University students rising up against ties with Israel (title edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[EasterIssland]

Many university students are raising up against the ties their universities have with Israel. Students are asking for this agreements to stop
I can see this is happening in USA which has been in the news quite a lot but I can also read news about Paris as well as UK.

I really doubt much will change but I’m glad people are against these agreements. We can’t change what Israel / Hamas do. But we should be able to change what our governments / universities do.

He's pretty clear that 'From the river to the sea' means no Israel too, despite people saying for months that actually it's a perfectly fine slogan and people are just misunderstanding it.

But it's not been gaslighting, honest guv.

I feel like at least he deserves brownie points for having the brass neck to say the quiet part out loud.

And people cheer him. That's the important bit. People tried to write off that student on the radio as a rare extremist. This guy is in the middle of town with a crowd cheering him. Try writing that off.

Good on students from around the role in trying to get people to think about the actions of the Israeli government https://www.instagram.com/reel/C66f2_ErHjE/?igsh=MTkxMjA4bTFud3Z5eg==

Obviously students who follow hate speech should be challenged and face the consequences be that from
universities or the laws of a country e.g hate speech… I hope the posters who are looking at such great detail and scrutiny at these protestors are doing the same with the actions of this fascist right wing Israeli government and ongoing murder and destruction that it is committing.

Civil disobedience does work and some people are clearly scared to see the support that Palestine has https://www.instagram.com/reel/C66xB6QMr8M/?igsh=dnk2ODh2cDQ3MWgy

Once again attention needs to be on holding the actions of this fascist right wing Israeli government and its supporters who can’t wait to build settlements on Palestinian land on the graves of the Palestinians they have murdered.

It's barely being challenged though! And whenever it is there's always someone waiting in the wings to minimise it or do a 'but Gaza'. Which is exactly what you've just done.

What's happening in Gaza is fucking awful. But it doesn't mean so-called peaceful student protestors should get a free pass spreading hate speech and making Jewish students feel unable to continue their studies in such an atmosphere of Jew hate.

It is not so called peaceful protests it is mostly peaceful protests.

I know people at Columbia and in the London universities. If you read up on the experiences of the protestors and the students and the police they all acknowledge it is mostly peaceful - practically all peaceful with a few incidences where protestors have crossed the line and are challenged by protestors or police. There are Jewish students and academics involved in these protests and feel safe at these protests.

These protests are leading to divestment and more transparency of university finances. They are leading to discussions and debates and good on thesw young people for standing on the right side of history. You may disagree with me but in my view what is happening to Palestinians is a genocide and any sound made my students or others as to what is happening is great.

This is a great article two clear points are:

”Back in the real world, the right’s hysteria over such supposed antisemitism hasn’t really been about protecting Jews at all, as many faculty members (including us Jewish ones) have written and spoken about. Rather, the right is weaponizing antisemitism as a way of furthering its campaign to suppress the kind of freedom of thought and speech on campus that threatens its authoritarian goals of turning this country Christian, conservative, straight, and white—not to mention their urge to suppress support of Palestinian autonomy.”

And

“One day, the students who are protesting the genocide in Gaza and the persecution of Palestinians today will be seen as on the right side, too. History will prove it. Until then, let’s turn the discussion back to where it belongs: an end to the war on Gaza.”
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/the-student-protesters-are-demonstrating-their-bravery-not-anti-semitism/tnamp/

Oh ffs, you've literally just proved my point.

@DomPom47 very well said.

I know people at Columbia and in the London universities. If you read up on the experiences of the protestors and the students and the police they all acknowledge it is mostly peaceful - practically all peaceful with a few incidences where protestors have crossed the line and are challenged by protestors or police.

Columbia protesters take over building after defying deadline

Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University have escalated their protest over the war in Gaza by occupying an academic building.
Activists at the university in New York City seized Hamilton Hall early on Tuesday, barricading themselves inside.
One student said the campus was "lawless", as officials grapple with the long-running demo which has prompted a wave of rallies elsewhere.
Columbia has urged students and staff to stay away from campus on Tuesday.

It earlier began suspending students who defied Monday's deadline of 14:00 EST (18:00 GMT) to leave their two-week encampment nearby.

But as the deadline passed, dozens of students rallied at the site.
Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), one of the main protest groups, vowed to defy the order in a post on X, and called on activists to "protect the encampment".

The group later announced the takeover of Hamilton Hall, highlighting that the venue was also the focus of student protests in 1968.

Another group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), said it had "reclaimed" the building in honour of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl found dead in Gaza earlier this year.

One student described the campus as "lawless, utter anarchy", with demonstrators breaking the building's windows to enter, before blocking the doors with furniture.
Speaking to the BBC's US partner CBS News, Jessica Schwalb said the group had entered with "bags full of stuff", adding: "I'm guessing they're going to be living in there indefinitely."

And there's this:

Smashed windows, stacked furniture left after occupation of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University

Images and video released by Columbia University show overturned and stacked furniture, broken windows and other damage in the aftermath of the seizure and occupation of Hamilton Hall by protesters and its clearing by police Tuesday.

The images from inside Hamilton Hall show overturned chairs, tables and other furniture. Protesters broke windows and caused other damage at the occupied hall, university officials said and images showed. Barricades had also been set up.

In videos released by the university, police with riot helmets and other equipment are seen inside the building, near the piles of furniture, recycling bins and other items. Panes of glass inside the building were also smashed.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1898597/birmingham-university-student-protests-israel-palestine-hamas

A request from university leaders to the government to stop scaremongering and inflaming the situation over peaceful protests.

Looks like UK universities handling protests in a more even handed and calmer manner than in the US.

https://amp.theguardian.com/education/article/2024/may/11/rishi-sunak-accused-of-scaremongering-over-uk-students-gaza-protest-camps

Like the sentiment in these letters:

« The student protests are not about hate, quite the opposite – they are about justice for all. We have taught our children and students about the universal values of basic human rights, equality and antiracism. But it seems that we are quick to forget these ideals when economical or political reasons make them inconvenient. »

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/13/justice-not-hatred-drives-student-protests-on-gaza

So why did they hang a giant sign saying intifada? Shouldn’t it have said BDS ? I just don’t understand how it can be said to be a mostly peaceful protest when they hung a bloody great big multi storey sign calling for intifada. Where do we draw the line in calling it mostly peaceful?

https://m.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/the-second-intifada-a-defining-event-that-reshaped-the-nation-642644

look, I don’t agree with everything in the article I just linked, but it goes a long way towards explaining why calls for another intifada is exactly the opposite of promoting peace. Calls for intifada to Israelis quite clearly equals calls for violence and terror, and the reaction to that is never going to be laying down arms and ceasefire.

I don’t agree with the use of the term intifada.
But there are Israelis and Jews and I am using the terms interchangeable as there are people from Israel who are studying at Columbia and there are American Jews and those from e.g Spain (that I am aware of) who have taken part in these protests and there are Academics (post doc to professors) involved in these protests who say they are mostly peaceful with a just and legitimate aim to question university finances and to question those in power about the Israeli governments actions.
I think whilst rightly questioning those who are hateful in these protests we don’t lose sight of the fact that they are mostly peaceful and have a good moral purpose.
I know for some people the actions of the very very few at these protests are by some of deflecting from the very clear and purposeful actions of the Israeli government.

I don’t agree with the use of the term intifada
thank you, I appreciate that 🙏

I think whilst rightly questioning those who are hateful in these protests we don’t lose sight of the fact that they are mostly peaceful and have a good moral purpose
I understand there are Jews at the protests (I appreciate there may be Israelis too, but not seen any myself), but that doesn’t detract that there were people present who called for repeats of October 7th (x ten thousand), and stood with Hamas. Personally, I cannot see them as peaceful as a result.

https://m.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-798049

Jewish students in Columbia penned a letter about their experiences (“in our name” calling out both the pro Palestinian and Pro Israeli protestors, and it was signed by over 500 Jewish Students. It’s linked in this articlehttps://www.timesofisrael.com/in-viral-letter-450-jewish-columbia-students-say-zionism-is-core-to-their-identity/amp/ or I can copy over the text.

The people supporting Hamas are few… a woman said x a man said y. All awful things to be said but they are in the minority.

This is again the case with the peaceful London Saturday marches. Have been on quite a few and never heard or seen anything hateful.

Again, if it happens those saying hateful words or holding hateful slogans should be held to account - I have no qualms doing this if I were to see it or hear it.

I just hope that the same scrutiny that we are holding these protestors to be they at university or on the streets we are seeing and hearing some of the hateful comments and actual actions coming from the Israeli government that is leading to real time deaths and destruction to Palestinian people and land. Which is taken us further and further away from a peaceful solution.

There is a growing number of young people in Israel who is right wing and this right wing Israeli government is the reason we are seeing actions like this:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C67EckcszQ_/?igsh=ZDcyNzdsc2h5ZG0=

Palestinians deserve better and Israelis deserve better.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/right-wing-activists-block-vandalize-aid-shipment-headed-to-gaza/amp/ some of these activists are family of people held hostage in Gaza. Arrests have been made

• edited because I started to write I could’t look properly now because it’s 1 am and I’m falling asleep, and posted it half written as I nodded off 🙈

from the article above
“It’s absurd insanity that on a day when we remember our fallen, killed by the [Hamas] terrorists, the State of Israel continues in whatever way it can to transfer aid to those same terrorists,” the statement read, referring to Memorial Day, during which Israelis remember those killed in wars and by terrorism.
It read to me like they are angry with the government if anything.

(Today was yom hazikaron (Memorial Day), there were events up and down the country mourning those lost in terror attacks and soldiers who have died, separate from yom hashoa. )

A lot of grief this year, and grief can turn to anger, particularly those who still have family held by Hamas. I’m not condoning their actions, by the way.

They evidently see all of the Palestinians in Gaza as being Hamas.

They have also evidently forgotten to think about how all the living hostages will get fed.

If you think people were bellends for going on at you for not condemning October 7th when you had, why are you doing the exact same thing?

I appreciate you not condoning their actions.
A lot of the people involved in the protests regarding aid are people not linked to the the families of the hostages.
I think as an aside it it important to just point out that people are not homogenous groups, there’s lots of family members linked to the hostages who are protesting the actions of this Israeli government before October and after October. And same with members of the IDF there’s an increasing number of people who do no my support the actions of the IDF but it is only recently that we are hearing this vocalised and I think this is because of the numbers of soldiers we are seeing either injured or killed.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C67f8KNJhEs/?igsh=MTQ1emRpcmFyZzVxYw==

My ultimate point is that I don’t see how anyone in good conscience can say they see and hear what the current Israeli Prime Minister and his right wing cabinet are saying and doing and think their actions is helping Israeli and Palestinian peace relations now or in the long term - let alone the hostages. They are using a disproportionate use of force, they are destroying infrastructure, they are allowing a group of people to starve to death….We are hearing more and more about protests in Israel and to be fair these protests were happening before now and before October in relation to this PM.

I can see your concerns are one sided, and that your complaints are reserved for those who criticise the actions of Israel.

I can see you care more about defending the actions of Israel than about the lives of men, women, children and babies who are being unnecessarily killed by them in their quest for revenge.

I see you create villains out of people who ask for peace while using non violent means.

I see you ignore the actions of those who fire guns at innocent people, who drop bombs on family homes, hospitals, schools and universities.

This is not the same as the purity spiral surrounding the events of October 7th. I’m not asking you to empathise and focus on the suffering of one side as an excuse to justify an indiscriminate and bloody retaliation. I’m asking you to stop demonising people who seek peace through non violent means.

@PeasfullPerson I don’t know how to explain this any more clearly: Your attempts at moral shaming will not work on me. I don’t do cults. I definitely don’t do people attempting to tell me how to post and what to post about.

I am perfectly entitled to point out antisemitism, and idiocy. There’s no requirement to post one post denouncing Israel for every post calling out antisemitism. I have stated my position often enough.

Take your zealotry elsewhere.