AIBU to say that graduation ceremonies are not the place to make political statements?

[anythingbutlillies]

Hard hat on.

DC's graduation today. Fabulous day, but it did not sit well with me that a few chose to unfurl a flag / raise a scarf while they were on the stage.
Just no! So very selfish.

Interested to hear if I am being precious?

Oh, I'm well up for discussion about how we can collectively create a world where human beings do not inflict misery upon one another and about how and why we have reached the point we are at now.

What I cannot take seriously is that anyone can seriously expend mental energy pondering whether it is "right" for students to unfurl flags at a graduation ceremony while we are collectively witnessing a genocide.

Where's your news source for this statement:

'You do realise that there are people in Gaza with food? There are cafes and restaurants open and advertising there delicious Nutella soaked crepes.'

How far do you take this?

Can anyone recommend a decent mascara? Omg, how can you think about mascara when there's a genocide....

I'm not sure what the point of your thread is then?

You don't agree with students making a particular (or any?) political statement and/or holding up a particular (or any?) flag at a graduation, but you accept that it's hardly a shocking thing for a kid on a stage in front of their friends to do?

It's not hurting anyone and if you ban it, a bunch of them will do it anyway and cause even more disruption. They're young and idealistic, leave them to it.

https://x.com/imshin/status/1943331727692190067?s=61&t=_cKTNp_TyAyzDViEOCJDFQ]]

Imshin reposts original Gazan posts.

There are the videos made for the GoFundMes then there are the videos for domestic use to advertise shops/restaurants/cafes etc. There are 000s of people experiencing malnutrition but there are also people being dismissive of the food aid they’ve received as it’s not to their tastes. Lots of it has also been chucked on the ground and not taken as it’s not wanted (cooking oil has been though as the price for that is high at the moment so a few people have been stock piling it to make a profit). There are also lots and lots of people making and consuming a good range of food, as they have done throughout the war.

I’m glad the younger generation are more political
for so long we as a nation there was political apathy

and what is happening in Gaza is genocide no one should be expected to not show their support

Correct. It was all of 'theirs'. A few hundred. But a few tried to make it all about them.

The AIBU is regarding the occasion chosen to make their statements. You think it's exactly the right place. That's fine. I was interested to see if I was BU in thinking it wasn't the right place. As the vote stands, I'm in the majority. It's interesting to hear different views.

I spend plenty of time thinking about mascara and clothes and anything more fun and frivolous to take my mind off the anger and hopelessness I feel about the way this world is.

But yes, to be honest when I'm not at work or busy at home, or worrying about my own kids, I'm desperately trying to conceive of a way to help or change things. The images from Gaza absolutely haunt me. I appreciate not everyone feels this way but it seems particularly petty to disapprove of young people trying to show they care instead of directing that judgement towards the people who are killing hundreds of innocent people every single day.

It is possible to ponder if a graduation ceremony is the right place for political statements and also be opposed to the genocide we are witnessing you know.
It's not either or!

Palestine wasn't the only statement being made.

I don't disapprove of young people trying to show they care.
I do disapprove of using a graduation ceremony to do this.
I do disapprove of virtue signalling.

Don't be so absolutely absurd.

Are you trying to claim children haven't been killed by the IDF? Are you trying to conflate the state of Israel with Jewish people? Are you hoping to frighten people into complicity with genocide by suggesting that those who disagree that children are an acceptable casualty of war are anti-Semitic? It won't work.

Let's counter these lies with some independent reporting on the facts:

https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/children-in-gaza-crisis-appeal/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20650843857&gclid=CjwKCAjwyb3DBhBlEiwAqZLe5BRGnvADQX3YzZBZGjjtSXkFvCo1Z3vEpSAwX5u4Wo9Krh67LQw60xoC4egQAvD_BwE

https://www.redcross.org.uk/stories/disasters-and-emergencies/world/whats-happening-in-gaza-humanitarian-crisis-grows

https://www.redcross.org.uk/stories/disasters-and-emergencies/world/how-is-aid-getting-into-gaza

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1162471

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0ep17gyzrzo.amp

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/24/at-least-40-more-palestinians-killed-seeking-aid-in-gaza-say-medics-and-officials

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164846

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/05/theyre-skin-and-bones-doctors-in-gaza-warn-babies-at-risk-of-death-from-lack-of-formula

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna215699

The term virtue signalling implies the gestures were insincere or empty and I'm not sure how you can know that, or why you seem to think the worst of their motives.

The reason people are compelled to show support and solidarity for Palestine at the moment is because of what we are seeing EVERY DAY and the fact these atrocities are continuing without any challenge from anyone in leadership. Not because it's "trendy".

But whatever, when your grandchildren ask you what you did when the Palestinian genocide was taking place, you can tell them you started a thought provoking thread on Mumsnet, questioning whether political protest at university graduation is quite the done thing.

But whatever, when your grandchildren ask you what you did when the Palestinian genocide was taking place, you can tell them you started a thought provoking thread on Mumsnet, questioning whether political protest at university graduation is quite the done thing

Whether it's a genocide or not is debatable...but even if it is, no one will ask that anyway. Do children nowadays ask their parents and grandparents what they were doing during the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s? They really don't. And there hasn't been a single point in history where some war/conflict hasn't been going on.

And of course there's food in Gaza...this has been going on for nearly 21 months,..there wouldn't be a single person left if there wasn't food there.

When it's waved and worn by people who abuse Jewish students, draw swastikas on synagogues and set fire to synagogues, then yes it is.

Nothing more than it makes than it makes the rest of us feel I expect ie, uncomfortable and frustrated that we can’t do anything to stop what’s happening and glad people are speaking up.

Being Jewish and being pro-Israeli genocide are not the same thing. And if it makes pro-Israeli genocide people feel bad, that’s a good thing.

Who do you think you are to minimise a Jewish person's experience and truth, and tell them they're being 'daft'? Who t f do you think you are!?? See this is the problem, smug people like you calling Jewish people liars! Telling them they are wrong about their life and their experience. Many Jewish people have been attacked on the last 2 years on campuses in the US and UK. This is a known fact if you had paid any attention to the news. Don't even dare dismiss a Jewish person's experience and call them liars! This, is why people are turning against Palestine and their vile activists.

To those of you who think the pro Palestinian movement is not at all anti semetic....can you please explain to me why on virtually any social media post I see about Jewish culture (not the actual conflict) ...the comments section is full of pro Palestinian slogans, memes and unpleasant comments. I saw a post the other day on FB literally about cheesecake that a Jewish content creator posted and there was a comment underneath about genocide.

Ah ok, so there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza because it hasn't killed absolutely everyone yet, is that right? It's fine if some babies starve to death as long as it's not every single one? As long as some people manage to survive we can turn a blind eye to the crisis?

Does this logic also apply to other places? Do you deny that there is a famine in Sudan too because some Sudanese people have food? Or is that different somehow? And if it is different, why is that so?

Has a famine been officially declared in Gaza?

The unfurling of flags or the wearing of politically symbolic scarves or other clothing has been a thing for as long as I’ve been attending graduations (over 30 years).

They’re young and passionate. As long as it doesn’t disrupt other graduands’ moments across the stage or the speeches it’s best to let them be.

But yes, universities are tough places for Jews - staff and students - at the moment. The underlying anti-semitism of the world is nowadays pretty overt Jew hatred and the fear of being accused of Islamophobia stops the clamping down on Jew hatred promulgated pretty widely as fairly everyday beliefs in Muslim communities in the UK.

It is absolutely a trendy cause and has been for the last 30 years. People were wearing keffiyehs unironically when I was at university.

There’s very few protests about the far more damaging situation in Darfur and elsewhere. Absolutely no one’s grandchildren will be asking about Palestine as they’ll have the rather bigger issues of climate change and AI to worry about.

There are absolutely anti semitic people who are pro Palestine, and people who don't really give a shit about Palestine but who are happy to use the conflict as an opportunity to be anti-Semitic. It's not acceptable and it's not to be tolerated.

But what is the overarching purpose of your comment? That genocide in Palestine is ok because some supporters of Palestine are antisemitic? That we can't criticise the state of Israel or the IDF? That the people of Gaza deserve what's happening to them?

There are antisemites in the pro Palestine movement. The pro-Palestine movement is not itself antisemitic. This is a crucial distinction.

The Israeli government has spoken openly about their desire for the complete annihilation of Palestine. Their end goal is the complete occupation of the Gaza Strip and the concentration of its people in a camp they aren't allowed to leave (their words, not mine). We shouldn't be afraid to stand against this. It is possible and necessary to be in fierce opposition to this. We can refuse to tolerate antisemitism and refuse to tolerate the destruction of Palestine simultaneously.

The Israeli government is expert at saying that to be against their actions is to be antisemitic or anti Jewish. This is propaganda, and it ignores the many thousands of Jewish people who have been outspoken critics of Israel, who have protested and campaigned and donated to Palestinian causes.

Useful info on this here - https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/01/10/just-how-bad-is-it-in-gaza

It is paywalled so I have added screenshots of relevant passages. The IPC cannot assess two of the three criteria for declaring famine because the healthcare system has been destroyed.

This article is from a year ago. The situation has deteriorated significantly since then.