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.

https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/latest/news/our-latest-statement-ukraine

Actions were taken fairly promptly by universities and governments to implement appropriate sanctions on Russian research and innovation links, with many universities ending formal partnerships with Russian counterparts. Pathways were created for Ukrainian academics and students to be supported, and there was recognition that potentially vulnerable academics in Russia might also need support due to, eg, their views on the war.

@PoloMum I read that article yesterday and it is very thought provoking. About time we listened to those with skin in the game rather than acting on their behalf (which is somewhat patronising).Ahmed Alkhatib is a wise man.

Wow. So he wants israel to not exist. Imagine if someone said yo him black people should not exist.

Both statements are equally abhorrent.

Yes both statements are abhorrent but not comparable. One is a race of people the other is a manmade construct.

Quoting @PoloMum because this article is worth repeating.

From.the article, a quote from the very sensible Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib:

The protesters have taken “an extremist, maximalist, inflammatory, unreasonable, and totally illogical approach which is harmful to the pro-Palestinian cause,” wrote Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Gaza-born Palestinian analyst who has lost a staggering 31 members of his own family in recent months. Via social media, Alkhatib urges the demonstrators to stop “wasting time with slogan-driven and maximalist activism that does nothing”, and instead to “use your western privilege to actually help the Palestinian people and promote a pragmatic path forward by engaging Israeli and Jewish audiences”.

What could the students do to practically help the Palestinians? The polls show clearly their views of the situation in Gaza.

I can see some of the students have been inflammatory in their remarks and not sure why a few would even consider carrying the Hezbollah flag. However- I am not sure this represents the majority student view.

I see the marches and student protests as a way of appealing to leaders to change their stance and understand that a lot of people do not agree with what they are doing.

The response of the universities and the US government to student concerns is also just fuelling students’ concerns.

I wonder if those questioning motives of the students are aware of the extent of images they are probably seeing of dead Gazans on SM such a TikTok.

Looks like that canary website is going to be busy backlisting students:

https://x.com/WildernessWypt/status/1784107518278430876

https://twitter.com/resist_05/status/1783620573299650603/mediaviewer

What could the students do to practically help the Palestinians? The polls show clearly their views of the situation in Gaza.

They could stop making it all about them? If you have Palestinians and Israelis saying ‘actually this is unhelpful and creates more division; what we need is a way for all of us to unite to push for peace, rather than taking sides’ why wouldn’t they listen? Unless they think their views trump those people caught up in this conflict?

Not all Palestinians think this though? You mustn’t have seen images coming out of Gaza thanking the students.

I am not sure the students protests are the reason Netanyahu’s government is against a 2ss and a ceasefire.

It’s interesting that you see them only thinking about themselves. I see them as being passionate individuals who feel they can make a difference.

Exactly this.

A) of course they don’t. Palestinians aren’t some kind of homogeneous mass.

B) Not sure why you’d think they are the reason for it? Unless you’re being disingenuous? The reason for Netanyahu’s stance is that he is extremist. Look where extremism has got us. We need moderacy and the ability to compromise to get anywhere productive.

C)It’s interesting that you see them as passionate individuals who feel they can make a difference. They are reacting based on their feelings and not considering the impact of their ‘ally-ship’. So yeah, they are thinking about them and their response, regardless of whether that may not be helping.

A better example of productive allyship is a group started by an Imam near me for Jewish and Muslim people (and opened to those who are of neither faith)to come together to support each other and not to buy into the polarising rhetoric. They are very clear that allies who promote division are not allies who are helping them.

For some Gazans - it gives them sense that the world is thinking about them.

I do wonder if the US government and Biden have reflected on public opinion and strength of opinion with elections coming up. Biden has been more critical of IDF actions and need for aid to get through.

x.com/DrSakriKaia/status/1784140831160680713

I find anti-Zionist baffling. You have a group of people, who have been persecuted in every country in which they’ve been a minority, to the extent that in recent history 6 million of them were wiped out. Anti-zionists think they should not have the right to self-determination. I can’t see how any reasonable person could think the Jews should have to risk being a minority again.

Oddly, they never seem vehemently against self-determination for Irish people or Kashmiris or Armenians or Palestinians.

@ChalkWitch
A better example of productive allyship is a group started by an Imam near me for Jewish and Muslim people (and opened to those who are of neither faith)to come together to support each other and not to buy into the polarising rhetoric. They are very clear that allies who promote division are not allies who are helping them.

This sounds great. I can see appreciate that the situation in Israel and Gaza has increased racial tensions.

However, the concept of students marching against wars is not new. Students also have had some success eg disinvestment by one university previously from South Africa.

I highly doubt all universities are going to divest from particular businesses on basis of protests despite how their student bodies have voted. However the heavy handed approach has back fired, as well will just dismissing the students’ concerns and questioning their motives.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/us/student-protest-movements.html

Are you happy to hear kids were killed whilst in hospital. That people were handcuffed and buried alive ? I’m not. And I don’t care about the religion of those that have done it. I want my taxes not to fund the country that is doing it.

@Grumm

There are significant generational views towards this conflict in the US.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/02/younger-americans-stand-out-in-their-views-of-the-israel-hamas-war/

I have seen people comment on generational differences in thoughts about what is happening in the ME. The holocaust was an unimaginable horror, and whilst not same in magnitude- the deaths of Gazans and treatment of Palestinians in general is a stain on mankind, which is now and present.

Here is one suggestion:

https://forward.com/opinion/570769/israel-palestine-generation-gap-millenial-gen-z-poll/?amp=1

At MIT:
https://x.com/KassyDillon/status/1783957012600008847

Northeastern U in Boston is now clearing out the camp there. Here their statement:
https://x.com/sfmcguire79/status/1784195454349038015

University of California, LA

https://x.com/visegrad24/status/1784218502129225794

https://x.com/maricohen95/status/1784004155226411503?s=61&t=nilGqPeurpC5xVqZAZdZog

Columbia students

Interesting thread about the universities’ resistance to divest.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1784181975198175670.html

I can understand why people might want to protest this war. I just can’t understand the leap to ‘Jews should not be allowed self-determination’ (anti-Zionism).

Extremely interesting, rich people should not have the ability to buy and influence what universities teach and do. It goes against the principle of universities being places for all ideas from different people to be formulated and argued and stifles innovation.

This guy Robert Kraft withdrew his donation from Columbia a few days ago over the protests.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/sep/24/robert-kraft-cleared-massage-parlor-sex-charge#:~:text=Police%20say%20the%20recordings%20show,public%20apology%20for%20his%20actions.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/robert-kraft-ends-support-of-columbia-university-over-antisemitism-on-campus

https://x.com/thrasherxy/status/1784022144671764696?s=61&t=nilGqPeurpC5xVqZAZdZog

Jewish and Muslim students together.

I wonder is it more to do with anti illegal settlements rather then anti Zionism?