The university campus becomes the new southern boundary.
How so many university presidents capitulated to a small group of protesters who hate Israel has become America’s hottest issue.
This undoubtedly points to a breakdown in order in this country, especially in our elite institutions, which were once revered and now serve as paragons of despicability.
The tide is turning, with hundreds of arrests from New York University to Yale, the University of Southern California to the University of Texas, just as many Americans are tired of students and outside agitators paralyzing campus after campus. are doing.
Law enforcement moves to crack down on anti-Israel activists in Austin, Utah
colombian camp (Nicholas Lanum/Fox News Digital)
At Columbia University, the epicenter, a day of arrests 10 days ago was followed by endless negotiations with demonstrators, including several faculty members, with the campus effectively shut down and the school switching to hybrid classes. Most Jewish students were evacuated from the university. place. The impasse continued until yesterday.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson visits Jewish students at Columbia University, despite being heckled, and then addresses the crowd to demand the resignation of the school’s leader, Minoush Shafik. created a moment. President Biden should have gone there first.
The White House continues to say Biden condemns anti-Semitism on campus, but not in any meaningful way. These are mainly statements made by the deputy press secretary. The only time the president said anything on camera was when he made a few difficult-to-understand sentences in response to a reporter’s angry questions.
While he understands that the politics of the Israel-Hamas war are dangerous for Biden, he is willing to use the camera whenever he wants, including (with significant support) to claim victory for the foreign aid bill for Israel and Ukraine. know how to get in front of Chairman Johnson).
On Monday, April 29, 2024 in Austin, University of Texas at Austin police stand on the South Lawn where demonstrators gathered to call attention to the war in Gaza and denounce the University of Texas at Austin’s ties to defense companies. Demonstrators were arrested at the encampment. (Aaron E. Martinez/American Politician/Imagun)
Biden’s candidacy may have had a Sister Souljah moment. During the 1992 campaign, an activist said after the L.A. riots, “If black people kill black people every day, why don’t they spend a week killing white people?”
Bill Clinton criticized her on Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition, saying, “If you reversed the words ‘white’ and ‘black,’ you might think David Duke was giving that speech.” .
(Some Democratic members of Congress traveled to Colombia before Johnson and denounced the protesters.)
Back in January of last year, Kaimani James, a Columbia University student and protest leader, met with university officials and videotaped herself saying: He said, “Zionists have no more right to live than Nazis or white supremacists.” “So, yes, I feel very comfortable calling those people to die.”
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What did university do? there is nothing. It wasn’t until last week, when the Daily Wire resurfaced the video, that the school issued a statement banning James from campus, saying his comments were unacceptable. Why weren’t there whispers of anger sooner? Because Colombia had no qualms about hiding it. Now, it is reported that the school has given James a “provisional suspension.”
What should I say to get kicked out of Colombia? Isn’t it enough to demand the death of millions of Jews? Does anyone believe that if a student yells “kill black people” or “kill gays,” that student will immediately disappear? There is no more blatant double standard.
(Kaimani later issued a non-apology, saying he respects life but condemning Israel’s genocide.)
Look, I’m a free speech person. Peaceful protest is a fundamental right, no matter how offensive the message, but setting up a tent encampment in the middle of the Quad is against the rules. Spreech calls like “Burn down Tel Aviv” and the atrocities of October 7th are expected to happen “not 10, not 100, not 1,000, but 10,000 times” to law-abiding students. I’m harassing you.
A protester holds a placard during a march in support of a protest camp supporting Palestinians on the Columbia University campus. (Reuters/David Dee Delgado)
And there are consequences. USC canceled graduation. Jewish students are now effectively evacuated from some of these campuses. I went to Columbia Journalism School, which I’m a little embarrassed about now.
Part of this is Orwellian. Two months after the 9/11 attacks, Shafik said he now understands what kind of protest terrorism is. But terrorism is the furthest thing from protest. It is the murder of innocent civilians.
Colombia is infamous for its violent protests in 1968 by extremists from the anti-Vietnam War movement. But today, there are repercussions and the Democratic convention is heading to Chicago.
The political impact can be measured in two articles from yesterday.
Student reaction after admission canceled due to student protest
washington post Donald Trump and other Republicans are “taking advantage of the eruption of campus protests across the country to portray America as out of control under President Biden,” he said.
Beyond the “confusion,” the paper said, “Republican leaders highlighted the anti-Semitic chants that have occurred at some protests; the debate over what anti-Semitism is; and the When criticism goes beyond that, the problem becomes complicated.” Meanwhile, some student organizers have condemned the chants or attributed them to outside activists. ”
Let me stop there. The problem is not complicated. These are not just “chants”. It is perfectly clear what anti-Semitism is and what vicious harassment of Jewish students is.
President Trump “cited the protests and accused Biden and the Democratic Party of being unable to maintain order or quell illegal activity.” And that’s a fair political argument. Of course, the former president, whose hush money criminal trial resumes today, has his own baggage on the law and order front.
new york times Criticizing Biden’s party, he said the protests were about “how to balance protecting free speech and aiding Gazans with concerns raised by some Jewish Americans about anti-Semitism.” “This is exposing new tensions within the Democratic Party over this issue.”
Now, we have to plant a flag here too. “Support for the Gazans,” especially among those advocating the “river to sea” rhetoric, is actually support for the terrorist organization Hamas, which started the war. This is not to say that I cannot sympathize with the rising death toll in Gaza, especially among civilian families, and the growing hunger crisis, and I do.
As the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, demonstrators held placards while marching on the Columbia University campus, even though university officials ordered them to be dispersed or suspended as of 2 p.m. Demonstrators in support of protest camps that support Palestinians regardless. New York City, USA, April 29, 2024. (Reuters/David Dee Delgado)
But the phrase “some Jewish Americans” expressing concerns about anti-Semitism is insulting. Most Americans share fears about this pervasive toxin. You don’t have to be Jewish to reject Hamas and its unspeakable tactics that have led to the highest single-day death toll of Jews since the Holocaust.
“For some lawmakers who visited the encampment or participated in the demonstrations, students are part of a long tradition of campus activism, and their right to free speech is at risk. Anti-Semitism They say the incident does not reflect a broader movement that includes many young, progressive Jews.
Yes, this is a “long tradition of campus activism,” not, as Kaimani James said, “Zionists have no right to live.” And the war definitely hurt Biden because of the anti-Israel stance of many young Democrats.
Free speech is certainly important, but when you look at the tent encampment that cordoned off the entire Columbia University Upper Manhattan campus, it’s an invasion.
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After more than a week of deliberation, the Colombian government yesterday set a deadline of 2pm for these protesters to leave or face immediate suspension. The deadline passed and the NYPD and campus security did nothing. Late yesterday, Columbia announced it had begun suspending operations.
Defiant demonstrators told reporters that they are encouraged by the growing demonstrations and stick to their goal of forcing Colombia to divest investment funds from companies that profit from Israel. he said.
However, please note that these outages are often temporary.
