Why the pro-Palestinian protests failed

Despite weeks of pro-Palestinian protests, the university has taken no action. sold From Israel. President Biden is still sending weapons to the Israel Defense Forces. No matter how many commencement ceremonies are canceled, it seems unlikely that all will change.

The mistake of the pro-Palestinian movement was choosing the “Hamilton Hall” protest model over the “Parkland” protest model.

The Hamilton Hall model is based on the 1968 tactics of Columbia University students to protest the Vietnam War and the university’s expansion plans into Harlem. Students occupied five buildings on campus, including Hamilton Hall, and detained the dean. hostage All night. The result was a disaster, with 700 students arrested, 100 injured, and the New York City Police Department rightly accused of using excessive force.

Parkland refers to the reaction of students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, to the 2018 school shooting that killed 17 of their classmates. Traumatized students began a peaceful March for Our Lives. movement With 300 chapters across the country, it has testified before Congress and lobbied state legislators. They succeeded in enacting important gun control laws in conservative Florida and elsewhere.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators enthusiastically embraced the tragic legacy of Hamilton Hall, which they invaded and occupied, with destructive tent encampments, occupation of academic facilities, and often aggressive rhetoric. It did not embrace the most confrontational tactic, the sustained but respectful Parkland protests.17 minute classrooms nationwide get out (1 minute per victim).

The university offers the following courses settler colonialismIt teaches students that colonial states, including Israel, expel and exploit original populations such as Palestinians. The theory behind settler colonialism was the communism of the 1920s and his 1930s by presenting a simplistic “good and evil” belief system that bisected the world into oppressors and oppressors. is reflected. While it fuels student outrage, settler colonialism theory does not teach how change in America actually works.

The most successful protest movements in American history had consistent goals, such as the recognition of specific legal rights, and displayed dignity.Let’s think about it suffragist She marches proudly in a white dress despite physical and verbal abuse from men and civil rights activists. 1960s People who risked, and sometimes died, their lives in the segregated South. These were noble and inspiring movements that accomplished some of the most far-reaching changes in American history.

The Parkland teenager had a sense of dignity that helped him garner widespread support. (Apolitical at the time) Taylor Swift Donated to March for Our Lives. )

Pro-Palestinian protests lack dignity. Slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” may be raised. interpreted At best, it calls for an end to Israel’s Jewish identity and is an insult not only to Israel but to millions of American Jews and non-Jews. The heartfelt anguish of so many students over Gaza is compounded by the anti-Semitic comments and actions of many protesters, including overt support for Hamas, such as Students for Palestine’s Instagram posts. It was blurred by paraglider graphic. The Parkland movement’s most divisive post may have been, “What would happen if our politicians weren’t politicians?” Female dog The NRA? ” A parody of an NRA ad.

Pro-Palestinian protests may still have an impact, but not in the way protesters would like. In 1968, student protests similar to those at Hamilton Hall broke out across the United States and served as a foil for the Republican Party, which took control of the White House. Law and order motion. President Trump’s campaign is similarly capitalizing on the protests by claiming, “This is Biden’s.” campus chaos”

The most lasting legacy of pro-Palestinian protesters may be to elect a man as president: called He said they were “raging lunatics” and the police dispersal over the Hamilton Hall occupation was “a beautiful thing to see”.

Gregory J. Wallance He was a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations and a member of the ABSCAM prosecution team that convicted a U.S. senator and six members of Congress on bribery charges. He is the author of “.To Siberia: George Kennan’s epic journey through Russia’s cruel and frozen heart.“