By Amrit Brown
Student protests over the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas government in Gaza have caused tensions on campuses nationwide. While some university leaders have clearly chosen a side, like University of Florida President Ben Sasse who issued a statement supporting Israel and Jewish students, many administrations have remained neutral. Additionally, students have expressed disparate viewpoints on the conflict. Claims of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism have arisen amid threats and violence both on and off school campuses.
These campus clashes follow an Oct. 7 Hamas attack from Gaza which led to massive loss of Israeli life (1,400 as of Oct. 24) as well as a hostage crisis. In the days after the attack, Israel bombarded Gaza and, along with Egypt, has prevented the flow of food, water and electricity into the impoverished and besieged territory in violation of international law. It has left, as of Oct. 24, over 5,700 Palestinians dead, shockingly 2,300 of them children, with others still buried under the rubble.
The recent explosion of violence is part of a long conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. As a consequence of the 1948 war, over 700,000 Palestinians were dispossessed by Israel of lands and homes and many Palestinian refugees ended up in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Some 20 percent of Israeli citizens are Palestinians; however, Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights groups note all Palestinians face discriminatory Israeli laws. Israel has continued to expand settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, closing off the possibility of a Palestinian state. The area has a long history of violence and many human rights groups (including Amnesty International) assert that Israel is instituting apartheid against Palestinians.
The competing claims have resulted in surprising ideological splits at universities. Responses have varied from a Cornell University professor calling the attacks on Israel “exhilarating” to Jon Huntsman Jr., a University of Pennsylvania alumnus revoking funding because the school, in his opinion, is not combating anti-Semitism on campus.
At Harvard, a group of 34 students issued a statement saying Israel was “entirely responsible” for the attacks. They have been widely criticized. Under this extreme skepticism, some student groups already removed their names from the statement. Some signing students have been doxed. Harvard graduate and founder of Pershing Square Capital Management William Ackman said that he would not hire any of these students as, he argues, the statement is a comment on their character. Additionally, the president of the NYU student bar association who expressed similar opinions to the Harvard students was promptly removed as president and had a job offer revoked.
This controversy is becoming so polarizing on college campuses that students feel as though they must choose sides. As with many issues, students are likely more susceptible to harsh rhetoric, specifically online, that only argues for one side. These blanket statements are even more dangerous when made by politicians. For example, senators Tom Cotton and Lindsey Graham have threatened violence amounting to war crimes against Gaza with Cotton calling to “bounce the rubble” and Graham to “level the place.” These politicians think the issue is black and white and completely disregard the lives of civilians. Americans should push for better rhetoric, policy and a ceasefire. The loss of civilian life on both sides is unacceptable and should not be justified.
Americans and Israelis struggle to recognize that for too long, Israel, with US funding, has dispossessed and occupied the Palestinian people. The lack of action by the Biden administration and the active anti-Palestinianism of the Trump administration have contributed to the disastrous situation faced today. Israel and the United States are, of course, not solely responsible; other countries and parties are too. Ignorance of a decades-long conflict, ignorance of the conditions faced by Palestinians and a Western fear of supporting freedom for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank have contributed to the most recent conflict.
Everyone on and off college campuses should be fighting toward the same goals: freedom, justice and especially peace in Israel and Palestine. Those engaging in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Jewish hatred are not helping secure any semblance of a better future.
Take a second and think, but do not be intimidated. These issues are too important to be ignored. College is precisely where issues about the hatred or mass destruction of any group of people should be raised. Colleges should be the grassroots beginnings of movements that demand that American politicians and the American public stop only paying attention to Palestine and Israel in times of conflict.
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