply can't turn their heads and look away. I'm proud of these kids.
From a dutch point of view .............knowing the history(from now to before biblical ages) I find it hard to take sides...what Isreal doing to the Palestine is horrible ............but why did Hamas give them the opertunity.. With all the protests.......also students/university s here(nl).........fine protest, demonstrate(respect).........we have that freedom/right. But why.......riot, vandalism(historic buildings)............your not getting sympathy or convinsing anybody................by turning fanatic or extremist(nl). Mzzls PS. My best guess since some years back...........gives each halve of the country , make Jerusalem UN controled(all the religions)..........shitshow with no end*sigh*
I think what Hamas did worked, by provoking Israels response they created millions of pro Palestine protestors and activists they didn't have before. Guess its still a never ending battle that will continue for decades, I don't know.
